IRVING, Texas - On any given practice day, at least four to five former Cowboys players will be present. Of course, one is the head coach of the team, some are assistant coaches, some work as consultants, some are in the media and some just stop by to visit and one of them, of course.
But it's not every day that a Hall of Famer and Ring of Honor player pays a visit. That's what happened Tuesday at Valley Ranch as Randy White showed up as a guest of Jason Garrett.
The "Manster" spoke to the team after practice and even worked with some of the defensive linemen on hand drills, using martial arts techniques.
"I've been doing that stuff for 40 years," White said after practice. "Today, I was working on some quick-hand drills and showed them different routes you can take. Just something they can work on to use their hands. I just try to refine down some drills that can get you into a game-type situation. The drills we do just gives them repetition."[embeddedad0]
Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli said having an established player such as White speak to his defensive players was a treat for all of them.
"It was a great deal for our men to be around a man like that," Marinelli said. "To have a man like that with them all day and visiting with them and talking football, not just football but how you approach the game of football. He's a special guy."
When asked what made him so good, Marinelli spoke of White being a consistent force on every single snap.
"Relentless. Every down. Every down. It's what you want to bring to our guys," he said.
Cowboys second-year rusher DeMarcus Lawrence said that relentless style popped off the screen during a highlight tape they watched.
"I heard about him (before)," Lawrence said of White. "We watched some film on him today and he really got after it. He's a great athlete and a great player."
White is also a pretty good observer these days. He spoke pretty highly of Lawrence, too.
"I watched him today and that guy can move like a cat," White said. "He's pretty impressive out there. He can be a game-changer out there if he can continue to improve and play the way he did at the end of the year, I think he can be a great player for them."
