Mike McCarthy smashed melons with sledgehammer to inspire Cowboys

Mike McCarthy did his best Peter Gabriel impression by smashing watermelons before the Vikings game.

The Dallas Cowboys were leaking coolant heading into their game against the Minnesota Vikings, and a desperate team was looking to head coach Mike McCarthy for some guidance.

McCarthy’s motivational techniques, which led to Andy Dalton and the Cowboys rallying for a 31-28 victory over Minnesota, have been proven to work, but they number among the most unusual you’ll ever hear about in the NFL.

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, McCarthy claimed that one of the Cowboys’ goals for this game was to “hammer” the ball out of star Vikings running back Dalvin Cook’s hands. McCarthy offered a visual demonstration of what he wanted to see on the field, breaking out an actual sledgehammer and smashing watermelons that had his weekly goals written on the side. The demonstration worked, and the Cowboys eventually prevailed.

Mike McCarthy needed this magical victory to save his job

While Cook did carry the ball 27 times for 115 yards, Cowboys safety Donovan Wilson forced a fumble, acting out McCarthy’s instructions on the field. As a result, McCarthy’s Cowboys went from staring down a top-three pick in the NFL Draft to competing for a division title in the most wide-open division the league has to offer.

The Cowboys have a matchup against Alex Smith and the Washington Football Team on tap for Thanksgiving, and McCarthy will need to somehow top this skit in order to fire up the Cowboys for the renewal of one of the league’s greatest rivalries.

McCarthy’s motivation techniques might be extremely weird to those on the outside, but it seems as if those methods have worked, at least for one week. If smashing fruit with a piece of home repair equipment was what McCarthy pulled out in Week 11, who knows what he’ll do before the end of the season?