The Cowboys would win the first of three Super Bowl titles in the next four years. Over the course of three seasons the Cowboys went from the worst team in the league to NFL champions. At the time, the Cowboys were the youngest team ever to win a Super Bowl. This season would also rekindle the rivalry between the Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers, whom the Cowboys defeated in the NFC Championship Game. They would meet again in the next two NFC title games in what many consider to be a classic series of contest. During this time the NFC Championship Games between the two was seen as the unofficial NFL championship game due to the Cowboys and 49ers continued dominance, and the fact that the winner of the contest would go on to win the Super Bowl rather handily directly afterwards. Dallas would struggle early, but regroup and route the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII forcing a record 9 turnovers and knocking Bills quarterback Jim Kelly out of the game. Troy Aikman would earn Super Bowl MVP honors, wrapping up a phenomenal post-season in which he completed 68% of his passes with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Notable additions to the team this year included defensive end Charles Haley, cornerback Kevin Smith, linebacker Robert Jones, safety Thomas Everett, safety Darren Woodson and wide receiver Jimmy Smith(though Smith would never catch a pass during his time with the team).
Kenneth Howard Norton, Jr. (born September 29, 1966 in Lincoln, Illinois) is a former American football linebacker who spent 13 years playing in the NFL and the current Linebacker Coach for the University of Southern California Trojans football team.
Norton Jr., a graduate of Westchester High School in California, went on to obtain his bachelor's degree in sociology at UCLA, where he played for the UCLA Bruins as a linebacker from 1984-1987, earning All-American honors in 1987. At only 6'1" he was short for a linebacker, but played at a formidable 254 pounds. In 1988, he was picked in the second round of the NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys where he played between 1988 and 1993, assisting the Cowboys to victory in Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII. Norton scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXVII, helping to seal a Dallas victory. He later joined the San Francisco 49ers from 1994 to 2000, becoming the first player to win three consecutive Super Bowls (Super Bowl XXIX). Norton was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1993 and 1995. Norton was also named to the NFL All-Pro Team following the 1995 season.
Norton finished his 13 NFL seasons with 12 sacks and 5 interceptions, which he returned for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns (both in the same game against the Saint Louis Rams in 1995). He also recovered 13 fumbles and returned them for 36 yards. Along with ex-teammate Deion Sanders, Norton won consecutive Super Bowls on different teams.
After retiring from the NFL, Norton Jr. served as a radio and television commentator and analyst and coached football at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, California.
Since 2004, he has been the linebackers coach for the University of Southern California Trojans; at USC he coached players such as Pro Bowler Lofa Tatupu and Keith Rivers. In January 2008, declined offers by UCLA's new head coach, Rick Neuheisel, to join the Bruins coaching as an assistant head coach.
Source: Wikipedia |
