Alan Veingrad’s trek from schmo to Shlomo is interesting, even fascinating. But I mean, really, even the truest, bluest Cowboys fan would be hard-pressed to recite any specifics of Veingrad’s Cowboys career. Utility offensive lineman … won a Super Bowl ring … and ... uh ... yeah. So the most intriguing aspect of Veingrad’s post-football life isn’t that he’s become immersed in ultra-orthodox Judaism, it’s that Dallas’ Only Daily thought it merited a place on the front page yesterday.
Barry Horn’s piece is well-written and researched -- he went to Florida for this? -- and I hung on every word. But that’s because I was a close acquaintance of Veingrad's during my time covering the Cowboys for Fort Worth’s Only Daily in the early 1990s. I kept searching the story for a newsy peg. Maybe Veingrad was coming to speak in Dallas? Nope. Maybe he’s ascended to Florida’s No. 1 Rabbi? Nope. He’s grown a long gray beard and is really, really into it? Yep.
If this were, oh, I dunno, Troy Aikman or Jimmy Johnson, yeah, front page. But Shlomo Veingrad? And on the day after Yom Kippur, no less. What, the paper couldn't find space during the High Holy Days?
The detailed account of an obscure personality got to me thinking and digging, and, sure ‘nuff, sources at The Dallas Morning News tell me these Cowboys-related cover stories are also in the works:
Kelvin Martin re-upholsters his couch.
Matt Vanderbeek shaves his goatee.
Ray Horton backs out of his driveway.
Godfrey Myles ditches cable for satellite.
Mike Saxon drinks another beer. I leave any out? --Richie Whitt
