Ring Of Honor BBQ

*** Randy White's BBQ on Midway Rd. in Addison is no longer open ***

First, let me preface this story with a little information. Before 9:30am this morning, I had spilled coffee on my shirt no less than nine (9) different times. My boss Justin can confirm that number.

So, in my white golf shirt with brown coffee colored polka dots, I leave for lunch with my friend and boss, Justin, to meet my good friend Tim Harris at Randy White’s BBQ on Midway Rd. in North Dallas. Justin and I arrive at the restaurant a little before Tim, so as we wait for him I walk around looking at all the pictures of Randy, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Bob Lilly, et al, that are hanging on the walls. If you know me at all, you know that the Cowboys of the 70’s are a special team, from a special time in my life. Troy, Emmitt, and Michael have a special place in my memory, but that place is nothing like the one that holds Tom Landry’s team.

Off into dream world I go, which is not good for someone with an short attention span like me. As I walk up the wait-line, while still looking at pictures, to the place at the meat block where your order is taken, I see a gray-haired man in the corner of my eye that makes me pause. I think “that’s Lee Roy Jordan!” (In case you don’t know, he was the linebacker who was the anchor of the Cowboys Doomsday Defenses I & II in the 70’s and a member of their Ring of Honor.) So I immediately turn to greet him, and am stopped mid-turn by… Randy White! Lee Roy’s successor at linebacker, Hall of Famer, Ring of Honor member and local BBQ proprietor. He has on a sleeveless shirt and he is RIPPED and HUGE. At 50+ he looks like he is still in good enough shape to strap on some shoulder pads and pop some leather on the gridiron.

I froze.

It is pretty much a haze from here on out, but the following is a rough transcript as pieced together from memory and eyewitness accounts:

Derek: “Heeeey!! Randy! How you doin’ man!!” (shaking the Manster’s hand)
Randy: “Hey man! Good!! How you been?”
Derek: “anddddddddddddddd…uhhhhhhh…” (extending my hand to Lee Roy)
Lee Roy: “Hi, I’m Lee Roy Jordan” (extending his hand to shake mine)
Derek: “Yes, yes. I know you are Lee Roy Jordan.”
Lee Roy: “I was hoping I didn’t scare you with this big knife.”

(we all look at a common folding lock blade knife he was showing Randy)

Derek: “…..” (you can hear crickets through my retarded blinking and smiling)
Derek: “Hey Randy, goooood barbecue man!”
Randy: “Thanks man. I think we do a pretty good job here.”
Derek: “…..” (blinking, smiling)
Derek: “Oh yeah, and gooooood football too.” (a million great memories of these two guys swimming in my head and this is what I say to them??!!)
Randy: “I bet that was a pretty cool time when you were a kid.”
Lee Roy: “Yeah!”
Derek: “You know I was just looking at that picture of Coach Landry and Roger over there and thinking about what a magical time that was for me growing up."
Lee Roy: “Yeah! It was a lot of fun for us too!!"
Derek/Randy/Lee Roy: “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA aaaaaaaaaaaah…”

At this point Randy and Lee Roy are looking at me kindly, like they have forgiven my stupid “gooooood football” comment and the 9 coffee stains on my white golf shirt and are wanting me to stick around and hang with them as an Honorary member of the Ring of Honor and eat some smoked meat. They were my friends.

I froze.

Then I sllllooooowly turned to the guy cutting meat…

Derek: “I’ll have the Manster please. Chopped and a hot link.” (my whole body is on fire now)

Aaaand… scene.

After placing my order I turned and look down at the cashier where my boss, Justin, is all hunched over, dry heaving because he can’t breathe because he is laughing so hard.

Later he said that that whole scene made me look like Ruprect from the “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” movie.

Go Cowboys!!