FRISCO, Texas -- When the Dallas Cowboys showed up for work on Wednesday, they were met with T-shirts and hoodies at their locker with the phrase "Carpe Omnia."
"Just giving them the touchstone to connect with, of 'Carpe' equals 'seize,' 'Omnia' equals 'everything,'" coach Mike McCarthy said. "That's the way we're looking at this season."
In the main hallway outside the locker room is a collage of photos with the Cowboys' five Super Bowl teams and an empty picture frame in the middle to signify the 2023 season, which begins Sunday against the New York Giants.
"It illustrates that pictures say a thousand words, but the reality of it is an empty frame is everything because it is all the possibilities, capabilities, what's in front of us," McCarthy said. "Are we going to do what we need to do every single day, everything that we can possibly do to fill that frame and be part of the history and tradition of the Dallas Cowboys?"
McCarthy even gathered photos of every player on the active roster and practice squad with their family members.
"I think him showing a bunch of the families and what is your why and who you are fighting for, I thought that was important," linebacker Micah Parsons said. "Seeing my family up there, I was just like, 'Man, sometimes in life you take this for granted.' You're like, 'I got next week to get better.' Or, 'I got tomorrow to do this.'
"But every day you just got to take life for what it is, and you got to be great. You got to remember why you're here, your purpose and everything. Because you just never know when it's your time. You got to take every day as its own."
Wide receiver Brandin Cooks is entering his 10th season with his fifth different organization. While he has seen coaches present season-long themes to teams before, it was not done in the manner McCarthy presented in the team meeting.
The family pictures gave "chills" to Cooks.
"Especially (seeing) my wife and my two little ones, but to also understand what the guy beside you is fighting for as well," Cooks said.
Last year, McCarthy chose 'Resilience" as the Cowboys' theme, which came in handy after losing quarterback Dak Prescott for five games because of a broken thumb suffered in the season opener. The Cowboys went 4-1 in Prescott's absence on way to a 12-5 record and back-to-back playoff appearances for the first time since 2006-07.
"I think themes are important," McCarthy said. "They come to you at different points of the offseason. This came a little different. I think it needs to illustrate where you feel your football team is at, where they are, in their progression towards winning a championship.
"I think it's very, very difficult to win a Super Bowl in this league. There's no question about it. That's proven each and every year. But sustaining success, I think personally in my experience, is a bigger challenge."