FRISCO, Texas -- Jason Witten locked arms with Dallas police at training camp in a show of support he initiated after the shooting that rocked the city over the summer.Three months later, the Dallas tight end accepted a game ball from coach Jason Garrett in a joyous locker room after catching the winning touchdown pass in overtime against Philadelphia.Off the field and on, Wittens 14th NFL season has been a showcase of his leadership, made even better for him by the Cowboys surprising surge to the best record in the NFC at 7-1. Maybe this was the perfect year to be the first one with Witten all alone on the cover of the teams media guide.Witten means everything to me, said receiver Dez Bryant, who benefited from the stewardship of Witten and quarterback Tony Romo during more difficult times early in his career. If youre a hard worker, thats the type of guy you want to be around. The way he just talks to us, I just think its amazing. That guys got everything.When camp opened in California in late July, Witten was arm in arm with Dallas Police Chief David Brown less than a month after five officers were killed in a downtown ambush as a Black Lives Matter rally was wrapping up.Witten went to team officials with the idea of a tribute to the families of the fallen officers because he says thats what leaders do. And he wasnt concerned about taking sides on a divisive issue that reignited a few weeks later when San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick sat during the national anthem.I just thought it was the right thing to do, Witten said. The more established you get, the more ingrained you get in an organization and a city, obviously the more at stake you have. You feel thats part of you.When U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced a funding initiative for police departments early in the season, Witten attended the function at a Dallas high school, along with safety Barry Church. For several weeks after the Kaepernick controversy arose, Witten fielded questions on the topic.All the while, the Cowboys kept winning with rookie Dak Prescott at quarterback after Wittens best friend on the team, Romo, injured his back in a preseason game. Dallas has a chance to match the single-season franchise record of eight straight wins Sunday at Pittsburgh.And Witten is one of the constants. The 34-year-old entered the season with the franchise record for consecutive games played. That number is up to 211, and he now has the club marks for starts (205) and consecutive starts (155).All thats left is games played, and hell be one short of Ed Too Tall Jones record of 224 if he plays all 16 games for the 13th straight year. Wittens contract expires after next season.Witts just a rare individual, coach Jason Garrett said. Hes a great football player; 14 years, 10-time Pro Bowler, arguably the best all-around tight end of his generation. But what he does each and every day is an example to the rest of us: coaches, players, guys he plays with, guys he plays against.Wittens achievements for longevity have coincided with almost a yearlong absence for Romo, who missed 12 games last season with a twice-broken left collarbone. They are the two longest-tenured Cowboys, but Wittens voice has been the only consistent one on the field for a young group headlined by two standout rookies in Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott.When you have some situations come up, you would think, `Oh, hes really got to do it more because the 14-year veteran quarterback isnt in there, Witten said. For me, I just think keep attacking it every single day. And it makes it a lot easier when lot of the other guys want to follow you.Witten isnt some tight end emeritus. His production with Prescott rivals that with Romo, and hes coming off his first 100-yard game in three years last week at Cleveland. Witten and Tony Gonzalez are the only tight ends with at least 1,000 catches and at least 10,000 yards receiving.Im spoiled since I have been here to have guys like Witten, who regardless of what week it is he is going to be out there and he is going to be answering the bell, offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. And he rarely misses plays during the game. I can count on one hand how many times he has come out the game.Perhaps the spoiled factor is why Garrett stopped everything in the locker room after a 29-23 victory over the Eagles. It might have been time to remind everyone what Witten brings.I hope that the body of work and what you represent day in and day out, on and off the field, in the locker room, theres a lot of work that goes into that, Witten said. And its not to get a game ball or anything like that. Its what you want to be about. Its how you want to carry yourself on the field certainly, but off the field as well.Theres been no better illustration for Witten than the 2016 season.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Schuyler Dixon on Twitter at https://twitter.com/apschuyler Cheap Miami Dolphins Jerseys . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. Cheap Los Angeles Chargers Jerseys . A big centre with all the tools to be an elite player, Johansen paced the Blue Jackets with a standout game Saturday night. 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LOUIS -- Lance Lynn was one of the more enthusiastic participants as the St. COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Steady chants of: Keep coach O streamed out of LSUs locker room after the 25th-ranked Tigers got a 54-39 win over No. 22 Texas A&M on Thursday night.Its clear the LSUs players want interim coach Ed Orgeron to remain in charge. The question is what the schools adminstration plans to do.Derrius Guice ran for a school-record 285 yards and had four touchdowns and Danny Etling threw for 324 yards and two scores to give short-handed LSU the victory.I want coach O to stay, Guice said. We need somebody like coach O to lead us out there and hes done a great job since hes been here.The Tigers were playing without star running back Leonard Fournette and leading tackler Kendell Beckwith because of injuries. But Guice and Etling did plenty to allow LSU (7-4, 5-3 SEC) to handle Texas A&M, and gave the Tigers a 300-yard passer and a 200-yard rusher in the same game for the first time in school history.It certainly wasnt the first time Guice has had a big game this year, with Fournette struggling with an ankle injury for a big chunk of the season. His performance pushed his career-high rushing total to 1,249 and his four TDs were a career high. The game gave him one more yard than Fournette gained to set the schools single-game rushing record last month.Guice was asked if hed thought about breaking Fournettes record.I havent. My heads been on I miss him, Guice said. He was supposed to be out here with us tonight.The Tigers spoke this week about wanting a win to help boost Orgerons chances of keeping the job. But on Thursday reports surfaced that LSU was zeroing in on Houstons Tom Herman. The reports prompted LSUs vice chancellor and athletic director Joe Alleva and university administration to issue a statement denying they had chosen a new coach and praising Orgerons work since taking over in September when Les Miles was fired.Orgeron said after the game that he hadnt heard anything about his future, but that he would love to retain the job.We had to turn this team around and we did, he said. It was a ship that was sinking and we turned it around.While LSU wasnt at full strength, the Aggies (8-4, 4-4) were the healthiest theyve been in weeks, with defensive end Myles Garrett over an ankle injury and quarterback Trevor Knight back from a shoulder injury.Knight made an unexpected return after missing the last two games with the injury. Coach Kevin Sumlin said days after he was injured that he woould miss the remainder of the regular season but would return for A&Ms bowl game.dddddddddddd Instead he returned to throw for 211 yards and three touchdowns before leaving the game late in the fourth quarter with what looked to be a knee injury.We were 6-0 and No. 4 in polls at one point. Here we are three weeks later, and we are unranked (in College Football Playoff rankings), Knight said. That is disappointing. I dont think it is a lack of effort or lack of character or anything. We played some good teams that came up with good wins. I wish I could point the finger at what went wrong and why we lost the games, but the point is, we didnt play as well as we needed to on the back stretch.The Aggies cut the lead to 10 with a field goal on the opening drive of the second half, but soon Guice was at work again. His second 45-yard touchdown run came on LSUs next drive to extend the lead to 27-10. Texas A&M failed to convert on fourth-and-4 to give the Tigers the ball back and Guice got to the end zone again, this time on a 6-yard run, to make it 34-10.Texas A&M cut to deficit with touchdowns three times after that, but each time LSU responded with TDs of its own to keep the game out of reach.THE TAKEAWAYLSU: The Tigers responded to the adversity of missing their top players with a nice win to cap what has been a disappointing regular season.Weve been through some stuff man and were resilient, Orgeron said. Just proud of this football team.TEXAS A&M: The Aggies missed a chance to improve their bowl status and possibly move into a prestigious New Years day bowl game despite the return of Knight.POLL IMPLICATIONSLSU: The Tigers should move up a few spots and with the win, but just how much they rise will depend on what happens the rest of the weekend.TEXAS A&M: The Aggies will drop out of the poll after their third loss in their last four games.1,000-YARD RUNNERSBoth teams had players eclipse the 1,000-yard mark with their performances on Thursday. Texas A&Ms Trayveon Williams had 68 yards rushing to give him 1,024 yards this season, making him the first true freshman in school history to run for 1,000 yards. Guice is the 12th player in LSU history to reach 1,000 yards rushing and he has 1,685 yards rushing in his two-year career.UP NEXTBoth teams will wait for their bowl pairings. 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