Former Cowboys QB Babe Laufenberg Shares Story of Jason Garrett Visiting Terminally Ill Son

Jason Garrett's always been seen as the "nice guy" around Dallas. That's the reason why some thought he still had access to the team's facilities a week after the Cowboys dropped their final game to the Redskins. Football in January generally serves as the main basis of retention of head coaches in the NFL though, and Garrett, loved as he was around the area, was fired Sunday by Jerry Jones.

Garrett was widely revered for his personality in Dallas, but his cordiality was not limited to his trademark claps, or constant encouragement of staff and players with an ever-optimistic "just focus on today attitude" throughout the years. Garrett made a point to foster relationships with his players, to make them feel like family, and to stretch their connections beyond football. And this account of his visits to former team quarterback Babe Laufenberg's terminally ill son in the 2019 preseason are the absolute epitome of that.

Luke Laufenberg was a tight end at the University of Texas at El Paso. Football ran deep through the Laufenberg bloodline, with dad Babe a seasoned journeyman quarterback with stints in San Diego, Washington and Dallas. Luke's own football dream was derailed when he was blind-sided with a lymphoma diagnosis two years earlier.

He had originally redshirted at Texas A&M before playing one season at Mesa Community College, and found out about the disease's initial presence in late 2017. After months of treatment and therapy, it was announced that Laufenberg's cancer had gone into remission, only to return in April, this time with a much deadlier severity. Laufenberg received a scholarship to UTEP in 2019, but by that time it was too little, too late, and Luke unfortunately passed away in mid-July.

Amid the devastion it caused for the family and Cowboys organization (Babe currently covers the team for KTVT) Babe made sure to commend Garrett for his support of Luke during the final days of his life. He was one of the last to see Luke alive, and according to Babe, made frequent visits after "14-16" hour work days to see him.

In Garrett's own words, "Luke was an amazing young man. I don't know that I've ever seen a better example of [fight] in my life. "

He no longer coaches the Cowboys, but Garrett's name, and his character, will forever be linked to stories like this one.