WFAA
DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) — When the history of 2020 is written it will be remembered badly for COVID-19, political strife and violent demonstrations but it may also be remembered for something that happened last Saturday which could change the history of the 2020 NFL season: Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Mike McCarthy channeled prop comic Gallagher.
When the team boarded their flight from Dallas to Minneapolis McCarthy ordered a supply of watermelons and a sledge hammer loaded into the luggage compartment. Upon arrival at their hotel he called a team meeting and started smashing the melons to the surprise of 53 athletes too young to have even heard of Gallagher. Surely they thought the strain of the disappointing season thus far had broken their coach, but they dug it. It was funny. Some players took a turn at the weirdly hilarious stunt and apparently it was the bonding incident America’s Team needed.
The next day the Cowboys played their hearts out and beat the streaking Vikings 31-28.
After the game McCarthy said he has always been creative when trying to motivate his teams. ESPN reports as coach of the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy had his players’ ring fingers sized the night before beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.
Somebody asked the coach if watermelon smashing would continue as a pregame activity.
“That’s a great question,” he said. “We’ll see if it leaks out because it is my team meetings. What happens in the team meeting stays there. Yeah, definitely, we obviously have been fighting and scratching. The players have been great. So hey, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”
