Legendary Dallas Cowboys right guard Zack Martin has decided to retire after 11 seasons in the NFL. The former first-round draft pick played his entire career with the Cowboys, entering the league in 2014. Martin helped his team reach the playoffs six times and Dallas won the NFC East five times during his tenure. Unfortunately, for Martin, the Cowboys didn’t have much postseason success as the team hasn’t advanced beyond the divisional round since 1995, when the venerable lineman was five years old.
Martin spent six of his 11 pro seasons under former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. While Garrett went a respectable 85-67 during his time leading Dallas, he became known for his inability to maximize the roster’s potential and win big games. Garrett departed Dallas in 2019 with a 2-3 postseason record.
After Martin announced his retirement, former Cowboys wideout Dez Bryant dropped a cryptic post on X that included a crying laughing emoji and a GIF of Garrett awkwardly smiling as he turns to face a camera.
Is the former receiver taking a shot at his former coach? Well, there’s not much to go on here. But, yes. Of course he is.
It’s never too late to take a shot at former Cowboys coach Jason Garrett
Bryant is all too familiar with Garrett, as he played for the coach during his entire eight-year run in Dallas. Bryant went 1-2 with the team in the playoffs with two divisional round losses to the Aaron Rodgers-led Green Bay Packers. The Cowboys then released Bryant after the 2017 season when he was just 29 years old. So Dez likely feels some sort of way about Garrett.
While Garrett has found some success as an analyst for NBC’s Football Night in America, the unavoidable narrative that will forever follow the former coach is his legacy of failing to win a Super Bowl, or even reach a conference championship, with a wealth of talent that included Martin, Bryant, Jason Witten, Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware and others.
Ware is already in the Hall of Fame and Witten and Martin are headed for Canton, Ohio as soon as they are eligible. Martin is currently getting his flowers after a remarkable career in which he had more All-Pro selections than accepted holding penalties. The fact that that group was unable to win a title is baffling. And, apparently, Bryant is still salty about it. But Garrett shouldn’t feel too bad. Dez also had issues with Mike McCarthy.
The Cowboys will now move forward with new head coach Brian Schottenheimer. The longtime offensive coordinator will attempt to get the most out of Dak Prescott and company and hopefully avoid Garrett’s legacy of missed opportunities.
