Texas Football

By Jason Crisler // Special to TexasFootball.com

There’s something about flipping through old Texas Football magazine covers — each one a snapshot of what was “it” that year in Texas football — that brings a smile to any football fan’s face.

Andy Dalton is not just any football fan and the cover he was handed a few days prior to his Cincinnati Bengals taking the field against the Baltimore Ravens to end the NFL regular season wasn’t just any cover. It had him on it.

Dalton laughed upon catching sight of himself with Houston’s Case Keenum and Texas A&M’s Jerrod Johnson on that 2010 summer edition cover. Quite a bit has happened since that preseason.

Dalton defied all the odds, doubters and took every team’s best shot in leading the Horned Frogs to a second straight undefeated regular season. They then defeated Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl (where Dalton was named MVP) and Dalton was taken in the second round of the NFL Draft by Cincinnati, only to watch as the NFL labor squabbles put his professional career on hold.

Once on the field in Cincinnati he had to overcome the behind-the-scenes drama involving Carson Palmer and weekly reports he was going to return to the Bengals before being traded to the Raiders. Dalton helped lead Cincinnati to a 6-2 start, only to stumble the rest of the way, going 3-5 over the final eight games of the season — including a loss to the Ravens in week 17. Throughout it all, his name was being uttered in almost every Rookie of the Year discussion.

Oh, and he got married to his wife Jordan.

“I think back to when we took those pictures (for the cover), it feels like forever ago. A lot has happened in the past two years, basically,” Dalton said. “I have definitely enjoyed the whole process and everything that has gone on. Not only football, but getting married and all that stuff. It’s definitely been a whirlwind but I have definitely enjoyed each thing along the way.”

Yet, through it all, quarterbacking and winning is what Dalton does best and he has the Bengals in the playoffs — just the third time since 1992 that that has happened. Despite a late-season swoon, the Bengals and Dalton did enough to get at least one extra week as they play the Houston Texans on Saturday at 5:30 CT at Reliant Stadium — a place Dalton knows quite well.

“I’ve done well (at Reliant Stadium),” he said. “I think I’ve played three (games at Reliant stadium). I’ve won them all. One with TCU; the two were the first game of the season (at Katy).”

Regardless of what happens in Houston, Dalton has already had one of the best rookie seasons in the history of the NFL. He’s the only rookie signal-caller to throw for 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns and lead his team to the playoffs. Saturday's game with the Texans is the first in postseason history with two rookie quarterbacks starting under center. This, on a team picked to go winless by some, and ESPN’s John Clayton tagged Dalton as the worst starting quarterback in the NFL in the preseason. One thing Dalton has done his whole career is prove naysayers wrong.

His teams at TCU seemed to be always overlooked or underestimated. His senior season the Horned Frogs went 13-0, but it was Auburn winning the national championship. Of course, in the BCS era, TCU seemingly never had a shot. Yet, instead of sounding bitter a year later, he appreciates the struggles and work he and his TCU teammates went through to accomplish what they did in 2010.

“We knew we had to go undefeated to get a chance to play in a BCS game,” Dalton said. “We were able to do it the year before but we had a disappointing loss in the Fiesta Bowl (to Boise State). Everybody had that attitude that we were going to go out and do this again and finish this right. We did everything we could and were able to do that.

“We would have loved to (play for the national championship), but we got to play in the Rose Bowl. That’s one of the best games out there, the granddaddy of them all. We obviously would have loved to play in the national championship game but it didn’t work out and I think we ended it well.”

Fitting, it was Newton who was again stealing Dalton’s thunder early in the NFL season. While Dalton’s numbers were pedestrian, if solid, compared to the larger-than-life Newton’s, Dalton was winning. Yet both quarterbacks appear to be the future of the NFL.

Dalton finished the regular season with 3,398 yards and 20 touchdowns while completing 58 percent of his passes. Newton threw for 4,051 yards and 21 touchdowns and ran for another 706 and 14 touchdowns.

“We both came into good situations, getting the chance to play right away,” Dalton said. “Cam’s really talented. A lot of people are surprised by what he’s doing. I’m not. He has all the tools, he just has to get it all together. I don’t think either one of us would be surprised to the success we’ve had.”

And, as well as his NFL career has gone so far, the start was not so smooth. Though not of his doing, Dalton had to sit on the sidelines and wait while the NFL’s owners and players hammered out a plan to divide up billions of dollars in revenue during a lockout that cost everyone quite a bit of practice time. Which, for the Bengals, seemed to be triply troublesome. Not only was Dalton walking in as the starter with Palmer holding out for a trade, but the Bengals also drafted A.J. Green out of Georgia to be their No. 1 receiver and hired a new offensive coordinator, Jay Gruden. The offense was getting a complete overhaul with its on-field leader being untested at the pro level

“We didn’t worry about any of that stuff, not going to OTAs,” Dalton said. “We just worried about what we could control — come out and get better. Once training camp started, we tried to make ourselves the best players possible.

“But we came in and had to learn the offense as quick as we could. Playing those four preseason games helped and helped us get a good start to the season. As the season has moved on, we have definitely gotten more comfortable with everything because it’s a new offense for everybody, not just the rookies.”

Dalton obviously learned in a hurry. He showed some of the usual rookie inconsistency, but what he showed more than anything was poise and patience beyond his years. Consider this, Dalton threw only one interception in the final six games and had only 13 for the season.

“It’s a great feeling just to have a quarterback that young, a quarterback that poised, that is ready to put in that work,” Green, who has 65 catches for 1,057 yards, said. “He is going to be one of the best that ever played this game, I believe. The confidence that he has in himself and his arm is crazy.”

It’s that confidence, along with his intelligence, that may be Dalton’s greatest asset. Yes he throws a pretty ball, makes smart decisions and is accurate throwing from the pocket or on the run, but with a shortened NFL preseason, there was little time for self doubt. Gruden has nothing but praise for how hard Dalton worked and how well he picked up the new schemes and terminology.

“He came in here — he’s a very bright kid — and we were able to do a lot more than we probably could have if he was a little slow,” Gruden said. “But he’s not, he’s a dang near genius and he just comes in here and learned and studied and learned each concept against a lot of different looks. (Defensive coordinator Mike) Zimmer threw a lot at him so he had to get better and learn quickly under the gun. He was able to take every first-team snap from day one and that was very helpful. He just kept getting better and better.”

And there’s no reason to believe the Bengals and Dalton won’t get better in the years to come. If Green’s prediction of Dalton becoming one of the game’s best is to become a reality, the young talent around Dalton will have to grow with him.

Along with Green, Dalton has young tight end Jermaine Gresham (who played at Oklahoma) and Jordan Shipley (Burnet and Texas) to throw to next season and running back Bernard Scott (Vernon and Abilene Christian) will also be back. If Cincinnati resigns Cedric Benson (Midland Lee and Texas), the Bengals’ offense will continue to have an almost exclusive southwest feel.

Shipley, who had 52 catches last season as a rookie, missed this season with a knee injury, but is expected back next season. Dalton said he’s gotten close to the former Longhorn. Not surprisingly, both being from Texas has helped that friendship.

“I think … playing in the state of Texas, playing the best high school football out there, out of all the states — it’s fun,” Dalton said. “I’ve gotten close with Ship and I know my wife has gotten close with his wife. It’s been a lot of fun because you can talk about stuff, high school teams and different things like that.”