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SAN ANTONIO – DeMarcus Ware distances from talk about whether he’s the NFL’s most dominant outside linebacker. He’s much more willing to discuss the Dallas duo.

Do Ware and Anthony Spencer form the league’s best outside linebacker tandem?

“That’s what we want to be,” Ware said. “We talk about it all the time.”

Coach Wade Phillips believes Spencer and Ware already are the league’s best pair. Pittsburgh’s LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison (combined for 23.5 sacks last season for the league’s third-ranked rushing defense) present a pretty strong case, but Spencer’s development puts the Dallas duo among the elite.

Ware is a perennial All-Pro whose dominance as a pass-rusher (56.5) overshadows his excellence against the run. Yet Spencer might have been the better player down the stretch last season.

Spencer, who tight end Jason Witten says is the toughest guy he has to block, has always been a beast against the run. The Dallas defense became dominant last season when he flipped the switch as a pass-rusher. He got pressure throughout the season but didn’t get a sack in the first 10 weeks. He broke the seal with a two-sack Thanksgiving performance and racked up eight sacks in the last eight games, including the playoffs.

The standard has been set for Spencer, whose confidence has carried over from his late-season emergence. Phillips compares Spencer to a man he might meet next week in Canton, Hall of Fame inductee Rickey Jackson

“I don’t see a lot of difference as far as how he plays that position,” said Phillips, Jackson’s first NFL position coach.

Ware is well on his way to a yellow blazer. Phillips, a pretty good authority on 3-4 outside linebackers, sees that kind of potential for Spencer.

INDIANAPOLIS – Wade Phillips has a high standard for outside linebackers.

He coached Rickey Jackson, who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this summer, with the New Orleans Saints. Phillips is coaching DeMarcus Ware, who is well on his way to Canton.

Phillips firmly believes Anthony Spencer has that kind of potential.

"Oh yeah, there’s no doubt about it," Phillips said. "He's a dominant player."

For Spencer to be considered in that class, he simply has to continue performing like he did down the stretch last season, when he had eight sacks in the final eight games including playoffs.

"Spencer was one of the best players in the league last year at the end of the year," Phillips said.

MIAMI --Welcome to Super Bowl XLIV, and the Cowboys are not here.

We're here to update you throughout the day about how some of the local players are doing this evening.

But first, a recap of something said Saturday night at the Hall of Fame selection show.

With former Cowboy Emmitt Smith and former Saint Rickey Jackson going into the Hall come August, there is a chance Dallas and New Orleans will meet in the annual Hall of Fame game.

Now in order for that to take place, training camp would have to start earlier than normal.

Jerry Jones didn't seemed thrilled to have the Cowboys play in the game.

"I don’t know about that," Jones said regarding whether or not his team would play in the preseason opener. "I don’t have a thought about that. I'm not sure what is involved there relative to schedule and those kinds of things."

Also, Jones said he hated it that Smith played two seasons in Arizona on the backside of his career.

"I didn’t like that," Jones said. "It had nothing to do with the Cardinals or anything to do with Emmitt’s decision. It was a speck on the whole spectrum on what Emmitt is about with the NFL and the Cowboys."

Smith said he needed closure as his reasoning for playing with Arizona.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Now it's official.

Here's the Hall of Fame Class of 2010: Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice, Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, John Randle, Floyd Little and Dick Lebeau.

During the announcement, thanks to TV, we saw Smith and Rice sitting next to each other and giving each other a fist pound and a hug.

We will hear from some of the guys in a moment.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ Ok, Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice will go into the Hall of Fame.

Those two made the final cut, but here is the final five: Smith, Rice, and Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson and John Randle.

I remember Wade Phillips talking about how he thought Jackson was a Hall of Famer a few months ago.