Dallas Cowboys war room at the Dallas Cowboys headquarters at The Star in Frisco on Tuesday July 17, 2018. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)
By Calvin Watkins
Cowboys strength and conditioning coach Markus Paul died Wednesday evening, the team announced. Paul was 54.
Paul collapsed at The Star on Tuesday morning and was rushed to Plano Presbyterian Hospital, where he was placed on life support. Paul’s family rushed to his side over the last 36 hours.
Paul joined the Cowboys in 2018 after spending the previous 11 years as the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the New York Giants.
Paul worked with four NFL teams in strength and conditioning. Before that he played five NFL seasons with Chicago and Tampa Bay as a safety. In 1989, the Bears selected Paul in the fourth round of the NFL draft out of Syracuse.
Paul played at Syracuse from 1984-1988 and still owns the school career record with 19 interceptions. He was named first team All-America as a senior and later landed a spot on the Syracuse All-Century team.
Before taking questions from the media Wednesday and before Paul’s death, Giants coach Joe Judge remarked how respected Paul was in the NFL.
“This is a guy that’s very well-respected through the league, very well-respected in this building,” Judge said. “There are a lot of people with very close personal ties. Just the reputation through the league, you don’t want to see this happen to anybody.
