When Jason Witten finally waded through the long lines of well-wishers and started his retirement press conference at the Cowboys’ facility on Thursday, he opened by telling a story about his first coach in the NFL.
Witten recounted how Bill Parcells compared him to former Giants tight end Mark Bavaro and moved on to a story about a conversation he had with Parcells after breaking his jaw during his rookie season. Parcells told Witten “the best ones, they find a way” to play through injuries and Witten took that to heart during a career that saw him miss just one game due to injury.
Parcells would leave the Cowboys after the 2006 season, but kept tabs on Witten and was left impressed by the career that the tight end put together.
“Jason Witten is what pro football is supposed to be about,” Parcells said, via ESPN.com. “He came to the Cowboys, got himself established very early, maximized his potential as a player and sustained very, very good play for an exceptionally long period of time and made a significant contribution to the team every year. Now he’s transitioning to another career by virtue of his reputation and his affiliation with the Cowboys and the success he has had. That’s what pro football is supposed to be.”
Given that review of his career, it’s little surprise that Parcells also said that he expects Witten to join him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame at some point in the future.
