San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Lamb doesn’t shy away from the big stage
DALLAS — Cowboys rookie wide receiver CeeDee Lamb is known for making unreal catches in big moments, but it’s his “dog” mentality that sets him apart. The team’s newest weapon has shown a knack for rising to the occasion.
In his final season at Oklahoma, he had missed a comeback win over Baylor three weeks earlier. In the two games since, he barely was involved in runheavy game plans. The Big 12 Championship now presented a rematch with Baylor.
Quarterback Jalen Hurts went locker by locker, giving teammates handshakes and pregame encouragement. When he reached Lamb, Hurts said nothing.
“I just gave him a note and walked off,” Hurts said by phone.
The note was brief, its message fitting easily on a small, sticky sheet.
Hurts said it was something to the effect of it being time to “let the dog out.”
“I knew it was time for bigtime players to make big-time plays in a game like that,” said Hurts, the Philadelphia Eagles’ second-round pick in April.
Those words embodied not only the performance Lamb would have on his future NFL home field but the player the Cowboys believe they drafted last month in the first round. Their offense’s newest weapon does not shy from big moments. Lamb trains for them. He embraces them.
“He lives for them,” said Sean McDowell, his former coach at Foster High, in the Houston suburb of Richmond. “He is the guy that when the game is on the line, when the pressure is on, he performs at his best because he’s always on. There is no off or on with him. It’s always on.”
Lamb arrived at Foster as an ordinary-looking freshman. He lacked the dreadlocks, muscle mass or straight teeth of today. But the athleticism, knack for the football and desire to compete were all there.
“We knew he had something special,” McDowell, 41, said by phone. “We just didn’t know what yet.”
On Oct. 23, 2014, Foster hosted a Thursday evening game against Calhoun High. The visitors scored a late touchdown and two-point conversion to lead 21-20 late in regulation. Off a reverse, Foster tried a desperation heave as time expired.
Lamb, not the primary receiver in the progression, snatched the football in traffic near a teammate and crowd of defenders. Touchdown.
But Foster was penalized for an illegal man downfield. The play was nullified. By rule, the game could not conclude on the penalty. Foster had another opportunity.
On a more traditional Hail Mary, the 15-year-old Lamb leaped over the Calhoun secondary for a touchdown. He celebrated by dropping the football with his right hand and signaling the number “two” with his left as teammates swarmed.
Not long after the play, Lamb landed on Oklahoma wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons’ recruitment radar. His flair for the dramatic continued in Norman.
On Oklahoma’s fourth play from scrimmage in the 2019 Big 12 title game, Lamb caught a short pass in the left flat and broke five tackles for a 71-yard gain. He finished with eight receptions for 173 yards in a 30-23 win and was named the game’s MVP.
Lamb’s dependability in the clutch starts in practice.
In high school, Lamb occasionally requested poorly placed passes to simulate different angles he might see in a game. McDowell likened the exercise to the sort of off-balance shots that former Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki would attempt to hone his craft.
At Oklahoma, Simmons said, Lamb’s competitive nature elevated practices.
He often toyed with defensive backs, shouting midroute, “Got ’em!” with a laugh. Chatter with teammates would continue on is way back to the huddle. Then, they would compete again.
“One of the things that I think the Cowboys organization will learn very early on in dealing with him,” Simmons said, “is everything that people saw him do on Saturday, shoot, it was equally or more impressive throughout the week. Practices for him were like games
“That dude worked his butt off, day in and day out. He has a competitive edge and spirit about him. Every period, it was competition. He was out there bringing energy. He’s kind of got a silliness side to him, an infectious smile that he has, just being able to compete. It raised the level of practice competition not just for the guys in my room as far as receivers but everyone on the team.”
People close to Lamb, who was unavailable for comment, tied his fiery nature and intrinsic desire to improve with a genuine enjoyment for the game.
It is why he leaped up for a one-handed, circus catch out of bounds against UCLA or why he unloaded on an Alabama defender as a run blocker. It’s all within the flow of competition.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward would smile, decimate an opponent, and smile again. Lamb has drawn that comparison.
And others.
Rischad Whitfield, more widely known as the “Footwork King,” has trained Lamb in the Houston area since the 21-yearold Lamb was a freshman in high school. The two have continued their routine this offseason, including now with the Cowboys’ headquarters mostly shuttered since March amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“What CeeDee does after the catch, it’s unreal,” Whitfield said. “It’s a very rare skill set. He plays like a violent runner. He runs the ball like he is angry at the world . ... People always say he’s like DeAndre Hopkins, but I’m like, ‘Man, y’all don’t know CeeDee like I know CeeDee.’
“When he’s lined up at receiver, running his routes, tracking the ball, catching the ball, he’s like DeAndre. But once he gets the ball in his hands, man, he turns into Dez Bryant. That’s what (the Cowboys) are going to see. The first person should not bring him down. He is very reliable. You know exactly what you are going to get from him, down by down.”
Dallas has not seen Lamb up close since it drafted him No. 17 overall.
Eventually, that time will come. The rookie will sit inside the Cowboys’ home locker room at AT&T Stadium while quarterback Dak Prescott makes his rounds, offering encouraging words to teammates.
Let the dog out again.