No matter what happens to the Dallas Cowboys in their NFC Divisional playoff showdown with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday evening (5:30 p.m. CT, Fox), at least one Poke will be playing beyond January.
The United State Football League's Pittsburgh Maulers announced this week that former Dallas defender Ray Horton will become its second head coach when it returns to action in April. Horton, 62, spent four seasons (1989-92) in Dallas and was a part of their run to Super Bowl XXVII after six prior seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals (1983-88).
In Cowboys lore, Horton is perhaps best known for becoming the first player in franchise history to score a defensive touchdown in consecutive games, doing so during the 1991 season. Though injuries and the rise of younger talents like James Washington and Darren Woodson eventually led to his retirement (playing only 12 games during the run to the Super Bowl win over Buffalo), Horton was able to kickstart a lengthy career as an NFL assistant coach, his first position coming alongside former Cowboys offensive coordinator Norv Turner in Washington.
Horton's most recent NFL work also came with Washington, as he was the defensive backs coach under Jay Gruden and later Bill Callahan in 2019. Prior trips included defensive coordinator jobs in Arizona (2011-12), Cleveland (2013, 2016), and Tennessee (2014-15). He's well-used to Pittsburgh-branded football affairs as well: Horton was the Pittsburgh Steelers' secondary coach for seven seasons (2004-10), earning two more Super Bowl rings in that span. He was later one of several coaches to join former Miami boss Brian Flores' class-action lawsuit against the NFL for alleged racial discrimination.
The second-round pick from the 1983 draft certainly has his work cut out for him: the Maulers finished 1-9 in the first year of the rebooted USFL, the worst among the eight teams. USFL action is set to resume this spring on the networks of Fox and NBC.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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