Ed Goren told Daryl Johnston that running backs didn’t make great analysts, but Johnston knew he was under the wrong impression.

Goren, the former vice chairman of Fox Sports Media Group, said running backs were too instinctive. He was looking for the “how” and the “why” in a broadcaster. A running back like Johnston couldn’t provide that.

“I told Ed that I was a fullback,” Johnston said, “and I had to learn more than most running backs did.”

From that point on, Goren understood that Johnston, a fullback who saw entire plays unfold from the backfield, was the right man for the job. When John Madden departed, Johnston and his former teammate Troy Aikman took over in the booth.

Johnston’s journey started at Syracuse, where he led the Orangemen to an undefeated 1987 season. Then he blocked for the National Football League’s all-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith and won three Super Bowl rings with the Dallas Cowboys. Now, in his 13th season as a color commentator for Fox Sports, Johnston broadcasts games weekly with Kenny Albert and Tony Siragusa.

Back in the day, when Dick MacPherson coached Syracuse and the Orangemen were a perennial powerhouse, Johnston was front and center.

Syracuse running back Robert Drummond remembers a play against West Virginia in 1987 where SU trailed by two touchdowns. Johnston took the handoff, got hit at the 17-yard line and then trucked through “eight or nine” guys and into the end zone.

“That pretty much sums up who Daryl Johnston was,” Drummond said.

Drummond described Johnston as a “blue-collar, hard-nosed worker.” Someone who veered away from the limelight, but always put in the effort.

When Johnston played for the Cowboys, tight end Jay Novacek noticed his unique running style. Novacek turned to Johnston.

“You run like a moose,” he said.

The nickname stuck. And in 1990, one year after the Cowboys drafted Johnston in the second round, Moose had a new task: block for arguably the greatest running back of all time.

Emmitt Smith.

Smith and Johnston grew inseparable on and off the field. In Smith’s Hall of Fame speech on Aug. 7, 2010, he immediately recognized the man who made everything he did possible.

“Daryl Johnston, where are you?” he said.

Johnston stood up, looking directly at Smith as tears trickled down his former teammate’s cheeks.

“You mean the world to me,” Smith continued. “ … I love you Daryl, from the bottom of my heart.”

Kenny Albert, Johnston’s play-by-play man and close friend, remembers running into Smith one time before a broadcast. When he saw the two of them interact, he knew just how special their bond was.

Albert and Johnston spend hours upon hours together during the season. They actually spend nearly as much time with each other as they do with their own families.

Johnston’s in-season schedule falls into a relatively steady rhythm. Monday through Thursday he lives with his wife Diane, his son Aidan and his daughter Evan 10-to-15 minutes outside of Dallas.

He visits the Cowboys’ practice facility during the week to pick up tidbits and learn more about the team. But most of the four-day stretch that he’s not absorbed in football is dedicated to his family.

On Monday afternoon he picked up Evan from school at 4:30 p.m. He listened as she shared the details of her day.

The main time he spends with his kids is during the week. Aidan is in eighth grade and plays football and Evan is in sixth.

“I’m getting to the point now where I’ll miss a lot for my son and daughter’s lives on the weekends,” Johnston said.

On Friday, the real workweek begins. It’s a college kid’s alternate universe.

Johnston flies to wherever his next game is on Thursday night or Friday. This past weekend it was Philadelphia for the Eagles-New York Giants game. Johnston, Albert, Siragusa and the rest of the crew watch the home team practice on Friday.

They sit down with four or five players or coaches to talk about the team’s game plan and get stories for Sunday’s broadcast. Then on Saturday, after watching some college football, looking at video packages and sometimes exploring the city, the crew meets with the visiting team.

After a production meeting on Saturday night and a good night’s sleep, it’s show time.

“By the time Sunday at 1 comes,” Albert said, “it’s like you’ve studied for a test all week and then you kick it off and you have a three-hour live broadcast.”

But Johnston doesn’t always pass the test.

He knew it would happen. It was inevitable. Johnston was a “Happy Days” fan growing up. Richie Cunningham was one of the main characters.

It just so happened that one of his teammates on the Cowboys was also named Richie Cunningham. The name had been engrained into his mind.

So when New York Jets’ running back Richie Anderson played the Cowboys, Johnston knew he’d butcher the name and accidentally call him Richie Cunningham.

“The first time he touched the ball my producer was in my ear belly laughing,” Johnston said. “He goes, ‘I cannot believe you did it on the first time.’”

“I’m like, ‘No I didn’t.’”

“Yes you did.”

For the most part, though, it’s smooth sailing for Johnston. He, Albert and Siragusa are all within two years of one another and have kids who are about the same age.

Johnston and Siragusa talk about their sons’ recent exploits on the football field. The trio eats nearly every meal together three days a week for 19 straight weeks.

Though Moose misses his family dearly during the weekend, he has Kenny and Goose to keep him company.

“If it ever got to the point where it wasn’t enjoyable or fun anymore,” Johnston said, “I think it would be hard to do.”

Published on October 30, 2013 at 12:18 am

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass