<\/p>\n
Dallas Cowboys linebacker Rashan Gary participates in a minicamp practice at The Star on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Frisco.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
FRISCO\u00a0\u2014 Jennifer Coney has heard her son,\u00a0Rashan Gary<\/a>, speak plans into existence so many times that she has no other choice but to trust him.<\/p>\n Like the time in middle school when he told her he wanted to start playing football, and subsequently explained his reasoning. She couldn\u2019t see it at the time, but he believed he could play in the NFL one day.\u00a0<\/p>\n Or the time before the NFL draft, when Gary was on the precipice of making his middle school dreams come true. It was then that Gary told his mother that he wanted to put his Michigan degree from the Ross School of Business to good use. He wanted to start his own branding and marketing agency for athletes, including himself. He wanted to start Rashan Gary Sports.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Before doing so, however, Gary asked his mom a question.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMom, you got faith in me?\u201d Coney remembers her son saying at the time. She then responded, \u201cAlways.\u201d<\/p>\n Which is why she\u2019s inclined to believe her son\u2019s latest plans, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gary is in the midst of a career transition. The former first-round pick was traded to the Cowboys this offseason <\/a>after spending the first seven years of his career in Green Bay. He played well with the Packers. He\u2019s had 46.5 career sacks. He earned a trip to the Pro Bowl in 2024. He signed a four-year, $96 million extension in 2023 that allowed him to successfully complete a major goal of his NFL career: Take care of his family.<\/p>\n Heading into his first season in Dallas, Gary\u2019s focus has shifted.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to be great,\u201d Gary told The Dallas Morning News recently. \u201cThat\u2019s my thing. I\u2019m not just here to say I played in the NFL. I want to be a dominant factor. When I hang up my cleats, I want people to say, ‘Man, Rashan Gary was blah, blah, blah,’ whatever the case may be. It\u2019s my legacy. It\u2019s what I\u2019m going to leave my kids. It\u2019s bigger than me now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The Cowboys have already seen Gary\u2019s intention in action. They traded a fourth-round pick to Green Bay because they wanted Gary to be the player he\u2019s already been in his career. They told him so right after the trade<\/a>. That meant being a player who could help them generate a group pass rush, someone who could help their renovated front-seven stop the run and someone who could help mentor young pass rushers like Donovan Ezeiruaku and Malachi Lawrence<\/a>, one of the team\u2019s two first-round picks this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gary has lived up to the leadership aspirations so far. He believes in early rising and daily trips to the hot and cold tubs at the team facility when he isn\u2019t watching film, going through walkthroughs or working out. He\u2019s been to the postseason six times in seven years and he believes, with the help of other veterans, he can help show the way to the rest of the roster. The Cowboys haven\u2019t been to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons<\/a>. Currently, less than a third of the Cowboys’ roster has any playoff experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou see what football brings to you, then you understand that you can\u2019t play this game lightly,\u201d Gary said of his message to teammates. \u201cYou can never cheat the game, and I\u2019m a big believer in that and the football gods. So just understanding the things that football has brought to me and how it\u2019s changed my life. I owe it all, and that\u2019s all I ask of you.\u201d<\/p>\n Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer recently said that he\u2019s been blown away by Gary\u2019s professionalism, calling the newcomer a \u201cgrown-ass man.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But Gary\u2019s professionalism was rooted in him long before he became a man.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coney said she lost her parents when she was young, but they ingrained a lesson in her. They told her to keep her focus in life, no matter what happens. Through the good times and the bad and everywhere in between, it would be consistency that would carry her through.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coney valued that lesson so much that she implanted it in her son, as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gary remembers the standards his mother set for him early on. Back in middle school, when he told her his NFL aspirations, Gary recalled his mom supporting him, as long as a condition was met. Gary had to keep his grades high if he wanted to play organized sports. He had to put in extra work on the field and off it. Around that time, Gary also was tested and learned he was living with dyslexia. Once he was diagnosed, he knew the path toward being a successful student.\u00a0<\/p>\n At Michigan, Gary was not only a two-time Big Ten honoree on the field, but he was also a two-time all-conference academic honoree.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Gary credits the consistency instilled in him by his mother for why he\u2019s made it this far.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have a goal in mind and when you have a mission to complete, it doesn\u2019t matter how you feel,\u201d Gary said. \u201cIt\u2019s really just the process over your feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n Coney admits that sometimes her son\u2019s consistent approach even amazes her. The way he approached the rehabilitation from a torn ACL in 2022 <\/a>was one example. There were times when she wondered if her son was truly doing OK during the tough time, or just acting like it. Gary\u2019s approach worked, though. He went from tearing his ACL during Green Bay\u2019s ninth game in 2022 to returning in time for the start of the 2023 season. Three weeks into that year, Gary had a career-high three sacks against the New Orleans Saints. Coney was there. Both of them still said it\u2019s one of their favorite moments from Gary\u2019s football career thus far.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was in the stands just screaming,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n They\u2019re hopeful more moments like that are on the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Even heading into his eighth year, Gary considers himself a student of the game. Part of the professionalism that\u2019s blown away coaches can be credited to Gary\u2019s persistent propensity for asking questions.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBeing a leader, you have to be held to the same standard,\u201d Gary said, \u201cso the first thing, from coaches to players, if you feel like I\u2019m short-changing or I can go harder anywhere, please tell me, because it\u2019s a fine line of being great and being a player, and I\u2019m trying to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary (52) on defense during an NFL game against the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Green Bay, Wis.<\/p>\n Jeffrey Phelps\/AP<\/p>\n Gary is still trying to get there. He had 7.5 sacks in the first seven games of last season. And though he didn\u2019t record a sack after that, he still kept a similar pace when it came to pressures. Ultimately he finished with 60 pressures, tied for 20th among edge rushers in the league, according to Pro Football Focus. That\u2019s 20 more than former Cowboys edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney had a year ago when he had the most among Cowboys edge rushers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n