Cowboys Change 'Game-Ball' Policy; McCarthy Shocked

FRISCO - Every coach of every team gets to do it his way. In some NFL cities, after a win, the head coach awards a game ball, or even multiple game balls, to standouts on offense and defense and special teams.

That's not Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy's way.

Here, the "game-ball award'' tradition is a rarity. So when one is awarded? It is particularly special. ... as this one was.

After Dallas' nail-biting 20-17 win against the Steelers on Sunday - capping a rain-and-lightning-delayed nationally-televised outing in McCarthy's hometown of Pittsburgh - the coach gave his customary post-win speech in the locker room. He cited the team's fight through adversity and he emphasized Dallas' 3-0 record on the road.

But as he turned to a final order of business, he was interrupted by team leader Dak Prescott, who was clutching a football.

"My man!'' Dak announced to cheers from all of his teammates, awarding McCarthy that aforementioned rare game ball.

“It feels great,” said McCarthy later, before he got to spend some more time with his parents, Joe and Ellen, and family and friends . “It’s the first time I’ve been part of a victory here.''

Indeed, while McCarthy beat his hometown Steelers team in a Super Bowl while coaching the Packers, he'd been 0-4 against Pittsburgh previously. But he added - as he always does - a particular point.

"At the end of the day, this is about the players,'' he said. "This is a players’ game. I’m blessed to be a part of the NFL for as long as I’ve been. I have tremendous respect for this organization, but, yeah, this game is about the players. These guys poured it out there. Both sides.”

As it happens - amid a sea of ridiculous guesses and memes and insults about the Cowboys "quitting'' on their coach - Prescott was among a small group that on Saturday night zipped into town to meet McCarthy's family. That surely further cemented the bond between coach and quarterback.

“I know how I feel about him,” Prescott said. “Love him. Great head coach. He’s very, very proud to be from Pittsburgh. ... That’s why I had to go on a little tour and see some of the stomping grounds that he’s talked about, paint that picture in my head. It was really special, got to stop by his parents’ house, spend some time with him and them.”

McCarthy is in the final year of his contract here; the lame-duck ramifications are real. And if the Cowboys go spinning out of control record-wise? It will be time to take a look at whether, in the parlance, "the coach has lost the locker room.''

Related: 'Good Bad & Ugly': Cowboys Gutsy Road Win in Review

But this is Year 5 of McCarthy in Dallas. And that hasn't happened yet. And quite the opposite happened on Sunday, on the field and in the locker room.

“I was saying it before the game started, like we’re not going to forget this one regardless,” Prescott said. “With the delays, with everything that happened, it’s one of those games I don’t care how long you play, you’ll never forget it. I just kept saying, ‘Let’s make it one to remember.''

The Cowboys players did that for themselves. And they did it for Mike McCarthy.