The Cowboys used their 12th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft to secure an offensive guard for QB Dak Prescott, who lives for one word: win. The former Alabama standout brings accolades with him, including First-Team All-American and All-SEC honors as a junior. He was also a permanent team captain. But inside his home on the medal wall, one shelf remains bare. It reminds him of what he left behind. “I left without a national championship, and that’s something that is going to burn at me for the rest of my life.” That fire is what Dallas saw. That shelf may be empty, but it has already told the league everything they need to know about the rookie.
Dallas beat reporter Joseph Hoyt, who asked Cowboys guard Tyler Smith about his new, 325 lbs teammate, Tyler Booker’s viral moment, highlighted the observation in an X post. Now, to provide some context for the viral moment. It went viral quickly. Former Alabama guard Tyler Booker was holding a kids’ football camp in his home state of Connecticut. One drill featured a shuttle race. A camper kept winning over and over. Booker kept lining up new challengers. None could stop the kid. Finally, there was no one left. So Booker raced him. Ten yards back and forth. Booker reached out a hand mid-race. He shoved the camper, sending him flying, then crossed the finish line first. Brutal, right?
But the Dallas Cowboys were not alarmed. Smith, entering Year 4 with Dallas, flipped the narrative. “If he’s willing to do that to a child, I know that any man that’s across from him, there’s no mercy that will be given. I like to see that he’s a merciless competitor in that nature.” Smith knows what it takes in the trenches. And in his eyes, Booker fits the mold.
I also asked #Cowboys guard Tyler Smith about Tyler Booker’s viral moment.
“If he’s willing to do that to a child I know that any man that’s across from him, there’s no mercy that will be given. I like to see that he’s a merciless competitor in that nature.” https://t.co/FhVZqiFi8C
— Joseph Hoyt (@JoeJHoyt) July 10, 2025
Now, most athletes would backtrack and scramble with apologies if a video made rounds around the internet highlighting what many would call an unsportsmanlike attitude. Booker did not try to dodge the moment. He shared the clip himself. His caption read, “How you do anything is how you do everything.” He doubled down on his mindset. “I love to win and I hate to lose. I lost too much this past year. I lost a lot more than I should have in college, me being at Alabama,” Booker said. He is bringing that fire with him to the league. “I’m going to bring that burn and passion and desire with me to the NFL and transfer that over to wanting to win Super Bowls.”
Booker is not putting on a show; this is just how he plays. “But that’s who I am. I’m a competitor,” he said. “And at the end of the day, it was the Tyler Booker Football Camp, and no one was going to beat Tyler Booker at the Tyler Booker Football Camp. That was my mindset.” The play might have shocked the internet. But not the Cowboys locker room.
Tyler Booker is a “fantastic young man!”
Moving from one side of the offensive line to the other is not always easy. Tyler Booker, however, is off to a smoother start, and he is settling into his new role with confidence. “It’s been a lot of fun,” Booker said. “You have to think a little bit more, but at the same time, it’s technique that you’re a lot more cognizant of what you’re doing with your body.” He credits his early college experience. “Shout out to Coach [Nick] Saban and [offensive line coach] Coach [Eric] Wolford for getting me ready for the NFL.”
Nick Saban did not hold back in his praise of Booker during the draft. “This guy is a fantastic young man,” Saban said. “This guy’s got tremendous muscle mass, which I think is very important to be a power player in the NFL. … This guy’s got it all.” It was clear Booker left a strong impression on one of college football’s greatest coaches. Booker also brings leadership qualities, but he knows leadership starts with listening.
Tyler Booker
Source- Instagram
He’s leaned on his new teammates to guide him. “I couldn’t ask for a better room of vets,” Booker said. At Alabama, Booker started all 13 games in his final season. Twelve came at left guard. One came at left tackle. He posted 92 knockdown blocks and allowed just half a sack. His season grade came in at 92.3%. Those numbers tell the story of a blocker who finishes plays and controls the line. It was the kind of tape Cowboys looked at when building a strong interior.
Last season, Dallas finished 27th in rushing yards. Their ground game needed help. Booker’s presence brings muscle and grit to the trenches. “That’s where Booker’s nasty demeanor comes in as he’s a mauler in the trenches and should start right away in Dallas,” Bleacher Report’s Matt Holder wrote. If Booker’s transition continues this smoothly, he may anchor the right side for years to come.
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