FORT WORTH, Texas — Daryl Johnston won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, and he has one major regret from his 11-year NFL career.
"The bad part is we didn't celebrate it. We didn't take the time to celebrate those Super Bowls," Johnston said in a phone interview. "We were so programmed to move on to the next thing. We were numb to the success and we didn't appreciate the hard work. It's so hard to win a Super Bowl."
Ultimately, he'd like to win one more.
Of the many ex-Cowboys who are linked with potentially joining an NFL front office, Troy Aikman is always the first, and usually the last, name on the list.
We all missed on Moose.
An NFL team looking for a new GM or director of player personnel should consider Aikman's teammate from the backfield. The résumé is there.
Like Aikman, Johnston has worked as an NFL analyst on Fox for what will soon be his 20th NFL season.
Like Aikman, Moose aspires to be a part of something where the measurement of success isn't necessarily producing a good telecast of an NFL game, but being a part of a victory on the field.
"In TV, you don't win or lose. People like you or they don't," he said. "We get no validation. The subjectiveness of TV has been really frustrating for me for 20 years, which is why the front office is so appealing. You win or you lose. You have things you need to fix."
Aikman has expressed similar feelings.
Other than playing and working as an analyst, Moose has developed a background in personnel and roster building.
Johnston works with the startup USFL, which launched this year. Moose is the league's executive VP of football operations.
This is the third time Moose has ventured into what has historically been one the least stable concepts in sports, spring football.
In 2019, he was the general manager of the San Antonio Commanders in the American Alliance of Football. The eight-team league was poorly designed and operated, and it ceased operations in the middle of its first season.
In 2020, Moose was the director of player personnel for Dallas Renegades of the startup XFL. The league looked liked it might survive, but COVID ended that as its primary investor, WWE CEO Vince McMahon, closed the doors during the season.
It's 2022, and Moose is trying again.
With the support of NBC and Fox, the return of the USFL should at least make it through this season and possibly a few more.
Unlike his previous roles with the AAF and XFL, Moose oversees the entire league in this position.
He will define success if the eight-team USFL plays the whole season, sells some tickets and sponsorships, the broadcast partners are happy, and the league is in a position to return for a second year.
What he would like, ultimately, is to be a part of something that defines success with a win or a loss on the field.
"It's a dangerous drug to chase," he said.
It's the same "drug" so many former players chase when their playing career ends — winning the game after the game is long over.
"I'd love to do it," he said. "I have been blessed to win a championship at all three levels. I have been around great coaches and visit with GMs, and ask their opinions. You want to have an opportunity to put that all together."
Pro Football Hall of Famers Ozzie Newsome, John Elway and most recently John Lynch were handed similiar opportunities.
Newsome had a brilliant career building winners in Baltimore; Elway has had some success running the personnel of the Denver Broncos; Lynch left the broadcast booth to become the 49ers GM in 2017.
That's what Moose ultimately wants to do.
He's 56 and, from a life standpoint, a move to a front office could work.
He and his wife, Diane, have two children and live in the Dallas area. Their son recently graduated from Michigan, and their daughter attends Daryl's alma mater, Syracuse.
"Doing what I am doing with the USFL and Fox is great, but the NFL is the ultimate level of football; that's where everybody wants to be," he said. "Everybody has that desire, especially if you have been a part of a championship team."
Moose was a part of three with the Dallas Cowboys.
He'd like to be a part of another one again.
Both to build it, and then to take the time to actually celebrate it.
