Jason Garrett, even in his mid-20's as a Dallas Cowboys quarterback back in 1994, was all about not only learning, but also about teaching. As he prepared that year to serve as Troy Aikman's replacement in what became a famously miraculous Thanksgiving Day win over Brett Favre's Green Bay Packers, Garrett allowed me a one-on-one interview that became a lesson in life philosophy.
"I only concern myself,'' Garrett told me as we sat on the loading dock at the Cowboys' old Valley Ranch headquarters, "with things that are within my control.''
It's a concept that has served him well as he's scaled the heights of his profession, including a decade as the Cowboys head coach.
And now? He'll use the tool of television to continue the teaching, working as an analyst on nationally-televised USFL games.
Garrett, 55, was recently a candidate for the vacancy at Duke as head football coach. This offseason, he was dismissed from his offensive coordinator job with the New York Giants. And before that, of course, was his lengthy stint at the Cowboys head coach, with a history as a Dallas quarterback before that.
Garrett as a TV guy? The intellectual Princeton grad and son of Jim Garrett, who was involved in the game as a Cowboys scout and finally as an Ivy League head coach over a 49-year career, will get a chance to express himself ... and his teachings ... in a new way.
The USFL starts in mid-April, with games on Fox and NBC.
Those who truly know Garrett can push beyond the silly memes oozing hatefully from his time as the Cowboys head coach from 2010 until 2019, recognizing that he rebuilt a program and compiled an 85-67 record with only the one real blemish being the absence of a Super Bowl.
And all along, he will proudly tell you, he "Did it The Right Way.''
Now he'll do TV. And it's a good bet he'll do this the right way as well.
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