Following their walk-off win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, the atmosphere in the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room wasn’t indicative of a team that just won a huge game heading into the holiday.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones noted after the game that the locker room was somber because of a tragedy connected to one of the players.
According to Mike Fisher of 247 Sports, we now know what happened. Rookie wide receiver Michael Gallup’s brother died this weekend of an apparent suicide.
“I’m told Michael’s sister, both part of a large adopted family from nearby Monroe, Georgia, came to the Mercedes-Benz Stadium locker room to deliver the news to Gallup,” Fisher reported.
This is tragic in so many ways. For one, Gallup and his family are natives of Georgia and Sunday’s game in Atlanta represented a homecoming of sorts.
“I never got to play in the dome like the other high schools did play in the championship. It’s exciting,” Gallup said. “I only have to get three tickets,” Gallup said in the lead up to the game. “Everybody else said they’ll just get their own tickets. That’s fine with me.”
A third-round pick from Colorado State this past April, Gallup has taken on a larger-than-expected role as a rookie. We all know how tight-knit NFL locker rooms are. Obviously, the news of his brother’s passing impacted everyone within the organization.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Gallup, his entire family and the Dallas Cowboys franchise. It’s times like these that sports takes a back seat.
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