debut, for a 76-yard game-winning touchdown. That game will always be a personal favorite, considering it was my first with the Cowboys. Fresh out of college and standing right there at FedEx Field, that will always go down as a classic.
The next year, the Cowboys give Dave Campo his first win as a head coach after an 0-2 start by beating Deion and the Redskins on the road. Later that season, Anthony Wright came off the bench after Troy Aikman was decked by LaVar Arrington (and given his final concussion), to lead the Cowboys to a season sweep over the Redskins.
How about 2001, when a real-life horse trotted on the field in pregame warm-ups and stepped on kicker Tim Seder's right foot. No harm done, because Seder kicked three field goals for a 9-7 win.
This rookie named Patrick Crayton caught two huge passes on the final drive against the Redskins, including a game-winning touchdown in the final minute to beat Washington 13-10 back in 2004.
Who could ever forget the final five minutes of the 2005 Monday night game? Yeah, Randy Moss has hurt the Cowboys but what about Santana Moss? The Redskins receiver caught two long touchdown passes in the final few minutes to erase a 13-0 deficit and stun the Cowboys' crowd with a 14-13 win. The loss spoiled the team's Ring of Honor induction for the Triplets - Aikman, Emmitt and Irvin.
One of the wildest endings I've ever seen occurred in 2006, in Tony Romo's second start of his career. The Redskins were about to beat the Cowboys with a long field goal attempt from Shaun Suisham, who promptly missed, giving Dallas another shot. Romo fired a long bomb to Jason Witten, and the Cowboys spiked the ball in time for one field goal attempt by Mike Vanderjagt for the win. Instead, the kicked was blocked, and not only did the Redskins return the ball to midfield, but a personal foul facemask penalty put Washington in range to attempt another kick with no time on the clock. Suisham drilled this one and the Cowboys were stunned, 22-19.
In 2007, Terrell Owens caught not one, but four touchdowns in a 28-23 win over the Redskins, who returned the favor in the season finale, needing a win to get into the playoffs. The only thing the Cowboys were playing for was a 14-2 regular season record. But they weren't too fired up for that one, and lost 27-6 in the pouring rain.
Last year had two more hard-fought battles, seeing the road team escape with victories. But in this rivalry, that's nothing normal.
Home, road, underdog, favorite - makes no difference.
Did I leave any lasting memories out? Of course, I did. Those were just some of my memories, but everyone has their own.
Obviously, I didn't take it back much to the 1970s or '60s, but that's when this all truly began.
There are just too many games and memories to simply discount the rivalry. The Cowboys and Redskins may not be playing for a spot in the playoffs or Super Bowl every season, but they've done it enough in the past to carry on the tradition.
Games against the Eagles and the Giants are big, usually when the game is big.
For the Redskins, it's a big game because . . . it's the Redskins.
For that reason alone, there are no two games bigger each season.
