April 23rd, 2025 officially marks 20 years since April 23rd, 2005. Something significant about this day in 2005 is that it is the day in which the Dallas Cowboys took a serious step forward after being in the wilderness for a decade (we thought that was rough!).

If you are still confused, the 2005 NFL Draft took place 20 years ago today, and during it the Cowboys came away with DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears in the first round. Bill Parcells now had two cornerstones to build the defense around, a group that would help the team start to turn the tide over the next half decade. It is among the most important and influential drafts that Dallas has had throughout the era of The Drought™.

Thanks to our friends at Crown Royal, I was able to speak to DeMarcus on the eve of the 20-year anniversary to talk about a variety of things. You can watch our conversation below.

Among the non-draft things that we discussed was his presence at Tyron Smith’s retirement press conference last week. Like all of us, he cannot believe that Smith’s career has already flown by in totality.

The passage of time relative to the Cowboys is represented well by Ware’s career. He had a Hall of Fame one, literally so, and had to leave the team in order to win the game’s ultimate prize as he was a part of the Denver Broncos group that won Super Bowl 50. Among the greats we have seen pass through this franchise, Smiths retirement serving as the latest example, Ware is the lone one to find the land of El Dorado that eluded them all together.

This was something else that I asked Ware about, if there are any complicated emotions from having won the Super Bowl himself and seeing players like Smith (or Zack Martin or Tony Romo or Jason Witten, you get the picture) finish their careers without that particular piece. He noted that it is certainly difficult because he played with so many players who were deserving of lifting the Lombardi Trophy, but he shared that all of the people who he felt that way about texted him when he did so himself, and that he holds the fact that they did near and dear to his heart.

As noted Ware joined us on behalf of Crown Royal and a special initiative they have going on throughout the NFL Draft.

Recently he has teamed up with Crown Royal’s Hall of Heroes which is a new partnership between The Bob Woodruff Foundation, Crown Royal and the NFL’s Salute to Service Initiative. Before the first round of the NFL Draft, the Crown Royal Hall of Heroes will enshrine 32 extraordinary veterans in a special ceremony led by NFL legend DeMarcus Ware and Dave Woodruff, co-founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, at historic Lambeau Field. Following the ceremony, each of the veterans will enjoy a VIP experience at the Draft.

It is wild to think that it has been 20 years since the Cowboys drafted DeMarcus Ware and everything that has happened in that time.

Our thanks to him and to Crown Royal for the time he was made available to us.