Cowboys Crosstalk: Anthony Spencer | 2025

Anthony Spencer is the special guest on Cowboys Crosstalk presented by SWBC Financial Services at The Star in Frisco!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
The Boys Cross Talk broadcasting live from the Cowboys Club
at the Star in Frisco, rawn to you.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
By Blockchain dot Com. Invest like your icons with Blockchain
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(00:38):
by SWBC Mortgage, customized solutions to help you meet your
personal and business goals. Visit SWBC dot com Now your
hosts Nate Newton and Bobby Bell.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
Happy Wednesday, everyone, Welcome in the Cowboys Cross Talk live
from the Cowboys Club at the Star in Frisco, Texas.

Speaker 4 (01:00):
I am not your host, Poppy Belt.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
My name is Tommy Yards of Dallascowboys dot Com. Alongside
me is Corey Majors. From one oh five to three,
the fan were joined as always by the three times
Super Bowl champion, six time Pro Bowler Nate Newton and
our special guest this evening is former Cowboys defensive end
Pro Bowl defensive end Anthony Spencer.

Speaker 4 (01:19):
Welcome to the program. Thank you so much for making
the time.

Speaker 5 (01:22):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
Thank you all for joining us here on the Dallas
Cowboys Radio Network, Dallas Cowboys dot Com, and all other
associated social media platforms. Now that all that's out of
the way, let's go ahead and dive into your past
a little bit here. Anthony fort Wayne, Indiana, Yes. Born
and raised in Bishop High School. I thought that was
really interesting, just kind of looking back at that. You

(01:43):
were the three year starter there. You only lost three games, right,
What do you remember about your high school days and
those two state championships you won?

Speaker 5 (01:52):
I remember the losses. I remember the losses.

Speaker 4 (01:56):
As a true competitor one it was.

Speaker 5 (02:00):
It was a lot of good time, a lot of
good times.

Speaker 6 (02:02):
Like my first year and the freshman class that we had,
we only lost the three times that Like, we went
through the SAC was our conference, and we just beat
everybody our freshman year and we all kind of got
moved up that year. And then just getting a little
bit of taste of how varsity football was.

Speaker 5 (02:21):
It was.

Speaker 6 (02:22):
It was kind of mind blowing the difference between freshmen
to varsity. And then once I became our very first
game we lost as varsity, like we lost against the
five A team and we got demolished and I remember
us all being at Burger King after the game just
talking about how we all got whooped up on and
it was just like, we can't have this happening, like

(02:43):
and then after that it's like all of us kind
of just hell, does everybody accountable?

Speaker 5 (02:48):
Like do your job? I do my job. And then
we just went on a winning.

Speaker 7 (02:53):
Yeah yeah, but me, So what you just one sport?

Speaker 5 (02:59):
Guy? Did you get into?

Speaker 6 (03:01):
I love I loved basketball. Basketball was my number one
sport growing up. I had a lot of hoop dreams.
I thought that I was going to be the next
Michael Jordan, but I learned quickly like playing au because
that was every summer in Indiana.

Speaker 5 (03:17):
It was just always basketball, basketball, basketball.

Speaker 6 (03:19):
So probably around sophomore year I started. I was playing
that power forward center, uh swing guard position. The guy
started being six six six seven, you know, so I
was like, I can't, I'm not matching up well. So
it pushed me into the football world a lot more.

Speaker 4 (03:38):
The kids watching this show just got the six seven.

Speaker 5 (03:42):
My kids love it.

Speaker 4 (03:43):
I knew. I knew as soon as you said that
that you said your kids would.

Speaker 5 (03:46):
Yeah, now did you?

Speaker 8 (03:47):
Was NFL always a dream or was it kind of
like at some point it became a dream.

Speaker 5 (03:53):
At one point it became a dream. You know. I
was always doing.

Speaker 6 (03:57):
What I had to do to do what I wanted
to do, and that kind of just even one thing
led to another. I was really good at basketball and
I was really good at football. I had scholarships to
do both. But just me seeing the I mean the
writing on the wall, I guess to say, just to
see that I was better at football, Like I got
more accolades and more praise for it.

Speaker 5 (04:18):
So I just stayed with what I was good at.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yeah, looking back, we'll talk about the NFL here in
just a little bit, But in you're recruiting, when your
recruitment was going on, you ended up going to Purdue. Yeah,
what other offers that you have and what went into
that decision? Was it wanting to stay close to home?
And what was it about coach Tiller that made you
want to commit to the boiler Makers?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (04:41):
The biggest thing that separated, Like I had offers from
like Texas A and m Michigan State. I was like
I had offers from all over because I would go
to these camps and they were like, oh, like you're
really I would get offered at the camp.

Speaker 5 (04:53):
But my grades weren't good.

Speaker 6 (04:55):
So Purdue what they like, they were like a lot
of teams were like, he's not gonna be able to
get eligible. What they really tried to Purdue helped me,
Like they helped me. They told me I need to
take night school. They told me what classes I should
really take over, what I should focus on, and uh
even the SAT like telling me like to go take
a test or practice practice tests for the SAT. Like

(05:16):
they just got me prepared, you know what I mean.
And that really showed me that they wanted me there.
And then once I got my grades right, everybody came
back like the offers out of Wahoo.

Speaker 5 (05:26):
But I was like, I'm gonna go.

Speaker 6 (05:27):
I'm gonna go to Purdue because it was just like
they wanted me there, and it was like, I don't know,
I always I always try to just read between the
lines in life, you know what I mean, because there's
always options. You got choices you have made. The choices
that you make is really gonna shape shape your life,
you know what I mean. So I really uh looked
at those things before I made decisions like that.

Speaker 3 (05:49):
And then just with coach till Or he was there
for a really long time, and especially when by the
time that you had gone there, what was your relationship
like with him and how did you see it grow
over the years there, especially going into the senior year.

Speaker 4 (06:02):
Where you had your best year in college.

Speaker 6 (06:04):
Football accountability wise, like because like I said, like my
grades that didn't change when I got to college, you
know what I mean. So it was like just them
him keeping me accountable to my grades and just the
amount of work that I put into things, and then
the the gratitude and the things that I had for

(06:28):
what I have done for myself. I made it made
it more important, you know I mean, and just him
showing me how to make things important in my life,
how I went about it, the decisions that I was making,
and it just he was just like more of a
father figure.

Speaker 5 (06:43):
A lot of a lot of coaches that I had.

Speaker 6 (06:44):
I probably had probably three four different position coaches while
I was there, but each one of them brought different
aspects of my personality out, you know what I mean.
So they had guys that yelled at me and tried
to get it out to me, and then guys asked
playing to me, like if you just did X, like
it was just a lot of different personalities and now
today it just really helped shape me and to be

(07:06):
able to cause I do. I coach with my kids now.
So like when I'm coaching certain kids, it's like I
don't get through to them if I'm yelling or be
in a certain type of way. So it's like everybody
responds to different Yes, sure you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (07:20):
So it's like I learned all that.

Speaker 6 (07:21):
From Coach Tiller and all the other coaches I had
while I was at Producer.

Speaker 7 (07:25):
Let me let me so the accolades man, he said,
your senior year, I mean, tell me about it, man, Yeah, going, well,
this is what this was like.

Speaker 6 (07:34):
So my junior year, I can't like I was went
to that little combine thing and then like I was
projected to be a six round pick and the guys
I was playing with that gap that went out that
year they were third, second, fourth round picks. I'm like,
I'm just as good, or if not better than these guys.
So I went after that, I went to home for

(07:57):
whatever break it was. I was working at General Motors
during that time. Like my mom, she worked at General
MoES for a really long time. But during that time
when I was working at General Motors, I was making
seventeen twenty.

Speaker 5 (08:07):
Dollars an hour, which I thought was you know.

Speaker 6 (08:09):
What I mean, like a lot of freaking money back then.
So but after working there for like three four weeks
and not having what I thought I should have out
of it, yeah, I mean, like it's a lot of
hard work and put put perspective on the work that
I was doing at Purdue. So I went back to
Purdue after that, like three weeks of summer and I
went back. I did every rep I ran. I try

(08:31):
to be the first in every race. Like I just
I just pushed myself to like to the end, I mean,
because I saw the life that I could be living
in Fort Wayne and working at General Motors and doing
those things. But it's like, yeah, if I just pushed
myself a little bit more, and you know, I mean,
it wasn't hard. Yeah, I mean it was like when

(08:52):
before it was hard, you know. I mean when I
looked at it, it was.

Speaker 5 (08:55):
A lot of things that I didn't want to do.

Speaker 6 (08:57):
But it just put things in perspective and made football easy.
It made me enjoy it and love it for because
it's a game, you know, I mean, like, who has
the opportunity to play a game for a living. I
tell the same thing to my kids, Like, you do
a lot of work now so that you can have
a lot of choices later.

Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yeah, well that work paid off and you certainly made
it look easy. Ten and a half sacks. Let the
team ninety three tackles. That was third on the team,
First Team All Big Ten, third Team.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
All American.

Speaker 3 (09:25):
We keep on going down the list, but that was
a that was a really special year.

Speaker 8 (09:30):
Yeah, I was that style of football up there. I
always look at all the conferences and I'm like, there's
a lot of pageantry in Big twelve. There's a lot
of it feels fast on the West Coast, but up there,
it's like this smash mouth style of football. Right is
that do you kind of see the same thing? Yes,
for sure, Like and and that was the Big Ten.
Now it's completely different.

Speaker 5 (09:52):
It's a little bit o next week.

Speaker 6 (09:57):
Yeah, but the culture there it was just like more
just in your face fight, like like who's tougher than who?
Type of situation in our team my senior year, like
we've built our like foundation around that, like we like
we compete against each other, we and It's like, I

(10:18):
feel like a show too, because like they're like Nikovich, Cliff,
all these guys that are coming out a pretty during
that time is because we.

Speaker 5 (10:27):
Were just we're steel sharpened and steel.

Speaker 6 (10:30):
You mean, we all were working against each other and
making each other better during that time.

Speaker 3 (10:35):
Wow, well it certainly worked. Really, that hard nose style
is the big ten. I feel like it's always regardless
of the shifting landscape of college football, it's always been
known for who's the toughest team, who's the most hard
nosed team on the interior, and specifically on the interior,
that's kind of where the nose area was, kind of
where you had started your career. And then when we

(10:56):
get to our next time, we're gonna go and take
our first break here. We're gonna talk about the movie
that Anthony Spencer made to the outside and when you
became a first round pick back in two thousand and seven,
the Cowboys moved you outside, and trivia question for all
of you guys heading into the break here, he ended
up starting next to a guy in Dallas who wore
the number ninety four.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
I know it's going to be really difficult to figure
out who that is.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
But we'll talk about that in more coming up on
our next segment here of Cowboys Crossed.

Speaker 5 (11:22):
Off clear.

Speaker 9 (11:30):
Cow Cowboys, no cowbaws, no Cowboys nos.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
SWBC Mortgages, Dallas Cowboys Crosstalk broadcasting live from the Cowboys
Club at the Star in Frisco.

Speaker 3 (14:37):
And welcome back to Cowboys Cross Talk, brought to you
by our friends at SWBC. At SWBC, customized solutions for
individuals and businesses are just a click away. Visit SWBC
dot com to learn more and start your next adventure.
All right, we're back here on Cowboys Cross Talk at
the Cowboys Club at the Star in Frisco, coming to

(14:57):
you live from the Dallas Cowboys Radio Network, Cowboys dot
Com and all other associated social media platforms. That is
a mouthful, but we are so back and now we're
going to dive a little bit more into Anthony Spencer,
who was our special guest tonight NFL career. We talked
going into the break a little bit about what do
you remember from Draft nine of two thousand and seven.

Speaker 6 (15:17):
Oh, I remember not wanting to have people at the house,
and then getting to the house and it was full
of people, and my mom wanted to have a party
and all that stuff. But I'm I've always been like
to myself and like, just I don't know. I don't
like the hoopla. Yeah, I don't like the hype. I

(15:42):
don't like the hype. Yeah, I've never been like that.
So that's what I remember most about it. But it
was it was a very exciting time for me, just
because I wasn't sure where I was going to go,
Like I had had projections of where I was going
to be at, and I had visited so many different
teams and talked to so many different people during that

(16:02):
time that it was just like I had no idea.

Speaker 5 (16:04):
But once I knew where.

Speaker 6 (16:05):
I was gonna go, it was very exciting because I
knew of the Cowboys because they were America's team right
so to say. But as a as a young child
growing up, I wasn't I didn't watch football, like, I
wasn't a football fan like.

Speaker 5 (16:20):
I was more into basketball and stuff like that.

Speaker 6 (16:22):
So just for me just to know the organization and
the people that I was going to be around, like
it made it easier, I feel like.

Speaker 3 (16:30):
And then being a first round pick, regardless of year,
you come in with high expectations and you know, usually
you're looked at us. You're gonna be starting playing early, right,
Well for you, Greg Allis is still dealing with the
injury and all right, removing the outside you're starting next
to the Marcus Ware. What was that rookie season like
and how much did wear help you early on?

Speaker 5 (16:48):
Man? D Ware was awesome for me.

Speaker 6 (16:51):
Like I remember the first day I got there and
it was just like he's just yelling my name across
the locker room and I don't even know who he is,
and I like he walking up and just embracing me
and making it just feel at home, you know, I
mean just like like they wanted me there. Like it
was like the same type of thing that I felt
when I went to produce, so and just deware and

(17:11):
even Greg Greg was super helpful for me on my
first year. Like even with it being like a business
and I'm taking his job or having his like us
having the same job, he wasn't ever like not trying
to help me.

Speaker 5 (17:26):
So that was another big just.

Speaker 6 (17:29):
Thinking because I didn't really understand how the how the
business of the game worked at that time. Like when
I got here, like I knew I was going to
be backing him up, But I didn't know that he
was going to be leaving, you know what I mean,
Like I like, I didn't know I was gonna be
like taking his position in that in that type of way,
but then to it forth to turn out how it did,
and him to be the person that he was to me, Like,

(17:50):
he just made it easier for me when new guys
came in, to be able to feed into them and
just give them knowledge into I don't know, just to
push it forward. Like, but he where and Greg were
both awesome when I first got here.

Speaker 8 (18:04):
You know, sometimes you're in high school man among boys,
you go to college, it's good.

Speaker 5 (18:07):
Then you get to the NFL.

Speaker 8 (18:09):
The power, the difference and strength of guys across from you.
How different was that? Was there a wake up call there?

Speaker 5 (18:16):
Yes? For sure? So my that first like that first
training camp, it was.

Speaker 6 (18:22):
Like playing a high school or college game every every practice,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (18:27):
So it was it was a lot. It was a
lot different.

Speaker 6 (18:30):
So it made it but it made me better faster,
Like and the guys that we had on the team
on that offensive line that first year, like they made
me get ready for the league. I mean, just the
practices were the hardest thing during the week, you, I mean,
then when we got into the game, it was just like,
I'm doing what I was doing in practice all week.
So it made it a lot easier just competing against

(18:51):
guys of that caliber, you know.

Speaker 8 (18:53):
I mean, yea, having that kind of coaching staff is
always nice, right, right?

Speaker 7 (18:57):
I hope I ain't jump in the gum. But now,
what was position did he play in college? Because you
had a question?

Speaker 4 (19:05):
Was I incorrect about that?

Speaker 5 (19:06):
You? What position did you play in college? I played?

Speaker 6 (19:08):
I played defensive end in college, So I went, I
went from, well.

Speaker 4 (19:11):
There you go, there's my first coming back.

Speaker 8 (19:16):
In the three four edge, right, like that was what
he did.

Speaker 6 (19:18):
Yeah, but you're you said I played I played nose
when I was in high school, right, and then I
moved to defensive Yah.

Speaker 7 (19:27):
Yeah, I just wanted to know because I kind of
missed that part. So I'm like, because a lot of
guys get moved around coming out of high school, you
the biggest guy, even though you ain't the biggest guy
when you get to get to high school, even middle school,
you ain't the biggest guy when you get to college.
And so you know, like I was, I was just
the biggest guy you know. So I just wanted to

(19:48):
know him because a lot of guys started one position
and all of a sudden, you're like, wow, this kid
developed from a nose guard right to the outside linebacker.

Speaker 6 (19:57):
And it's like, as I got first there along end
of my career, it's just like I I've moved further
and further away from the ball.

Speaker 5 (20:04):
Yeah, yeah, what is.

Speaker 4 (20:07):
That transition like as you look back on it now
you know it? Sometimes when you see.

Speaker 3 (20:12):
Guys move around as from fans, from an outsider subspective,
it's oh, okay, they're moving a little bit more on
the outside. Yeah, what changes and what are the difficulties
of changing that?

Speaker 4 (20:21):
When you move from not just high school to college,
but especially college.

Speaker 5 (20:25):
Is the NFL responsibilities? So as a defensive end, it's.

Speaker 6 (20:31):
A pretty much straightforward You're going to get the quarterback
and the guy goes down, you do such and such.
But when you have a linebacker position, like you're in
the past routes now and the coverages and uh, it's
just a lot more the checks. And I loved it because.

Speaker 5 (20:49):
It made me know more about the defense.

Speaker 6 (20:50):
It helped me learn more about what this guy was
doing and what that guy was doing, so it made
me do my job easier.

Speaker 8 (20:57):
Nate, you were talking this morning when you were on
with our morning show Sean and RJ and Bobby, They
and you were talking about, you know when you learn
that pop that use your hands reset the guy. I
was just thinking, my, you know, my kids in middle school,
I'm teaching him these things like that. I was like,
oh man, I got to get him powerful right there.
But I was I was kind of curious because the
reset he reset you how when when you get reset?

Speaker 5 (21:21):
How does now what do you.

Speaker 8 (21:22):
What You're going through your mind because it's a lot
of instinct, but you just got moved off. Now you
still got to get to the quarterback right.

Speaker 6 (21:28):
So like my first couple of years, it was a
lot of I would say growing pains, just because I
was having to learn how to move backwards and then
move forwards and in certain different situations. So if it
was a pass, then I would be in coverage, and
if it was a run, then I should be going forward.
So just getting my feet together, the footwork was just
the biggest thing for my my my the progression in

(21:51):
my first couple of years, it's just making sure that
I didn't fall.

Speaker 5 (21:54):
Step, And it was just a lot of little things.

Speaker 6 (21:56):
And I mean, I feel like that was what really
made good players good, is that they had to focus
on the little things and do the little things like
they were your job.

Speaker 8 (22:06):
Yeah, the details at this level or the difference margins.

Speaker 7 (22:10):
And see when I'm playing a guy like him, that's
a great pass rusher, and I want him into a
second move because if I can get him into a
second move, that give my quarterback a chance to get
that first read.

Speaker 5 (22:22):
You know so, But that's why I'm saying.

Speaker 7 (22:23):
If I'm sitting back on him and he's outside linebacker,
if I can get him to sturdy his feet, that
gives my quarterback even a better chance to make that read.
But if he moving into me in one fluid movement
and he's gonna coming off that edge, now I'm losing
a step. And if he get even with me, he
leaving me and my quarterback gonna have to make a move.

(22:44):
He's gonna get knocked out, he gonna scramble away.

Speaker 5 (22:47):
And that was that was the biggest thing for me.

Speaker 6 (22:49):
Like I said, with the feedwork, it's just making sure
that I was on the tackle by the time he
was typing for me to be on the tackle and
I'm not back on the line. And it was just
like figuring that part out was the hardest part.

Speaker 8 (23:00):
As when you were studying Nate, did you go, okay,
that's his first move, his second move will be this, yeah, okay.

Speaker 7 (23:06):
So you were already thinking the the great players, you
can see it you just setting up. Yeah, yeah, but
average player, oh my god, it's yeah all day. But
a player that was fluid, like you said, had his
steps down. He looking at your feet too, because if

(23:28):
you turn too much to that sideline, he dipping and going.
But if you try to stay straight up, he got choices.
He can speed power, your power, your speed.

Speaker 5 (23:36):
So it's you know, and like I say, it can
be a battle. You can have your hands full.

Speaker 3 (23:41):
You know, you said a lot of guys had their
hands full with with you, Anthony.

Speaker 4 (23:45):
But especially in that twenty twelve.

Speaker 3 (23:47):
Season when you go for eleven sacks and a Pro Bowl,
what do you feel like click that year? What was
it that Not that you weren't great in the earlier years,
but what was it about the details that finally came together.

Speaker 6 (24:01):
I think it was the response, Like again, the responsibility
I started to have with a defense, like a I
just knew it more. I knew where I was supposed
to be. I knew how I did to do my job,
and if I didn't do my I knew how to
get in the place to.

Speaker 5 (24:15):
Do my job. I mean I knew. I just knew
a lot.

Speaker 6 (24:18):
I just knew a lot more than I did when
I first started. And I feel like that's just a
progression of football, Like the as you play, like people
study you, and as you as they study you got
to continue to recreate your moves and yourself to stay relevant.

Speaker 8 (24:34):
Work those hands a little bit more. Yeah, Now the responsibilities,
it's not just go get the quarterback. No, you got
to play the run too, right, I mean, I'm this
is this is an important part of what we're seeing
right now. How Like when you're the instinct of seeing,
seeing what's happening, knowing to play. You did a lot
of studying just to get to that that game. But

(24:55):
then now I'm on the field and I know my responsibility.
I gotta seal this edge, right because then this guy goes.

Speaker 6 (25:01):
I believe that was the same year Dewaar had a
lot of just more injuries at you so he didn't
play as much, and so I was put into that
role where I was rushing and having opportunity to just
do more. Yeah, I like when you're if I don't
have to worry about if the quarterbacks passing and running,
then I can just go. I'm all my attentions going
forward all the time, and I don't have to be going.

Speaker 4 (25:23):
Back if it's passing.

Speaker 6 (25:24):
It changes your whole aggressiveness of your person in the game.

Speaker 3 (25:30):
And you know, I think Corey was bringing up how
it's relevant to this Cowboys team. I think too, you
were getting some really good quarterback player from Tony Romo.

Speaker 4 (25:38):
Over of course of your time in Dallas.

Speaker 3 (25:40):
You're seeing a lot of the same thing with Dak
Prescott nowt here in twenty twenty five. Complimentary football is
what every coach, regardless of level and football is looking
for in your mind, what goes into it from a
defensive standpoint that needs to happen to capitalize for your offense,
And what did go into it with Tony Back when
you were playing.

Speaker 6 (26:01):
The turnover battle, I feel like was always the biggest thing,
Like you have to win the turnover battle. When you can't,
I want to say you can't stop people, but when
you are, I don't even know how to explain it.
You have to win a turnover battle, like because like
if you if you're not getting turnover because you're your
team is keeping pace with the other team. Like points wise, yea,

(26:23):
if they score, we score, they score, we score.

Speaker 5 (26:26):
We try to just find a spot in there.

Speaker 6 (26:28):
Where we could get a field goal or turnover and
give it back to our team so they can get
that points where they're just that now we're up, and
then they're like now the next thing, but there's trailer
and they're still scoring, but it's just at a slower pace,
you know, I.

Speaker 7 (26:41):
Mean, and I know it's exactly what you're saying, because
when our defense gave us the ball and I played,
we wanted six. Right to go down and get three
is kind of wasted their time.

Speaker 5 (26:53):
So or if they get a major stop, we want
to go down and get six threes. Lose you games.

Speaker 7 (26:58):
That's why I'm not a big fan of kickers, but
I'm a big fan.

Speaker 5 (27:02):
I'm a big fan of guys that scored touchdowns.

Speaker 7 (27:04):
Kickers only have one two things to tie a game
to keep going. I don't need you being a part
of the score escapade. You know what I'm saying. But anyway,
but I know what you're saying, because threes and turnovers,
that's what we that's what we look at. They give
us opportunity and they and we put them in a

(27:25):
bad position by turning the ball and they just only
give up three. That's a victory. Now we need to
go down and get six. We need to go down
there and get that seventh.

Speaker 8 (27:34):
Did you play on the team though, They had like
twelve field goals in one game and that's how they
got to win. Which game was that? I can't remember remember?

Speaker 5 (27:43):
Yeah, yeah, maybe that's why. I don't know, but we did.
We had every once in a while exactly we did.

Speaker 4 (27:47):
We but just find a way.

Speaker 7 (27:49):
I'm gonna tell you something, man, that was a different
style of game.

Speaker 8 (27:54):
It was there. Definitely was right down Vegles was a baser.

Speaker 3 (27:58):
Yeah, that was a lot like vintage.

Speaker 5 (28:02):
That was the Beast.

Speaker 3 (28:05):
All right, Well, we're gonna take our second break now,
and when we come back, we're going to keep up
our chat here with former Cowboys Pro Bowl defensive ent
Anthony Spencer taking a look at today's Cowboys and kind
of what we've seen so far as as Nate tries
to swallow the pill that is twelve field goals against
the Eagles and back in a moment here on the
STBBC Cowboys crossed.

Speaker 9 (28:23):
Off Cowboys, no cowbaws, no Cowboys, no twas.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
To best WBC mortgages. Dallas Cowboys Cross Call. Check us
out broadcasting live from the Cowboys Club at the Star
in Frisco.

Speaker 4 (31:38):
And welcome back to Cowboys Cross Talk.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
Rots you by our friends over at SBVC and also
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Speaker 4 (31:50):
Visit get Jack Black dot com.

Speaker 3 (31:52):
Today up here at the Cowboys Club at the Star
and Frisco, We've got Nate Newton, three time Super Bowl Champion,
six time Pro Bowler, Corey Majors from one to five
point three, the fan and our Cowboys alum this evening
her world defensive end Anthony Spencer. Guys, thanks so much
for being here. Let's dive right back into it. We've
got uh let's talk about this week six game for
Dallas and Week five against the Jets.

Speaker 4 (32:14):
They get five sacks.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
That's as many as they had in the first four games,
and then they play like that against the Panthers, only
get one sack, are failing to get pressure on the quarterback.

Speaker 4 (32:23):
Is Nate Newton's trying to wrap his head around it?

Speaker 3 (32:26):
Anthony as a defensive player, what do you make of
this Dallas pass rush up to this point, because it
seems like they are struggling to find consistency getting in
the backfield.

Speaker 5 (32:35):
Just that.

Speaker 6 (32:35):
I mean, it's it's and that's I feel like that's
the hardest thing to be in football, is consistent, you
know what I mean, because there are everyone sees who
you are and they're trying to stop you from being
that you. I mean, so it's just just trying to
be consistent, and I feel like that's the hardest thing
to do in this in this league. But you gotta
find some way to try to, you mean, create it
with pressures, with blitzing or some way. But it has

(33:00):
to be it has to be created somehow, you know.

Speaker 5 (33:03):
One of the one of.

Speaker 8 (33:04):
The things that Brian brought us says that Reggie White
hated playing against Eric Williams. Yes, because Eric Williams would
do anything it took to defeat him. That day and
when the when you watch this game that Tommy's talking about,
it did feel like I see a play with guid
and throwing a guy on the ground. I was like,
I need more of that right there. That physicality in

(33:24):
the in the trenches is where that starts. And I
and I don't know how you go into a game
on any given Sunday and don't have that. I just
can You'll explain how that happens, or you just get
hit in the mouth and then you don't know how
to respond hits.

Speaker 7 (33:39):
And he was at Purdue, right, but Pat big Ten right,
he was bred that way. The game is not bread
that way for every player nowadays. And if you don't
have a couple of those guys that can show you
the way, it's hard.

Speaker 5 (33:56):
I mean, we we have who we have.

Speaker 7 (34:00):
We have Clark. Clark is not a bona fide pass rush.
He's an a one run stop. But it's it's it's
hard for him because you don't have enough guys coming
and understanding what how to fill their gaps. So uh,
right about now you just have to, like you.

Speaker 5 (34:17):
Say, find a way. You know, hey, man, I'm not
gonna be moved out of this a gap.

Speaker 7 (34:23):
You know, I may have to give up a little
bit of pass rush to make sure we don't give
up and run, or you know what, I'm just gonna
shoot this gap, but I gotta make the play.

Speaker 6 (34:32):
And the Cowboys their their offense is I think one
of the best offenses in the league.

Speaker 5 (34:37):
So they practice with each other.

Speaker 6 (34:39):
Yeah, and that's a big way of trying to better
get better, Right, you.

Speaker 5 (34:45):
Get better by playing against each other.

Speaker 6 (34:47):
Like our practices that we would have were, like I said,
like we were playing college games. It felt like I
was God damn playing a game after practice.

Speaker 5 (34:54):
So it was just hard.

Speaker 6 (34:56):
You got to make it hard in practice so when
you get into the games that makes it more easier.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
You know, Nate was talking about the run, stopping the
run and filling gaps and things like that.

Speaker 4 (35:07):
You know, when they made the Micael Parsons.

Speaker 3 (35:08):
Trade, the message was, hey, we can scheme pressure, but
you can't scheme stopping the run. Well, it doesn't seem
like they're doing a great job of stopping the run.
When you look at the linebackers playing right now, it
looks like they're.

Speaker 4 (35:19):
As again, Nate is starting to cry over here.

Speaker 3 (35:23):
Guys are either shooting the wrong gaps, or they're they're
kind of out of place. It seems like communication is
something that by week six, especially when a lot of
these guys have spent Mini camp and training camp together,
you're more or less on the same page. How do
you fix communication when guys are still maybe not as
confident in what they're seeing and where they're supposed to be.

Speaker 6 (35:45):
With that, just being confident in what you're doing and
how you're doing it. Yeah, I mean, like I feel
like once you once I started to know the defense
and what I was doing and how to do it,
I played quick fast. I wasn't thinking about where I
was supposed to be or how want to get there
or any.

Speaker 5 (36:01):
Of that stuff.

Speaker 6 (36:01):
Like I knew how I was gonna do it, and
I knew I just knew how to execute you, I mean,
and it just comes down to that execution and you.

Speaker 5 (36:08):
Just got to exit.

Speaker 6 (36:09):
And it's a fight, yeah, I mean, because the other
team is trying to stop you from executing, because like
you have to want to be in that gap more
than the other guy doesn't want you in that gap.
When it comes down through pretty much it's hard though,
I mean, it's hard.

Speaker 4 (36:25):
These guys are getting paid.

Speaker 3 (36:27):
And you know, physicality too has been something that Brian
Schottenheimer's talked about in terms of aker we're going to
be a physical football team, but he admitted it too.
They were not the more physical football team in Carolina
and it really kind of rare its ugly teeth.

Speaker 8 (36:41):
Defensively, he did kind of mention a couple of times
this week playing fast and they want him to play fast.
Do you think they're gonna try and streamline some things differently?

Speaker 5 (36:50):
How do you guys feel like what.

Speaker 8 (36:51):
They're they're going to do to make these guys be
able to play fast?

Speaker 5 (36:54):
Well?

Speaker 3 (36:54):
Something that I can lead Anthony into this is, you know,
there's been a conversation of Okay, we need to make
things simpler on defense, right, we need to simplify the
play calls and things like that. And you know, Maddy Reflues' defense,
it's a four to three and when they have been
playing at their best and it stops to Chicago, Indianapolis
and even when he's a linebackers coaching Dallas, they stopped
the run well and they turned the ball over. They've

(37:16):
won the turnover bat the last three games, but it
hasn't really meant much because they're given four hundred yards
up on offense. So in terms of how how much
simpler can it get to be able to put guys
in the right position, And does simplicity mean that things
aren't necessarily going to get better?

Speaker 5 (37:34):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (37:35):
I feel like they will play faster. And when you
like when you're thinking a lot, like when you're out
there and you get up into a block and you're like, oh,
maybe I supposed to be here, like that hesitation or
that little uncertainty, it slows you down. Like in the
game is like seconds, yeah, I mean like three seconds
they have to play is over with you? I mean,

(37:55):
so that little hesitation like that's half the play right there.
So it's just it's like when you simplify it, it
makes you play faster, but you have to execute better,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (38:06):
Like the execution has to be perfect, perfect perfect.

Speaker 7 (38:12):
These guys offense and DC one as and coordinators are
too smart when when they say, hey man, it's a
four to three guy over the tackle, guy over the guard,
they ain't moving.

Speaker 5 (38:25):
They barely running in the games that's run.

Speaker 7 (38:27):
Games we've finished, we've been, we've been toa liked them up.
You know a lot of Jets. Jets did not move.
They stayed basic. We at them alive, We out quick them.
We were more confident. You come up to the next team,
they moved a little bit. We didn't move at all,
and it hurt us. We played fast, we played simple.

(38:51):
But you gotta understand that offensive coordinator was reading us.

Speaker 6 (38:53):
Like a book, right, and that and I feel like
each week in the NFL that what you did last
week is not gonna work the next you know what
I mean, Like, you gotta they're too smart, like you
have to, especially if it worked the week prior, Like
if you did something well that week, the next week,
they're gonna be attacking what you did well. So you
have to find a way to disguise what you're doing

(39:16):
to be able to do it well. Yeah, I mean,
because once they know what you're doing, it's like we
know what place.

Speaker 4 (39:21):
To run against. You've got it on tape, right.

Speaker 5 (39:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (39:23):
So it's it's a it's a copycat league, but it's
like who can who can make the best adjustments the fastest.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
Right, and and in along with it being a copycat league,
you were kind of mentioning it it's a week to
week league where it seems like now there's so much
parody across the board, and Brian Schoenheimer is talking about it,
Jerry Jones is talking about it. Does it seem like
this is as you watch games around the league and
you think back to when you were playing, Does it
seem like this is the most parody this league has

(39:53):
had in a long time.

Speaker 6 (39:55):
I would have to say, like it's still I feel
like it's still early in the in this in the season,
just because what I was just saying, like because teams
watching other teams and they're preparing.

Speaker 5 (40:05):
Like even though you may not be playing.

Speaker 6 (40:07):
Against that that team or that week, like you're still
putting in plays and things getting ready for that team,
you know what I mean? Like, so everybody is getting ready,
like is ready for everybody right now. But once like
you started to get tired and the injuries and the just.

Speaker 5 (40:25):
The football start life.

Speaker 6 (40:27):
When life starts life and against your team, I mean,
like that's when you're like the it starts to separate,
Like who's gonna have something to lean on, like their foundation?
Who has the strongest foundation, And that's basically who ends
up winning the Super Bowl every year? Like the team
that believes in what they're doing the most and does
it the.

Speaker 5 (40:47):
Best and the least amount of injuries. Yeah, right, key, Yeah.

Speaker 7 (40:53):
The thing that I see in this league right now,
the owners, they probably haven't a zoom eating like brother,
we got this thing. We got more four and two
teams and shaking stick at I mean, and so because
I'm teasing these guys, I went on one of their
shows and I'm teasing them all games about their power rankers.

Speaker 5 (41:13):
Everybody got all different type power ranks week and week.

Speaker 7 (41:16):
It ain't like Okay, it's Kansas City for five straight weeks. Sorry,
it's bubbalover eight straight weeks. It's up and.

Speaker 5 (41:22):
Down the camp and is big. I'm liking it.

Speaker 7 (41:25):
A lot of people thinking that it's sloppy football.

Speaker 5 (41:29):
I don't think so. People are getting better.

Speaker 7 (41:32):
They are blocking field goals, blocking extra points. The return
game is better, so people got a shorter distance to go.

Speaker 5 (41:41):
The game is exploding.

Speaker 7 (41:43):
This is what the fans fought for and want, and
now it looks like sloppy football because if you start
on the fifty or the forty five, most kickers saying hey,
get it to the other guys thirty, I'm you in
the house them kickers, y'all.

Speaker 4 (41:57):
Love, what are you looking at me for? Ever said
anything about pictures?

Speaker 6 (42:02):
But I know a lot of a lot of teams
also are just building their teams for other teams.

Speaker 5 (42:08):
Yeah, I mean they know, they know each other so well.

Speaker 6 (42:11):
Now it's like they are getting personnel to be able
to combat in their division, in their division. Right, so
you might someone and get whooped outside of division, they
come back and they tie their division.

Speaker 5 (42:21):
Yeah, either King Kong.

Speaker 8 (42:23):
Yeah, Parcels talked about that a lot whenever, whenever.

Speaker 5 (42:26):
He was told jim Yeah, he does tell Jimmy that man. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:29):
All right, we're gonna head to our third break, but
before we go, I'm going to pose a question to
the three of you, and we're going to talk about
it when we come back. In addition to Dallas's upcoming
game this week against the Washington Commanders on Sunday in
a week two week league, but the NFL is right now,
we talked about parody. How do you find consistency? How
do you find consistency and how do you build on

(42:51):
it so that you can take being two three and
one like the Cowboys are now and when these games
get close like they have four out of six times
this year you come out of but win again. That'll
be up next when we return on the s WBC
Cowboys Crosstalk, you get a.

Speaker 5 (43:04):
Kicker cli.

Speaker 9 (43:12):
Co Cowboys, No Cowboys, No Cowboys Tis.

Speaker 1 (46:07):
SWBC Mortgages, Dallas Cowboys Crosstalk check broadcasting live from the
Cowboys Club at the Star in Frisco.

Speaker 3 (46:17):
Welcome back to Cowboys Cross Talk here from the Star
and PRIs comick the Cowboys Club, presented by our friends
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Speaker 4 (46:32):
Turn the lights doun on us a little bit here.

Speaker 3 (46:33):
It's all good, yeah, welcome back to Cowboys Cross Talk.
I'm Tommy Yars from Dallas Cowboys dot Com. We've got
Cory Majors from one O five through the fans here
next to me, the three time Super Bowl champion and
six time Pro Bowler Nate Newton, and our special guest tonight,
Cowboys Pro Bowl defensive an Anthony Spencer.

Speaker 4 (46:49):
All Right, fellas, go in to the break. We posed
a question for you guys.

Speaker 3 (46:53):
We talked about a week to week league in the
third segment, the NFL is right now when it's so
weak to week, when things can change on a time.

Speaker 4 (47:01):
How do you find consistency? Anthony will start with you.

Speaker 6 (47:04):
Oh, I feel like consistency starts at practice. Like you
have to find it in your daily routine, you know
what I mean, Like in the things that you do
on a day to day basis in the locker room,
out of the locker room, in the weight room, on
the on the practice field, like you gotta be the
same person. Like it starts with there, and once you
kind of started doing that, it kind of trickles along.

Speaker 5 (47:27):
Throughout your life.

Speaker 8 (47:28):
I feel like the Rangers get Okay, that's that's what
I'm actually gonna use a baseball because when when Bruce
Bochi was here, he was like he was very high
on confidence. And for athletes, I think confidence is such
a big such a big deal, and but you can't
gain confidence going into it. Going man, this is the

(47:49):
most complex thing you've ever seen. Good luck Start small, right,
And we were talking kind of talking about that a
minute ago. Start small with the streamline and the offense,
the defense a little bit, whatever it is. And then
add a little bit here, add a little bit there.
Once these guys start believing there, oh man, I'm unbeatable.

Speaker 5 (48:05):
I can do this.

Speaker 8 (48:06):
Yeah, and then you start you continue to stack that
up a little bit. But I think that's that is
you got to confidence is the important part for consistency
because you got to do the small things first and
then you can do more complex things.

Speaker 5 (48:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (48:18):
I agree with all of that. You can't add more
to what these two gentlemen said. I mean, you just
have the routine I tell every kid, you know, get
up in the morning, stretch, think about what you've done
the day before, whether it was good or bad.

Speaker 5 (48:34):
Get rid of the bad if you can, or improve
on the bad. I enhance your goodness.

Speaker 7 (48:39):
Just be consistent in who you are, you know, and
that and that's what I think Coach Schottenheimer is trying
to do. He's trying to be consistent and what he's doing,
what he's preaching. But we've seen it offensively. But he's
the master over all of this. He is to coordinate
over the offense any defense, So he's gonna be irresponsible
for his defense. He's got to find a way him

(49:01):
and coach Eva Flues to get guys like you say,
believe it in the little things, doing the extra. This
is not college. You don't have no classes. Your wife,
your kids, and everybody got.

Speaker 5 (49:13):
Understand this is how I eat.

Speaker 7 (49:16):
Let me get this going for this next two or
three months and we'll do go party, we'll go vacation wherever.
But right now we need you. Daddy needs to work.
Daddy got blue off the line twenty yards. Daddy needs
to work.

Speaker 5 (49:31):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
Some tough at home conversations going on insight.

Speaker 5 (49:38):
Not tonight. Baby, Dad's got to work.

Speaker 8 (49:41):
Film work, extra, film work.

Speaker 5 (49:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (49:44):
I can't even transition from that.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
So the Cowboys have Washington coming up this week, Anthony,
do you remember any games or players that you went
against and your playing days that stood out from them?

Speaker 6 (49:58):
For Washington, U, I mean we played them twice a
year and RG I remember Clinton Portis was there. Nice nice, Yeah, coolies.
He had a good tight end. They've always had. They've
always had a good offense. I'd say they always had
someone that scores touchdown.

Speaker 3 (50:19):
Yeah, well they've got another one this year and Jaden Daniels,
the second year quarterback.

Speaker 4 (50:23):
They got the third best.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
Rushing offense in the league, and you think about this
Dallas defense so far because they oh no.

Speaker 5 (50:29):
Oh no.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
But when you look back to last year Dallas did
I think, and you guys correct me if I'm wrong,
one of the better jobs defensively and kind of limiting
his game. How do they find that same success when
they're having the defensive struggles they are.

Speaker 6 (50:43):
I feel like just the fact that they're playing against Washington,
like when they never played New York, they played Washington,
they played the Eagles. They're going to play you know.
I mean, it's just like how everybody gets up for
the Cowboys, like everybody's going to give the Cowboys a
good game because they're the Cowboys. And I feel the
same way with the Cowboys inside of their division because
it all like for a long time, the everything went

(51:05):
through the East, so it was like that was the passageway.
So I feel like they're gonna they're gonna brain their
a game just because of the way that they lost,
and even like when I'll be watching the Cowboys now,
like I feel like it's the change, some change is
starting to happen, just because of the way the fight

(51:26):
that they have, like they I feel like they know
that they're outmanned or they know that they're not the
oh like the top dog as they have been in
the past. So it's like they're trying to prove themselves.
And I feel like that's very very important for especially
the defense that they have now, Like are guys that
really don't you don't know any of them, So it's like,
you have this opportunity to be known, and you have

(51:48):
this the field and these play all you gotta do
is make plays, and like that's what that's what.

Speaker 5 (51:52):
You grow up as a kid wanted to do.

Speaker 6 (51:54):
And I feel like the opportunity at the Cowboys defense
has right now, it's like wide open for superstars to happen,
you know what I mean.

Speaker 5 (52:02):
But they have to want that and believe that they
can be that, you know I.

Speaker 6 (52:06):
Mean, But that's it's a long process.

Speaker 8 (52:11):
I can't wait for the rest of this team to
play with the mentality that I see Dak playing with
right now. Dak looked from Game one this year, he's
just looked more confident. He has this different swagger. I
mean the spit moment against Philadelphia, that was a moment
right there where he knew he just I got you.
I just I just I got you out of the game.
I just did that. And he just has this confidence,

(52:33):
and I'm I can't wait for the rest of the
group to have that same kind of vibe, because going in,
going to having Washington on your plate is you gotta
you know, you got a tough, a tough defense that
you gotta handle because they're gonna bring it at you.
But on the other side of the ball too, you know,
their offense can be explosive. Now, Jerry told us last
year the Kingsbury's offense is kind of predictable, and I

(52:54):
was like, I'm sorry, I gotta this hold on what
and but then the Cowboys went out and stopped him,
and so I was like, Okay, this is pretty impressive.
But the I want to see, uh do we know
the help.

Speaker 3 (53:05):
Of McLaurin yet was limited today in practice, our first
time he's practiced.

Speaker 4 (53:09):
I think in a couple of weeks. He's missed the
last three games.

Speaker 8 (53:11):
Okay, all right, that's that's one right there. That dude
right there can burn, man, he can absolutely burn, yes,
But but this could it's still gonna be one of
those battles.

Speaker 5 (53:20):
You know, you guys know right well, you always have
to play the game.

Speaker 6 (53:22):
That's what I love about football, Like you can be
better than whoever you on paper, like everybody you can
say whatever on paper, but when the game has actually
been played, like you don't know what's going through anybody's mind,
Like everybody has to show up. You gotta be you
gotta be there every day.

Speaker 5 (53:37):
So that's agree.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
And you know, I think it's interesting you mentioned that
the Cowboys are a team that everybody kind of gets
up for, right for sure?

Speaker 4 (53:47):
Player a game was as a player for you and Nate,
does it like, come on, they costed it?

Speaker 7 (53:55):
Did you say thanks many, thanks, Bob Lily, Yeah, point there?

Speaker 4 (54:01):
What's it like?

Speaker 3 (54:02):
You know that is obviously that I can only imagine
how taxing that is when you have sixteen straight games,
seventeen straight games of man, we're just getting everybody's best shot.

Speaker 4 (54:12):
Does it make the wins that much sweeter?

Speaker 5 (54:15):
I believe so, yes, Because.

Speaker 6 (54:19):
Everybody talks about the Cowboys when they win or when
they lose, But when we're winning, it's a lot positive,
Like everybody wants to hear the positive stuff, but it's
it makes the journey throughout the season funner.

Speaker 5 (54:34):
Yeah, I mean when whenning is fun, is fun when
it is funny.

Speaker 8 (54:37):
But everybody, everybody knows that if they have the interception
or the sack or whatever against the Cowboys, they're gonna
be on Sports Center all week because every topic is
gonna be the Cowboy Cowboys.

Speaker 6 (54:48):
And I feel like that's very important for the Cowboys
players to know too, because if they're the ones making
those plays and doing it out and doing that, like,
they could be the ones being talked about as well.

Speaker 3 (54:58):
So well, Anthony will close with this, you know, well,
to keep it on these Cowboys. We mentioned you're playing
days with Tony when he was playing some of his
best football.

Speaker 4 (55:06):
How did the capitalize?

Speaker 3 (55:07):
How did the Cowboys capitalize on the way Dak Prescott's
playing right now?

Speaker 6 (55:11):
Got to win the turnover battle, man, Just get get
them the ball one two times throughout the game, get
a field goal when they're put when they're about to
score a touchdown, Like just show up one two plays.
That's really all it takes, you know, I mean, like
one two plays throughout the game. With the defense makes
a play, it could turn the whole game around.

Speaker 8 (55:32):
But only a field goal to win it, right, They like,
I'm gonna.

Speaker 5 (55:37):
Go to tide to keep it going. He'll go to
win it and close it out. If you're doing anything else,
there's a waste of time.

Speaker 4 (55:45):
Well, we've got our kicker, yea with us tonight.

Speaker 5 (55:49):
I used to kick in high school?

Speaker 4 (55:51):
Oh really?

Speaker 5 (55:51):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (55:52):
How'd that go?

Speaker 5 (55:53):
Not too good? All right?

Speaker 4 (55:57):
Anthony? Were he a kicker in high school? Play on
the offensive side of that?

Speaker 5 (56:01):
I was a running back in high school. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (56:05):
My senior year, I'm still in the record books. I
averaged nine point one yards.

Speaker 5 (56:11):
Are wow? All year? I played full back? All right.
One time I had a chance to go a touchdown.
The quarterback did the quarterbacks itself?

Speaker 3 (56:23):
Yeah all right, Well maybe maybe one day we'll see
the backfield of Nate Newton and Anthony Spencer.

Speaker 5 (56:29):
S gattu boo shatu boo.

Speaker 3 (56:32):
For now, that'll do it for us here on Cowboys
Cross Talk and anybody friends over at STVBC.

Speaker 4 (56:37):
Thank you so much for.

Speaker 3 (56:38):
Joining us tonight for Corey Majors, Nate Newton, all right,
incredible guest, Anthony Spencer and all the folks in the
back Devin Gray Ivans Andia Yasmin and Shannon Allison Ramirez
and Paul the studas I'm Tommy Yard.

Speaker 4 (56:49):
Good night.

Speaker 5 (56:59):
This has been production