FRISCO - This is a true story. And if you don't believe me, ask Michael Irvin for confirmation.
The year was 1990, before any reporters were allowed inside the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, where the term would eventually catch on.
Irvin and yours truly were on the track, on the sideline, of a rookies workout in the backyard of the old Dallas Cowboys HQ at Valley Ranch.
And I asked the future Hall of Fame receiver - to that point relatively unaccomplished but still characteristically brash - what he thought of what we were seeing.
To this day, with memories fading, we share credit for the term. But somehow, we concluded together, watching these kids in gray Russell gym shorts and white 'COWBOYS'' T-shirts move around stretching and jogging but not exactly playing football ...
That none of this mattered because it was just the "Underwear Olympics."
I'm not kidding. The two of us invented the term "The Underwear Olympics.''
A few years later, colleague Peter King started using the term in his SI coverage and it caught on.
And today, inside another backyard, this time at The Star in Frisco, the tradition carries on with veterans and rookies attending OTAs as the Brian Schottenheimer era begins.
And what do we see?
Given that OTAs are really restrictive with what players can and can't do and given there are no padded practices (we're two months away from first one in Oxnard according to Schotty)?
Well, there is one way guys can separate themselves from their competition - even in their "underwear'' - and for Schottenheimer, it's all above the shoulders.
“We're limited with what we can do in terms of contact, it's more about the understanding from the mental aspect of the plays and the system," Schottenheimer said. "We want to play smart, so how do we handle the OTA installation, how do we handle the carryover stuff from yesterday that we apply today?"
With the offseason install happening for the past month or so, players have been unable to put on pads and showcase their skills. By dotting their I's and crossing their T's, they can put themselves ahead before training camp in Oxnard, showing they have the offense and system nailed down.
Which in turn, will allow them to play fast.
Given that OTAs are a largely mental exercise, especially for Schottenheimer's Cowboys, he is looking for smart players who pick up quickly and, more importantly, understand what's being asked of them.
And at the "Underwear Olympics" that is how rookies and veterans alike can separate themselves from the competition. ... just as was the case 35 years ago back at old Valley Ranch.