FRISCO, Texas — The upset win over the Carolina Panthers was especially meaningful for at least three players who suited up for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon. It was an impressive homecoming for Rico Dowdle, Jalen Brooks and Israel Mukuamu in Week 15, as all three found ways to change the game on their home soil.
Kismet was revealed.
Dowdle, a native of Asheville, a short two-hour drive from Bank of America Stadium, rushed for his third consecutive 100-yard game, the first Cowboys' player to achieve that feat since Ezekiel Elliott did it in 2019; and he is now only 120 rushing yards away from his first career 1,000-yard season.
"It's special," said Dowdle. "There were a lot of people in the crowd. Go Gamecocks, and all the stuff like that. It was a lot of family out there. It was definitely special to get back out to the Carolinas and play in front of them, for sure."
A former standout at the University of South Carolina, it went without saying he'd be playing in front of loved ones when he battled the Panthers.
"Probably close to about 40 or 50 [were in the crowd]," said Dowdle. "Family, friends, all types of people."
Not to be outdone, there was Mukuamu, born in the City of Charlotte itself, having also played at South Carolina in the seasons prior to joining the Cowboys back in 2021. Against the Panthers, it was Mukuamu helping to seal the victory with an interception late in the fourth quarter on a target from quarterback Bryce Young to tight end Adam Thielen.
It was the second interception of the day on a target to Thielen, and Mukuamu's second of the 2024 season.
And then there's Brooks, born in Harrisburg, a suburb of Charlotte, who also took the field for the Gamecocks in his collegiate career — the Cowboys effectively achieving the Gamecocks' trifecta in the Queen City — scoring his first-ever NFL touchdown in front of his literal home crowd.
"I have coaches here [in Carolina], teammates from high school and college, and I've got principals, families, and friends, so there [were] a lot of people here, for sure," he said before explaining how his touchdown came to be. "I really was supposed to be clearing out the play for Brandon Cooks, but then Coop[er Rush] got flushed out of the pocket. Once I saw him starting to scramble, I was like, 'I've got to get over to the other side of the field.'
"I got over there and saw the ball go up, and I was like, 'Yeah, this is my time to make this play.' That was one thing I was wishing for, just for that ball to go up."
Needless to say, he's never letting go of that football.
"Oh, I'm definitely going to frame it," said a smiling Brooks. "I just [bought] a crib and we're going to figure out where I'm going to put it but, yeah, I'm excited about it, so I'm going to find a perfect spot for it."
On a day, and in a season, in which the Cowboys have depended heavily on previously unheralded players to step up and play big, it was a trio of Carolina kids making sure their hometown team had a terrible afternoon for the benefit of the one that gave them an opportunity in the NFL.
In the sphere of their respective journeys, it was the definition of full circle.
