Gil BRANDT

Legendary former Cowboys executive Gil Brandt took a timeout to chat about historic moments, NFL memories and the upcoming draft with Post columnist Steve Serby. Q: How would you compare Saquon Barkley as a prospect with Lawrence Taylor coming out in 1981? A: I probably would have rated Lawrence Taylor a tad higher. He was a guy we [the Cowboys] tried desperately to trade for with New Orleans, and they took [South Carolina running back] George Rogers. [Then-Giants general manager] George Young and I had been at the North Carolina-Clemson game. We were playing each other in New York the next day. I went back on an Eastern Airline flight with George to New York, and he was like in seat 4b, I was in 4a. We just watched Taylor make all these plays against Clemson on the road. He was really special. Q: How scary would an offense with Barkley and Odell Beckham Jr. be? A: It would be illegal. Q: Describe what the atmosphere will be like Thursday night at the draft. A: It’s gonna be electric. It’s gonna rank up there with the Super Bowl of any event that’s ever taken place in the National Football League. Q: Describe “The Greatest Game Ever Played” — the Colts’ 23-16 overtime win in the 1958 championship game over the Giants. A: I was watching it in my home in Wisconsin when Alan Ameche, from Kenosha, Wisconsin, ran off tackle for a touchdown, and I think if there was anything that really sent the NFL in the right direction, and made it replace the popularity of college football, it was that game. Q: Did you know Johnny Unitas? A: Oh yeah, I knew Unitas well. Played golf with him many times. I thought that he was a salt-of-the-earth guy. I felt for him at the end of his career because obviously, he was over the hill, and was not playing like he did. But I thought that when he was playing in the early ’60s, I thought he was by far the best player in our league. Q: You still think Packers lineman Jerry Kramer was offside on the Bart Starr touchdown in the 1967 Ice Bowl win over your Cowboys? A: I think Jerry Kramer was offside, yes. Q: Packers coach Vince Lombardi called his last timeout before the QB sneak. What do you remember thinking on the Cowboys sideline? A: I thought that they would try to run the ball. I was a little bit surprised that they would quarterback-sneak it. Donny Anderson was a big back, and I thought it would probably be a handoff to [offensive tackle Forrest] Gregg’s side, because of Gregg’s ability. So I was somewhat shocked with the quarterback sneak. Q: What were your immediate emotions when you saw the touchdown signal? A: I wanted to die. You worked so hard, for so many weeks and so many years to get where you’re at, and then all of a sudden, with a few seconds left to play, on a fourth-down play, you lose everything. Q: Describe former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. A: Loved him. He had a magic touch, that when he wanted something passed, he was able to go and talk to a dissenter and swing that person to come to his way of thinking. Q: Describe Super Bowl I. A: Again, talking about Rozelle and ideas, [future Jets GM] Jim Kensil was kind of his righthand man, and we were staying at the Sheraton West, which was right across the street from where they were staying. And he said, “You know, we have to think about having a party for this t Super Bowl game.” And he said, s “Jim, go out and get some party p invitations printed up.” And Kensil went to Kinko’s, I think, and they were handing the invitations out in the street, a piece of paper would say: “Party, Sheraton West Hotel, 9 o’clock, o Friday night.” And then when you got into the party, it was like a divided house — everybody e from the AFC was on one side of the room, and everybody from the NFC was oon another side of the room. And one of the women, I think from the Jets, gave this big pep talk to the AFC people. Q: Describe your emotions when the AFL beat the NFL in Super Bowl III. A: I was shocked. I was really shocked. I don’t think that people realized that the [AFL] was as good as it was. And I don’t think they realized that [Joe] Namath was as good as he was, and that they had Chuck Knox and some pretty good coaches on that staff. Q: What has been the best Super Bowl ever played? A: I thought that Atlanta-New England was a very, very good Super Bowl. I thought that the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh [Super Bowl XIII], the one where Jackie Smith dropped a pass, was very good. Q: Describe the most heated war-room debate. A: Probably the most unusual one we had was a guy named Ron Marciniak, and he loved Jerry Rice. And we were concerned about Jerry Rice ’cause he didn’t run real fast. And he got up on our scouting table and he said, “I’ve seen this guy nine times,” this and that and so forth. But I think that’s the biggest debate we ever had, and then we were stunned because we were ready to draft him ... there was never any indication that San Francisco was gonna take Rice [after trading with the Patriots one spot ahead of the Cowboys]. Q: What was it like when Jerry Jones fired you in 1989? A: I talked to him before the draft. I said, “Now Jerry, if you’re gonna fire me afterwards, why don’t you just fire me?” [He said], “Oh no no, we got great plans” and so forth. I was there maybe a week or 10 days after the draft, and he came in one day and he said, “I gotta go play in this golf tournament, but I’m gonna be back this afternoon. Are you gonna be here? I want to talk to ya.” I said, “Well why don’t you fire me right now?” He did what he thought was right. I don’t think he probably would have fired me had he not felt that it was easy to be an NFL owner. And I think that he found out very shortly that it was a lot more difficult than he ever thought it would be. Q: Having been with the Cowboys for 28 years, what was that like for you? A: It was a culture shock. For a while, I didn’t know what to do with myself, because I’d been so used to going to work early in the morning and being there till late at night. So never really had an extended vacation of any type, and I was fortunate to own a place in [Big Sky] Montana that I was able to go and kind of rehabilitate myself. Q: Will Colin Kaepernick play in the NFL this year? A: I don’t think that Kaepernick is that good a player. I know a lot of people say there’s collusion and so forth — if you were the owner of my football team or you were Coach Landry and you came to me and said, “We need a quarterback, Kaepernick’s out there, what do you think?” I would say, “No I don’t think he could play on our team. I don’t think he’s good enough.” And even though he did take a team to the Super Bowl, I think that was really a team that a lot of people could have taken to the Super Bowl. Q: Do you think though he’s being punished for his kneeling? A: I don’t think so. I’ve never yet seen somebody that didn’t play a player that they thought could help ’em win, no matter whether they liked him or not. Q; What are your thoughts about last year’s anthem protests? A: I’m disappointed. I think this country of ours is so great. It’s bad for all of the military that have served this country. I hate to see it happen. Q: What do you think about concussions and CTE? A: Apparently, there’s more concussions in girls soccer than there is in football. And I think that at one time, we had no idea what a concussion was. I think that the money, and all of the things that we’ve spent and done to improve, this new tackling that we’re gonna try this year. I think we’ve done everything possible to prevent it from happening. ... There are some mothers that are concerned about it, and rightfully so. But I don’t think it’ll ever take away from the game as we know it now. Q: What are you most proud of ? A: The way we did it right. We had a very successful tenure, and I think we were on the verge of turning it around. ... The computer [analysis] that we established, the Cowboys as America’s Team. I’m so pleased of the way we ran the Cowboys, and the way that the three of us — Tex, Tom and I got along in doing so. Q: Any regrets? A: No, I don’t have any regrets, no.