In a recent interview on ESPN's Football Today podcast, famed Cowboys wide receiver Drew Pearson explained how he'd fare in today's NFL. Few will be surprised that the 1970s star was pretty high on his chances of thriving.

"First of all you’d have to visit me in jail because I’d be illegal," Pearson said. "They’d say 'This guy must be illegal. He can’t be getting open like that and catching all those balls, running through the secondary like that without getting touched.' "

Pearson touched on what would be different from when he suited up.

"The game was back then you throw 20-25 games, and that was pretty much it. ... I led the NFC in receiving in 1976 with 58 catches, so we didn’t throw the ball much. But with the rules nowadays there’s no question the numbers would have been different because the strategies and game plans and attacking defenses would have been different from what we did back in the day."

While on the subject of numbers, Pearson ventured into whether the inflated passing and receiving numbers of today's NFL hurt his chances at getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"When I look at these guys going into the Hall of Fame, I look at these numbers they put up, and I was ‘Wow. I’ll never get in,’ " he said. "Some of those numbers triple my accomplishments, the receiving yardage and touchdown numbers that I put up. You wonder if that is something that now is the criteria, the quantity of catches as opposed the quality. The catches I made were quality catches. I only had 489 in 11 years, but I averaged 16 yards a catch. So let’s define greatness by the eras that these individuals play in."

Later, Pearson took a look at the 2016 Cowboys and what they can possibly do.

"First of all, don’t get infatuated with the fact that just because we had injuries we can go back to 12-4 and the NFC East title like two years ago. That’s just not going to automatically happen because they get a couple players back," he said. "What I see with this team is they have some pieces in place that can get them there. And it’s a good time for the Dallas Cowboys because the rest of the NFC East is pretty much in turmoil. ... [The Cowboys are] playing in the right division, there’s no questions about that."

Pearson also seems to like the return of the ball-control offense with the drafting of running back Ezekiel Elliott.

"Everybody’s saying with the drafting of Zeke Elliott, now the emphasis is on offense, trying to control the ball like we did in 2014. We controlled the ball almost 33 minutes a game," he said. "And what that did was limit the opportunities for the defense to be on the field. So a lot of people are thinking this is the way to go for the Cowboys, and I kind of agree because I think it’s more of an offensive game in the NFL, even though defense if what won the Super Bowl for the Denver Broncos. I still think offense is what can get you there, and controlling the clock and limiting the opportunities that your defense might take on the field and keeping them fresh, hopefully that in turn will get takeaways, which we lacked seriously last season."

Click here to listen to the full 15-minute interview on ESPN.com.