EXCLUSIVE: Cowboys DE Robert Quinn tells SI.com he's 'Black Cobra'
FRISCO - "It's 'Black Cobra','' Dallas Cowboys defensive end Robert Quinn tells me in an exclusive visit when I ask the new pass-rusher about his in-house nickname. "I take it with honor. .... I wear it with pride.''
I ask Quinn, the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year who has played two games with the Cowboys, about how defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli has tried to call him "The Snake.'' And defensive assistant Kris Richard has used the word "cobra.''
"Well,' Quinn says, laughing, "it's 'Black Cobra.' You gotta say it all.''
The nickname was given to him by teammate Tyrone Crawford at training camp due to Quinn's unusual "bend'' -- his flexibility as a pass-rusher getting around the edge.
"They say I don't have any bones in my body, that I in a sense move like a snake,'' says Quinn, who is aware that owner Jerry Jones has referred to him as "Gumby.'' "Yeah, I've heard that before. But ('Black Cobra'') is a little more fierce than 'Gumby.''
"He can bend like no other,'' says Crawford, who himself is part of the nickname game as Marinelli has labeled him "The Butcher.'' "We started calling him, 'The Black Cobra.' He slithers ... he can bend, and when you're in your ninth year and your ankles can still bend like that, that's a good thing.''
Defensive nicknames are a big deal here inside The Star, what with the "Hot Boyz'' and the rest. Happily, Quinn's "Black Cobra'' sack dance from the Saints game is going to stick better than what might've come from his "ride the pony'' sack dance against Miami, the team that traded him to Dallas.
"Oh, that was just a horse ride, just an ol' cowboy, ridin' a horse,'' Quinn tells me. (Jerry liked that celebration, too.)
Head coach Jason Garrett suggests he's never seen a player with this level of bend. Richard echoes that. And his teammates are just as amazed.
"He strikes,'' Crawford said. "He's 'Black Cobra.' He strikes pretty viciously, too."
