2001 Dallas Cowboys season

The 2001 Dallas Cowboys season was the team's 42nd in the National Football League (NFL) and second under head coach Dave Campo. The Cowboys matched their record from the season before, going 5–11 and missing the playoffs, finishing last in the NFC East. For the first time since 1988, Troy Aikman was not on the Cowboys roster as quarterback, as the three-time Super Bowl champion retired, after playing for the team from 1989 to 2000. For the only time, Pat Summerall and John Madden did not call any Cowboys games for Fox all year.

2001 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Jerry Jones
General manager	Jerry Jones
Head coach	Dave Campo
Home stadium	Texas Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	5th NFC East
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	G Larry Allen LB Dexter Coakley
Uniform
← 2000 Cowboys seasons 2002 →

Offseason

Additions	Subtractions
WR Darrin Chiaverini (Browns)	QB Randall Cunningham (Ravens)
QB Tony Banks (Ravens)	QB Troy Aikman (retirement)
	WR James McKnight (Dolphins)
	CB Ryan McNeil (Chargers)
	DT Leon Lett (Broncos)

An eventful off-season created a lot buzz but little change in the Cowboys' fortunes. Franchise quarterback Troy Aikman, after suffering a pair of concussions the previous season, was released by the team. Unable to sign on with another team — in part due to his long history of concussions — Aikman announced his retirement at an emotional and lengthy press conference later in the off-season. This left running back Emmitt Smith as the last of the famed "triplets" from the Cowboys' Super Bowl victories. Veteran quarterback Tony Banks was signed in the off-season from the Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens as an immediate replacement, and owner Jerry Jones hand picked Georgia quarterback Quincy Carter with a second-round draft choice as the quarterback of the future. Many saw the Carter pick as quite a reach considering Carter's inconsistent career at Georgia and his low draft rating by several other teams.

2001 draft class

Main article: 2001 NFL draft

2001 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
2	53	Quincy Carter	QB	Georgia
2	56	Tony Dixon	SS	Alabama
3	93	Willie Blade	DT	Mississippi State	compensatory
4	122	Markus Steele	LB	Southern California
5	137	Matt Lehr	G	Virginia Tech
6	171	Daleroy Stewart	DT	Southern Mississippi
7	207	Colston Weatherington	DL	Central Missouri State
7	240	John Nix	DT	Southern Mississippi	compensatory
7	242	Char-ron Dorsey	OT	Florida State	compensatory
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Notes

• The Cowboys traded their 2000 first-round (No. 19 overall) and 2001 first-round (No. 7 overall) selections to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for wide receiver Joey Galloway.
• The Cowboys traded their original second-round selection (No. 37 overall) to the Indianapolis Colts in exchange for second- (No. 52 overall) and third-round (No. 81 overall) selections.
• The Cowboys traded their second-round (No. 52 overall, from Indianapolis) selection to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for second (No. 56 overall) and fourth-round (No. 122 overall) selections.
• The Cowboys traded two third-round (Nos. 70 and 81 overall) selections to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for a second-round (No. 53 overall) selection.
• The Cowboys traded their fourth-round (No. 102 overall) and 2002 seventh-round (No. 217 overall) selections to the Atlanta Falcons in exchange for tight end O.J. Santiago.^[1]

Undrafted free agents

2001 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Del Bates	Cornerback	Nevada
Jason Bell	Cornerback	UCLA
Javiar Collins	Defensive tackle	Northwestern
Demetric Evans	Defensive end	Georgia
J. J. Jones	Linebacker	Arkansas
Lynn Scott	Safety	Northwestern Oklahoma State
Colin Sears	Tackle	Auburn
Kenny Wilkerson	Fullback	Mississippi State

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 2001 roster
Quarterbacks 17 Quincy Carter 16 Ryan Leaf  5 Clint Stoerner Running backs 42 Troy Hambrick 22 Emmitt Smith 32 Michael Wiley KR 48 Terry Witherspoon FB Wide receivers 85 Darrin Chiaverini 84 Joey Galloway 81 Rocket Ismail 87 Ken-Yon Rambo 80 Reggie Swinton KR/PR 89 Randal Williams Tight ends 88 Jackie Harris 49 Johnny Huggins 86 Mike Lucky		Offensive linemen 76 Flozell Adams T 73 Larry Allen G 70 Javiar Collins T 79 Char-ron Dorsey T 66 Ben Fricke C/G 61 Kelvin Garmon G 63 Aaron Gibson T 71 Alcender Jackson G 68 Matt Lehr C/G 53 Mark Stepnoski C Defensive linemen 98 Greg Ellis DE 92 Demetric Evans DE 90 Byron Frisch DE 72 Dwayne Missouri DE 94 Michael Myers DT 60 John Nix DT 75 Brandon Noble DT 93 Peppi Zellner DE		Linebackers 51 Keith Adams MLB 50 Jamal Brooks OLB 54 Marq Cerqua OLB 52 Dexter Coakley OLB 56 Orantes Grant OLB 59 Dat Nguyen MLB 55 Markus Steele OLB Defensive backs 33 Jason Bell CB 41 Pat Dennis CB 24 Tony Dixon SS 27 Mario Edwards CB 38 Duane Hawthorne CB 43 Izell Reese CB/S 21 Lynn Scott SS 31 George Teague FS 28 Darren Woodson SS Special teams  9 Jon Hilbert K  4 Micah Knorr P 45 Mike Solwold LS		Reserve lists 99 Willie Blade DT (IR) 96 Ebenezer Ekuban DE (IR) 23 Dwayne Goodrich CB (IR) 58 Louis Mackey LB (IR) 77 Solomon Page T (IR)  6 Tim Seder K (IR) 64 Daleroy Stewart DT (NF-Inj) 44 Robert Thomas FB (IR) 91 Dimitrius Underwood DT (NF-Ill) 82 James Whalen TE (IR)  2 Anthony Wright QB (IR) 18 Bashir Yamini WR (IR) Practice squad 19 Richmond Flowers WR 15 Anthony Lucas WR (IR) 36 Tony Taylor RB 67 Colston Weatherington DE -- Austin Wheatley TE 58 Donny Green OLB 53 Scott Zimmerman LB rookies in italics 53 active, 13 inactive, 5 practice squad

Coaching staff

Dallas Cowboys 2001 coaching staff
Front office Owner/general manager – Jerry Jones Executive vp – Stephen Jones Head coaches Head coach – Dave Campo Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Jack Reilly Quarterbacks – Wade Wilson Running backs – Clarence Shelmon Wide receivers – Wes Chandler Tight ends – Joe Avezzano Offensive line – Hudson Houck Offensive assistant – Glenn Smith			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Mike Zimmer Defensive tackle – Andre Patterson Defensive ends – Jim Jeffcoat Linebackers – George Edwards Secondary – Pete Carmichael Jr Defensive nickel – Bill Bates Special teams coaches Special teams – Joe Avezzano Kickers – Steve Hoffman Strength and conditioning – Joe Juraszek Source:[2]

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue
1	August 4	at Oakland Raiders	L 14–21	0–1	Network Associates Coliseum
2	August 11	Denver Broncos	L 6–20	0–2	Texas Stadium
3	August 18	at New Orleans Saints	L 10–16	0–3	Louisiana Superdome
4	August 27	vs. Oakland Raiders	W 21–6	1–3	Estadio Azteca (Mexico City)
5	August 30	Jacksonville Jaguars	W 27–17	2–3	Texas Stadium

Regular season

Despite what seemed a promising outing in the first pre-season game by starter Tony Banks, the Cowboys, in a very surprising move, released Banks in the middle of training camp and handed the reins over to their rookie quarterback Quincy Carter. Unfortunately, a combination of injuries and ineffectiveness led to the Cowboys starting a total of four different quarterbacks over the course of the season, including journeyman Anthony Wright and former Arkansas Razorback Clint Stoerner. In an attempt to provide more depth at the quarterback position, the team signed former second-overall draft pick Ryan Leaf mid-season, however he provided no improvement in his limited playing time. His only three starts of the season, a Week 9 loss to the Falcons which also marked the first start for Falcons QB Michael Vick, a week 10 loss the Eagles, and a week 11 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Broncos, was the final start of his career.

Even with the injection of new blood, the Cowboys suffered through another 5–11 campaign and a last place finish in the NFC East. The lack of development at quarterback and the offense as a whole would be blamed on offensive coordinator Jack Reilly who was dismissed after the season. Fans became weary of the Cowboys' performance and blamed owner Jerry Jones, who by now had taken a more hands-on approach to running the team.

One notable game included week 7, where the Cowboys led the Giants 24–7 at halftime, but (thanks in part to Clint Stoerner's 4 interceptions) the Giants rallied to win in overtime. In an unusual move, Stoerner was pulled from the game for Ryan Leaf late in the 4th quarter of a tie game. It was Leaf's debut with the team, but he couldn't lead them to victory.

Another infamous game was on Thanksgiving Day against the Broncos. Dallas trailed 26–10 and scored a touchdown in the 4th quarter. Coach Dave Campo decided against "going for 2" which if successful would have made it an eight-point (and one-possession) game. Campo instead had Dallas kick the extra point, keeping the margin at 9. Dallas did score one more late TD but that was not enough to tie the game and they never got the ball back, and lost 26–24.

A fourth consecutive season sweep of rival Washington Redskins and a victory over the San Francisco 49ers were the only victories of note. Much of the focus turned towards Emmitt Smith and his pursuit of the all-time career rushing yardage record. During an early-season game against the San Diego Chargers, Bob Hayes was inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 9	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 6–10	0–1	Texas Stadium	61,521
2[A]	September 23	San Diego Chargers	L 21–32	0–2	Texas Stadium	63,430
3	September 30	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 18–40	0–3	Veterans Stadium	66,621
4[B]	October 7	at Oakland Raiders	L 21–28	0–4	Network Associates Coliseum	61,535
5	October 15	Washington Redskins	W 9–7	1–4	Texas Stadium	63,941
6	Bye[B]
7	October 28	Arizona Cardinals	W 17–3	2–4	Texas Stadium	63,114
8	November 4	at New York Giants	L 24–27 (OT)	2–5	Giants Stadium	78,673
9	November 11	at Atlanta Falcons	L 13–20	2–6	Georgia Dome	69,010
10	November 18	Philadelphia Eagles	L 3–36	2–7	Texas Stadium	63,204
11	November 22	Denver Broncos	L 24–26	2–8	Texas Stadium	64,104
12	December 2	at Washington Redskins	W 20–14	3–8	FedExField	85,112
13	December 9	New York Giants	W 20–13	4–8	Texas Stadium	61,821
14	December 16	at Seattle Seahawks	L 3–29	4–9	Husky Stadium	63,366
15	December 23	at Arizona Cardinals	L 10–17	4–10	Sun Devil Stadium	48,883
16	December 30	San Francisco 49ers	W 27–21	5–10	Texas Stadium	64,366
17[A]	January 6	at Detroit Lions	L 10–15	5–11	Pontiac Silverdome	77,512

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(3) Philadelphia Eagles	11	5	0	.688	343	208	W2
Washington Redskins	8	8	0	.500	256	303	W2
New York Giants	7	9	0	.438	294	321	L2
Arizona Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	295	343	L1
Dallas Cowboys	5	11	0	.313	246	338	L1

Notes

1. The Cowboys were originally scheduled to play the Detroit Lions during Week 2 of the original NFL schedule (September 16) at Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac. However, due to the September 11 attacks, the game was rescheduled to Week 17.
2. The Cowboys were originally scheduled to play the Oakland Raiders during Week 6 (October 21) at Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland. However, the game was re-scheduled to Week 4 to accommodate a possible Oakland Athletics baseball game in the ALCS, in which both the Cowboys and Raiders would originally have had their byes. The Athletics were subsequently eliminated on October 15.