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FRISCO – Not sure ever before smiled ear to ear while shedding a tear at the same time.

Like this weekend when the ��ݮ��Ƶ������� brought in Bill Bates to be honored during Sunday's final game of the season as the Legend of the Game. And it wasn't just the honor, but the circumstances surrounding the honor.

Bates, having spent 15 years with the Cowboys, matching the second-longest tenure in franchise history to only the 16 seasons of Jason Witten and L.P. Ladouceur, has been suffering for the past few years from the effects of CTE. His movements are slow. His speech is highly limited. His sainted wife Denise goes everywhere Bill goes.

Now, the Cowboys will do a lot of gracious gestures behind the scenes few ever know about. But this time, they really hit it out of the park.

Thanks to the organizational efforts of Charlotte Jones and her executive assistant Susan Addington, not only did they arrange to fly in Bill and Denise this past weekend for the game on Air Jerry, but also arranged to fly the families of their five children – and remember Bill and Denise during their time with the Cowboys gave birth to triplets – that included their grandchildren, too. Must have been a sound 20.

There was an afternoon gathering on Saturday out at The Star District. Got to hug Bill. Bill was hugging a lot of people. Several of his former teammates were there, Everson Walls, Chad Hennings, John Gesek, Dale Hellestrae, Steve Beuerlein, who suggested the idea to the Joneses, and of course Michael Irvin making an entrance as well.

A heartwarming couple of hours. The guys reveled in telling some war stories from days gone by. To see the smile on Bill's face was priceless. He knew what they were talking about. He could nod. He could remember. He could laugh a little.

Then came game day. Bill, Denise and their entire family, size of a platoon, were on the Cowboys' sideline before the game. Bill was all smiles. Made the rest of us smile, too. But the emotion flowed when watching former Cowboys linebacker and teammate Ken Norton Jr., now coaching with the Commanders, make a special effort to cross the field to hug Bill. He whispered a few words to Bill during a long embrace. Very touching.

Cowboys Hall of Famer Bob Lilley was there with his wife Ann. He made a special effort to go over to where Bill's family was to embrace. So did Cowboys defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, on the coaching staff for Bill's final four years with the Cowboys, his secondary coach during that time.

Then Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones and Charlotte, along with Jerry Jr. Brought a bunch of us to tears. Was an emotional scene, as was the video tribute during the game's first commercial break, when honoring Bill Bates as the Legend of the Game on the big screen.

And as Bill and the Bates gang were departing the sideline to join several of his former players in a suite for the game, the fans in that area of AT&T Stadium were giving him a standing ovation. And with TV cameras rolling, you could hear Bill uttering, "I'm blessed … I'm blessed."

Those of us there who had come to know Bill Bates over all those years and even after his playing days were all blessed to see him enjoying this moment, knowing what he's been going through. Guarantee you there were tears running down our creased smiles.

The Cowboys might have lost the game, but they won the moment.

• Agent Games: The start of the offseason is when agents spring into action. This is their season. Saw that during the final week of the regular season when Ezekiel Elliott asked for his release, his agent, Rocky Arceneaux, having done his homework knowing there was a good chance a playoff-bound team would buy some running-back insurance by signing Zeke just in case. And bingo, the Chargers signed Elliott and will have him at their disposal on the practice squad if they need to elevate him Saturday when they meet the Texans in Houston. And then on Monday, when the Chicago Bears asked for permission to talk with Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy about their head-coach opening. Sure seems as if McCarthy's agent, Don Yee, asked the Bears for a favor to prod the Cowboys to get going with the McCarthy contract negotiations if indeed they were intent on re-signing him with his five-year deal ready to expire while having exclusive negotiating rights until Jan. 14. Of course, the Cowboys denied the permission, but message sent. And look, there has been reports the Bears have a list of a dozen candidates for the job, with current interim head coach Thomas Brown on the list, along with Lions coordinators Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, and even we thought the retired Pete Carroll showing interest. They are casting a wide net and in no hurry. So why ask for permission to talk already with Mike? Someone wanted to get Jerry Jones' attention, and don't think he doesn't know all about these agent games. Stay tuned here.
• What's Next: When McCarthy was asked after the Washington game on Sunday if he wanted to remain with the Cowboys, he didn't hesitate to say, "Absolutely." And all along Jones has praised the job McCarthy has done during this injury-riddled 7-10 season after McCarthy's previous three consecutive 12-5 seasons. So why a delay? "Show me the money," right Jerry Maguire? Just the agent's job to create market price.
• Trey, Trey: So we must factor into the evaluation equation of Trey Lance's performance being his first regular-season NFL snaps of significance since Week 2 of the 2022 season with San Francisco. Plus, his two-year stay with the Cowboys included only highly limited practice snaps, other than running some scout-team offenses. And other than using a bunch of statistics to analyze his game, here is what the eye-test reveals, almost identical to what we saw in training game and those preseason games. At times, his arm talent and ability to move in the pocket made you go wow. And at other times, maybe on the next snap, made you suck air through your teeth, like, what was that? Thought the biggest negative was his inability to throw accurately while on the run. Got to plant your feet. Be interesting to see what kind of financial interest his agency CAA can drum up for him heading into his fifth NFL season. He's still 24 years old but has started only five of 12 games played, and one in just four games played over the past two seasons.
• Season Tidbits: While kick returner KaVontae Turpin was voted to the NFLPA All-Pro team, NFC Pro Bowl kicker Brandon Aubrey was left off this squad voted on by the players, the nod gong to Cincinnati kicker Chris Boswell, who made 41 of 44 attempts (88 percent) while Aubrey finished 40 for 47, although three of his misses were a block, off the upright from 61 and short on a 70 yarder. He very well could have been 40 of 44 … Probably a little known fact, but Donovan Wilson finished the season with 4½ sacks, second most in a single season for a Cowboys defensive back behind his five in 2022 and five for Bates in 1984. And Donovan's his career total of 13 ranks second among franchise defensive backs … Did you realize the Cowboys played nine games against playoff teams, finishing 3-6? The wins came over Pittsburgh, Washington and Tampa Bay while losing to Baltimore, Detroit, Philadelphia twice, Houston and Washington.

Let this week's last word go to Micah Parsons, who finished the season leading the team with 12 sacks despite missing four games. That tied for fifth overall in the NFL, Parsons joining Reggie White as the only two NFL players since sacks became an official statistic in 1982 with at least 12 sacks in each of their first four NFL seasons.

But doesn't seem Micah is content with his accomplishments, wanting to continue improving and chase all-time marks.
"You can't just sit on it too, heavy, you got to keep going," Parsons said. "You see Myles Garrett, fastest to 100 (sacks)? I'm trying now to chase him down. He's always kind of the next one, always chasing for something. That's so far ahead. You just got to stay hungry in the process.

"I think at the end – Kobe said, 'You can rest at the end, but you can't rest right now.' I don't want to get complacent, like, man, I did (this) half my career. I still got a good amount of years left. I'm trying to maximize that, and then I'll look back, like I already did that."

And when asked what he thinks of some of his accomplishments that include his name among some of the NFL's all-time best, Micah said, "Oh, man, always extremely blessed, extremely blessed. This is God's favor. I thank God for allowing me to do it, allowing me to go through adversity and still see if I was up to the challenge to complete the mission."

Wrapping up some "blessed" shots for this week.