IRVING, Texas - Let's play a little Cowboys' version of the old, old game show What's My Line?, where during the Mystery Guest segment the blindfolded panelists tried to name the unidentified person through a series of yes and no questions.
We'll do it this way to help prove my point: I'll provide a few quotes about this Cowboys player and you guys, the Dorothy Kilgallens or Bennett Cerfs of the show, try to identify who the anonymous person truly is.
Let's go.
Your first clue comes from Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips: "He's a leader now, he's a leader. He's absolutely a leader."
Next, from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: "He's a great example, really a great example of how to do it, and he's genuine, and more importantly than anything he is a leader relative to work ethic."
And lastly, from the guy himself: "Last year I was kind of a fringe player and this year I'm striving to be a core player and get into the core of this team and really be a leader, not as much vocally but more by my actions - how I take the field every day, how I am in the weight room with my demeanor."
So who am I?
Uh, Terry "Tank" Johnson, the suspended then released Chicago Bears defensive tackle everyone seemingly wanted Jones to take a chance on last year, but now, like eight months later, have virtually forgotten about, e-mail after e-mail wondering what the Cowboys are going to do for depth behind starting nose tackle Jay Ratliff.
Jones and Phillips have a very succinct answer for you, and earnestly believe he will be more than just a backup: Tank Johnson, the 6-3, 300-pound fifth-year player who seamlessly, if not quietly, integrated himself onto this team the first of November and went about his business for eight games, along with the one playoff game.
His numbers were not eye-catching, and they would belie these glowing reports: 10 tackles, two sacks, one tackle for a loss, one quarterback pressure, one forced fumble.
Yet one day a couple of weeks ago, during the course of an interview, Jones, without provocation, offered this to me right out the blue: "I'll tell you someone else I'm really proud of in his role as being a leader or an example in his work ethic, and that's Tank Johnson.
"He's had a great off-season and he's really working hard, and he's going to benefit from not only the direct coaching from this staff but he's going to benefit from having this whole off-season for strength and conditioning. He's exceptionally strong and quick, and so he's going to provide some outstanding depth for us in our interior."
You hardly heard a peep from Johnson last year, a turbulent one for the former second-round draft choice who served a jail sentence for violating his probation in Chicago, was subsequently suspended by the NFL eight games upon his release for violation of the league's newly-instituted personal conduct policy and then ultimately was released by the Bears after a summer driving incident in the Phoenix area called more public attention to their troubled player, even if the charges of driving while impaired were later dropped.
But when you think about it, he was an outsider last year around here. He hadn't worked out with the guys. He hadn't broken bread with the guys. And for the first eight games of the season, he hadn't even played with the guys. Understandably, he kind of kept to himself and very cautiously granted interviews to the media.
That's why, at least to me, it was rather surprising when Phillips began talking about the guy's leadership qualities and told me about the phone call he got one day in his office soon after an inspiring season crumbled in a 21-17 divisional-round playoff loss to the New York Giants.
"He called me in the off-season and said we've got to do everything we can to win the next season," Phillips said. "Right after the season, he was ready to get started again.
"He's a pleasure to be around."
Surprising, maybe, but if you remember, Bears head coach Lovie Smith had nothing but good things to say about Johnson, and was one of the many Bears routinely visiting Johnson in Cook County Jail. And obviously the guy had some talent, otherwise the Bears would not have gone to such great lengths to get him to the Super Bowl two years ago in Miami after he was court-ordered to not leave the state.
The Bears just felt like they could no longer publically bend over backwards for him, almost apologetically cutting ties with a player who had been involved in one too many incidents with the police, however coincidental or minor they might have been.
While many of us thought Jones was taking a chance on a repeat offender, evidently he and the organization had done their homework on the guy, signing him to a bare-bones two-year deal and willing to wait out the eight-game suspension to gain his services. This might be the year the Cowboys benefit from the low-risk, potentially high-reward move.
"I was just kind of like in a herd of cattle just kind of going with everybody but now I'm starting to slowly lead the way, lead the pack, and I'm still taking stuff from the other veterans on this team who put in a lot of time here but now I find myself in a role where I can actually be a leader," Johnson said of what a difference eight months can make.
"When you can implement your personality into your job then that tends to let people know you better, the walls come down I believe and the guys start to understand the depth of your personality - not (from) just on the field and stuff they've heard about you."
This all is starting to smell like found money - seemly an unofficial free-agency acquisition. Oh, Johnson was OK last year. He flashed at times, but seemed neutralized too many other times, almost as if trying so hard had become his kryptonite.
But thinking back only reminds he basically was not involved in an off-season workout program, having spent three months in jail, and did not attend a training camp or play in a preseason game. By time he played in that Nov. 11 game against the Giants, he had not played a down of real football since Feb. 4, 2007.
"I think he's feeling more and more comfortable," Phillips said. "We're getting him to use his hands now. He's so strong, and just wanted to use his shoulders, but now with his hands, he's getting better and better.
"He's got great quickness, and now he knows the defense better."
Chances are Johnson's head was swimming when he finally was able to practice last year, playing in his first game six days after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated him. And remember, he was transitioning from the 4-3 defensive tackle spot he played for three seasons in Chicago to a 3-4 nose tackle but without the benefits of classroom work or an off-season.
"It's really helped to be able to come out here and learn the plays one by one instead of 50 at a time," Johnson said of this off-season's difference. "You get a chance to identify the blocking schemes that are going to be most troublesome for you and that gives you the ability to see everything at a slower pace."
There is something else. Working out on your own is one thing, and usually not as good a thing. But working out under the supervision of a coaching staff and strength and conditioning coach is an entirely better matter.
And this is not to say Johnson didn't try to work out hard on his own, but as the late former Cowboys running backs coach Joe Brodsky once told me, if football players could do all this work and practice diligently on their own you wouldn't ever need coaches. Uh, they pay these coaches a nice salary these days.
"Oh yeah, I'm a beast right now, I'm a beast right now," Johnson said of what this off-season workout program has meant to him. "I'm stronger now than I've ever been in my life."
In your life?
"You take on a little more pride in what you do as you get older in the league and you realize the longevity of it depends on your body, and you start to realize that those young 20-, 21-, 22-year-old legs aren't going to be the same."
And suddenly there was this epiphany?
"It's called maturing, the maturation process . . . you know about that," said Johnson, and if he meant me, in deference to our age difference, then more than he'd ever know.
Who would have ever thought all this about Johnson, a noted player, for sure, but hard worker, huge defensive line upgrade and of all things, leader? Not just mere words, either, when it comes to this leader stuff. Saw some of this with my own eyes.
A reporter last week in the locker room following Wednesday's OTA practice was chatting up first-round pick Mike Jenkins, oh, about three or four locker stalls down from where Johnson was sitting but definitely within earshot. Before leaving, the reporter, as innocently as he could, asked the rookie cornerback for his phone number. The rookie was about ready to comply . . . .
"Don't give him your phone number, don't give that out," came this deep, forceful voice from behind Jenkins, who sheepishly turned to see Johnson was dead serious. "Tell them to call Rich Dalrymple (P.R. director), he'll get them in touch with you."
Jenkins smiled, almost apologetically to the reporter, who wasn't about to press the issue now, and the rookie dutifully deferred to the veteran advice, saying sorry and scurrying off. Made an impression on Jenkins. Heck, made an impression on me.
Never would have guessed this about Terry "Tank" Johnson, maybe no longer a mystery or a guest in this Cowboys locker room.
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