WATCH: Cowboys legend DeMarcus Ware surprises Jerry Jones with request to present him at Hall of Fame
Dallas Cowboys legend DeMarcus Ware surprised Jerry Jones this week with the request to present him at his Hall of Fame induction. The Cowboys’ social media team was there for the special moment between the former defensive lineman and the team owner.
Ware popped up at the Star facility and joked with Jones that he was there for a top-30 prospect visit. The 80-year-old businessman replied, “I wish the world we could do it. We’d sign you up.”
Ware learned in February that he’d made the 2023 Hall of Fame Class in his first year of eligibility. Despite ending his career away from the Cowboys, he asked Jones to be the one to present him during Enshrinement Week. The events in Canton, Ohio are from Aug. 3-6 this year and mark the start of the NFL’s 104th season.
Ware had an amazing career for both the Cowboys and Denver Broncos from 2005-16. He made nine Pro Bowls and led the NFL in sacks twice — in 2008 and 2010. He was also named to the NFL’s All-Decade team for the 2000s and won Super Bowl 50 with the Broncos in 2016.
For his career, Ware had 654 tackles, 138.5 sacks, 35 forced fumbles and three interceptions over 11 years.
Ware weighs in on Cowboys’ split from Ezekiel Elliott
DeMarcus Ware spoke to reporters this week about his former team cutting one of the faces of the franchise running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Ware, who played for the Cowboys from 2005-13, dealt with a similar cut before landing with the Denver Broncos, making two more Pro Bowls and winning a Super Bowl.
“It just it is what it is,” Ware said of Elliott’s release, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “But Zeke still has a lot in the tank. But you got to also think about the salary cap issues that I don’t know about.
“That was the best decision. It happened to me to where it got to a point where I was still playing well. I still had something in the tank. But you got to also think about the whole team in general. And so they made the right decision. And they’ll keep doing the same thing.”
Going on more than two weeks since Elliott hit the free agency market, the former Cowboys running back still hasn’t signed with a new team.
The front office has kept the door slightly ajar for his return if that’s how things play out.
“It’s hard because when you play for a team as big as Dallas and that is America’s Team,” Ware said. “I got to play nine years in Dallas. I gave everything to Dallas. But as far as the transition to another team, you find out really fast that it’s a business.
“You got to take your business elsewhere and keep it going. I did that in Denver. But I got to come back home.”