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8. T.O. defaces the star, George Teague defends it (Sept. 24, 2000) — Playing for the 49ers, Terrell Owens celebrated a 3-yard touchdown by jogging to midfield, looking up through the hole and throwing out his arms. Emmitt Smith mocked him following a touchdown of his own, then T.O. went back for more after his next touchdown — only to get taken down from behind by Cowboys safety George Teague. Teague was ejected (and deified locally). Nobody ever would’ve imagined Owens becoming a fan favorite here after San Francisco’s 41-24 victory.

9. Emmitt’s record-breaking run (Oct. 27, 2002) — With an 11-yard run against Seattle, Smith passed Walter Payton to become the NFL’s career rushing leader, accomplishing a goal he set at the start of his career, when people were saying he was too small and too slow to make it in the league. The record fell in the fourth quarter with his 93rd yard of the game; otherwise, he likely would’ve broken the mark in Detroit the following week. Forgotten is that Dallas lost 17-14.

10. Romo-mania peaks (Nov. 23, 2006) — Tony Romo already was off to such a storybook start that before his first Thanksgiving start some fans strung his name together and hung it in the Ring of Honor. Then he lived up to it by throwing for five touchdowns in three quarters of a 38-10 victory over Tampa Bay. He ended up dating the halftime star, Carrie Underwood, while impressing another singer in the crowd, Jessica Simpson.

Other notables: Pro Bowl (Jan. 1973); SMU’s “Pony Express” backfield of Eric Dickerson and Craig James vying for national titles (1981-82); Kerry Von Erich wrestling Ric Flair before 43,000 (May 1984); the “Bounty Bowl” (Nov. 1989); Jason Garrett beating the Packers (Thanksgiving 1994); Emmitt vs. Barry Sanders on a Monday night (Sept. 1995); Randy Moss shows the Cowboys what they could’ve had (Thanksgiving 1998); the “Pickle Juice Game” (Sept. 2000); Donovan McNabb’s 14-second scramble and long heave to Freddie Mitchell (Nov. 2004); and Santana Moss spoils “The Triplets” going into the Ring of Honor (Sept. 2005).

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