Henry Melton excited for reunion trip to face Chicago, Soldier Field
He was a bit understated about it, but Henry Melton said he's been well aware of which opponent awaits the Cowboys in Week 14 of the schedule.
"I don't want to say it's been circled, but I've been looking forward to it," he said.
Melton is a Dallas-area native who returned to his hometown team in the offseason. But he's not far removed from his days as a Chicago Bears Pro Bowler – in fact it's only been two years since he sacked Tony Romo during the Bears' 34-18 demolition of Dallas at AT&T Stadium in 2012.
Thursday night will mark Melton's first game against his old team – and it will come in his old stadium, no less – as the Cowboys face a critical prime time game against the Bears.
"Chicago is a great place. It's cold, but the fanbase is passionate like it is out here. The city as a whole, and everybody there – I had a good time," Melton said.
It seemed like a good bet that Melton was on his way to becoming a cornerstone Bears defender, along with the likes of Julius Peppers and Lance Briggs. In his first three season with Chicago, he registered 80 total tackles and 15.5 sacks as a defensive tackle for Rod Marinelli, earning the Pro Bowl selection in 2012.
The Bears designated Melton as their franchise player in 2013, only for him to tear his ACL three games into that season. Six months later, he signed a team-friendly deal with Dallas and reunited with Marinelli as a Cowboy.
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"That's how it goes," Melton said."You know, it's a business – one day, you're a franchise player and the next year you're gone. It's no hard feelings, but it's a business."
There might not be any hard feelings, but Melton and Marinelli find themselves as just two of several stories between these two franchises in recent years. Several recognizable names have swapped places between the Bears and Cowboys, including longtime Cowboys veterans Jay Ratliff and Danny McCray.
Bears special teams coordinator Joe DeCammilis also spent four seasons with the Cowboys, while Marinelli and Melton find themselves on the Cowboys' side of the equation.
"It's going to be exciting. It's going to be fun to go back there and be on the opposite side," Melton said.
For the sake of the Cowboys' playoff hopes, this matchup needs to go better than the past few. The Bears are riding a three-game winning streak in this series, and the Cowboys haven't won at Soldier Field since 2007 – an early season game in much warmer temperatures.
That in itself should be motivation enough for the Cowboys, regardless of reunions.
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