Shhh. Listen. Do you hear that? It is crickets chirping all over the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex and Dallas Cowboys Nation in general.
Jerry Jones announced yesterday that he is keeping Wade Phillips on as head coach, and besides the few radical fans that respond violently and vociferously to any piece of Cowboys’ news, his announcement was met by a collective yawn and a “Yeah. What else is new?” Read the rest of this entry »
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two wild and crazy guys
One is eighty and the other pushing seventy. One looks like the skeletal remains of an aged 1930s Chicago-land gangster and the other like a Michael Jackson starter kit with his recent face work and new teeth.
One built the Raiduhhhhs into one of the NFL’s elite franchises and then systematically shredded it, piece by piece. The other resurrected America’s Team from its late ’80s shallow grave, restored it to its glorious place among the champions, and then, for the sake of his own fragile ego, ran the architect of the Cowboys’ resurgence out of town and started looking for hand puppets so he could coach the team without anyone really knowing it (though most everyone suspects it).
Between them, Al Davis and Jerry Jones have the ownership of eight Lombardi trophies, though Jones only actually participated in winning three of his franchise’s five. The Raiders have been to five Super Bowls under Davis, winning three of them. When he was sane (or at least crazy like a fox rather than just plain mad), the Raiders general managing partner built the team into an enviable organization.
He did it by emphasizing a down-and-dirty, take-no-prisoners defensive mindset; a hard-nosed, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust running game; and a vertical, quick-strike passing game. He did it by signing players no one else would touch; mean suckers with a past, if not a rap sheet.
Jerry, conversely, made just the right hire for just the right time. He brought in a young, energetic, single-minded college football coach who would eat, drink, sleep football; divorce his wife; ignore his kids; and slave drive his staff until he got where he was going. And where Jimmy Johnson was going was just where Jerry dreamed it could be: to the very pinnacle of National Football League success. He was going – and dragging a giddy Jerry Jones along – to the place no team had been before. He was going to build a team that would win three Super Bowls in four years.
But Jimmy Johnson wouldn’t get that third ring.
Valley Ranch is an expansive football facility, but it could not house the enormously big heads of Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson…and Jones had the keys to the place. He paid the mortgage. In the divorce, Jimmy got hush money and Jerry got the Boys and the ranch. Jimmy got some gold, but Jerry owned the mine.
Meanwhile, fans of the Dallas Cowboys simply got the shaft.
Oakland Raiders’ and Dallas Cowboys’ fans know they owe a debt of gratitude to the men most responsible for making the right decisions, pulling the right triggers, and pushing the right buttons to get their teams to the status of storied franchise. Unfortunately, they also know that the line between genius and madness is razor thin and the cartoon-like leftovers of the teams’ owners/general managers are dancing like demented jesters all over that line.
Crazy like a fox is cool. Crazy as a mad hatter is sad.
One only needs to ask this question for perspective on the two teams’ current state of management: If either Jerry Jones or Al Davis were to fire himself as General Manager, would any other NFL team hire him as theirs?
I rest my case.
Dallas Cowboys. Oakland Raiders. Insanity in the owner’s box. Desperation on the field. Turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie on the table.
Happy Thanksgiving, America!
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Landry's Long Shadow
Can it already be twenty years? Is it really possible that it was two whole decades ago that Jerry Jones informed the disbelieving Dallas Cowboys nation that he would be involved in (and in charge of) everything regarding the team, right down to the “socks and jocks?”
It has not been easy for old school Cowboys fans to accept the brash, swashbuckling, micro-managing owner’s ways. This isn’t the way we were taught a successful team was built and managed.
Clint Murchison, The beloved and long-since passed original owner of the Cowboys, the man who gave the team life and then entrusted it to the tender loving care of Tex Schramm and Tom Landry, was the antithesis of Jerry Jones. Murchison loved football, obviously, but never fancied himself a football man. Instead, he identified a man with a personality as big as the state after which he was named and a reputation for knowing the game, hired him, and gave him the reins.
Schramm immediately went after the young defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, a man known for his steady ways and extraordinary football acumen, a man destined to become one of the NFL’s most recognized and recognizable figures, the Fedora-wearing, sharp-dressing, seldom-smiling, franchise cornerstone, Tom Landry.
Together, Murchison, Shcramm, and Landry carved out a legacy. They built what would become one of the NFL’s flagship franchises, a team that NFL films would one day dub “America’s Team.”
And then along came Jones. (Of course, there was the Bum Bright interlude, but it is hardly worth remembering, so we will just pretend it wasn’t there, for argument’s sake.)
Twenty years is long enough for Jones to have established a legacy. Since Murchison only owned the team four years longer than Jones has at this point, it is not too early or unreasonable to compare eras and try to answer the nagging question: which was better?
Old timers will answer without reading another word. “Of course the Murchison years were better! Jones is a total idiot. He couldn’t carry Murchison’s jock strap.”
The kids will say, “Who the heck is Murchison? When were the Cowboys great? They haven’t won a playoff game since I was like 5 or 6. They suck, man.”
The thirty-something crowd will say, “Three Super Bowl Rings, Holmes! Jones wins, hands down, even if he is an idiot.”
But what do the facts say? If we compare the two eras side by side, how does one measure up against the other?
Glad you asked.
I have compiled some data for your consideration. We will look at winning percentages, playoff appearances, Conference championship appearances, Super Bowl appearances, and Super Bowl wins.
So, out of five major categories, Murchison and the dream management team he assembled win four of them. Jones, many might argue, more than redeems himself with three Lombardi Trophies in four years, and that is a valid consideration. However, the current twelve year drought without a playoff victory would seem to dilute that argument just a little.
When you consider intangibles, such as structure and stability, the scale tilts even more in favor of the Murchison team. For its first 28 years, the Dallas Cowboys had one coach, and that coach led them to 12 conference title games and five Super Bowl appearances. In Jones’ first 21 seasons, the team has plowed through five head coaches and is now on its sixth.
On the business side, Jones may be peerless in the NFL. He took one of the great sports brands and built it into a franchise which Forbes Magazine has valued at somewhere around 1.5 billion and rates the number one professional sports franchise in the world.
When I think of Jerry Jones and how confusing it can be to determine whether he is one of the best or one of the worst owners in the NFL, I am reminded of a story in the Old Testament, in the book of Ezra. Zerubbabel led a group to rebuild the temple, which had lain in ruins for many years. When it was done, there was a celebration.
Ezra 3:11-13 describes the scene. It tells us that the young men were shouting for joy while the old men, the ones who remembered the glory of Solomon’s temple, wept. The shouting and the weeping mingled together, so that you could not distinguish one from the other.
That is kind of how it feels to be a Cowboys’ fan. You shout for the joy of those unforgettable, magnificent teams of the nineties, but you weep for the glory of the past, a glory that may never be duplicated or restored.
Twenty years of Jerry Jones, and I still don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Give Yourself a Hand
This space has often been used to take Jerry Jones to task for his meddling ways. The Cowboys’ lightening rod owner does and says more than enough to earn it. However, not every move the hands-on owner/general manager of America’s team is bad.
In, fact, this past off-season is proving to be one of his better ones. While a couple of key injuries mandate that we table any real analysis of the Cowboys’ ‘09 draft (besides, you never really know about drafts until two to four years later), the free agent signings are looking like strokes of pure football genius.
For me, it begins with Keith Brooking. Jerry and so-called head coach Wade Phillips were right in their belief that the veteran linebacker has more than a little gas in his tank. He has turned in close to Pro Bowl caliber play through the first seven games of the season.
But Brooking is even more important to the team because he is a leader. He is passionate, committed, and team oriented. He has a vibrant personality, and it is infectious. He has already asserted himself as a team leader.
Brooking is just the beginning. Gerald Sensabaugh, wounded hand and all, is helping to turn a suspect secondary into a stellar one. He can cover. He delivers big hits. He plays smart. And he takes pressure off the cornerbacks, enabling them to play their positions with more confidence and daring.
Then there is Igor the Terrible. Olshansky, the choice to replace the departed Chris Canty is a run-stopping, gap-filling, brute on the defensive line. He has surpassed the “serviceable” tag some wanted to place on him.
Finally, we have to mention the trade that brought Jon Kitna to the Cowboys. No intelligent fan of the team wants to find out just how much of an addition Kitna is to the team, since that would mean Romo is somehow incapacitated, but last year taught Mr. Jones the value of having a quality player holding that clipboard.
With these key additions and Wade’s attention to the defense (no one ever accused the man of not being a great defensive coordinator), and with time to gel, the defensive unit is looking like one of the team’s greatest strengths.
So, Mr. Jones, you may be your own worst enemy when it comes to building and sustaining a championship caliber team, but you are not as inept a “football” man as your harshest critics would like to make us all believe. You do get it right at least as often as you get it wrong.
Locking up Demarcus Ware. Backing Tony Romo when he was under intense fire. Building the great Football Cathedral. Cutting Terrell Owens. Getting way more than a little bang for your bucks this off-season. Good moves, all of them.
Good job, Jerry.
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"Aw, Jerry. The kids are anxious."
Jones and Phillips, Inc. knows how to combat the annual Christmas collapse of America’s (former) Team.
Collapse early.
That’s right! Why give false hope to the silver and blue faithful? Why wait until December to collapse and either miss the playoffs or barely make the post-season and then take an early exit? No waiting. No anticipation. No wringing of the hands, wondering which present contains the white elephant.
With the lapses in concentration, misfires, penalties, and generally clueless execution that has become the hallmark of a Wade Phillips coached team, the Cowboys have stumbled out of the gate. The stellar coaching staff has successfully made the league’s best defender ineffective. They have taken the quarterback whose play-making ability can sometimes border on the miraculous and made him a happy-feet, timid, hesitant, misfiring shell of himself.
They have set new standards for mental lapses, penalties, and bonehead on-field decisions.
All of this because they love you.
They don’t want you to have to wait until Christmas or after to learn what is in that silver and blue package under the tree.
Go ahead. Open it. No surprise. No anticipation. Just a big, miserable white elephant taking a steaming dump on your HD TV.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
PS – If all of this finally results in the end of the Wade “Whiner Boy” Phillips era in Dallas, then it is, after all, a very merry Christmas.
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As part of the SilverandBlueBlood.com Top Ten Top Ten Lists, I present for your amusement, argumentation, and amendment the top ten Dallas Cowboys non-players of all time. This would include coaches, management, ownership, and all other non-player personnel.
Plenty of men have played a role in team history and then gone on to make their real mark on the world in other places. In compiling this list, I concerned myself solely with the impact a person had on the Dallas Cowboys.
And now for the list:
10. Norv Turner, Offensive Coordinator (1989 – 1993). Head Coach Jimmy Johnson was the motivational and organizational leader of the team that would become a dynasty. Norv Turner was the X’s and O’s man. He was the steady hand at the wheel of an offense that was both remarkably simple and simply remarkable. Troy Aikman credits Turner with helping to mold him into the successful Hall of Fame quarterback he became. Norv Turner is the only assistant coach to make this top ten list…and he deserves to be here.
9. Stephen Jones, Executive Vice President (1989 – Present). Stephen has been credited with getting in Jerry’s ear about cutting ties with Terrell Owens. As he takes on a larger role and higher profile, Cowboys fans can at least take consolation in the fact that he is lucid. Where Jerry often engages in crazy talk no one can quite follow, Stephen is well-spoken and thoughtful in his communication. Stephen is involved heavily in the negotiation of player contracts and the management of the salary cap.
8. Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (1972 – Present). The brainchild of Tex Schramm, this is the most recognizable group of its kind in the world. They had a TV movie made about them in 1978 that received a 48% share in its time slot. They have toured the United States and overseas, performing for soldiers for the USO.
7. Barry Switzer, Head Coach (1994-1997) – Many see Switzer as a bumbling buffoon and a blight on the history of the franchise. Fans, still bitter over the departure of Jimmy Johnson while the team was at its zenith, saw the Switzer hiring
Where's My Couch?
as insult added to injury. Switzer was the antithesis of Johnson. Jimmy was a manipulative, mind-game playing, whip-cracking motivator. Switzer was a relaxed, laissez-faire coach who believed that the players, if not interfered with too much, would perform. They were men and he intended to treat them as such. Truthfully, Johnson’s approach was better suited to a young, inexperienced team. As the players gained experience and matured, the games he played would inevitably become less effective. Switzer may well have been a mistake, but he is one of only three coaches in team history to coach a Super Bowl winning team, and the only coach besides Johnson to win both an NCAA championship and a Super Bowl. Barry may well have been, as Jones once intimated, “one of five hundred” coaches who could have coached that particular team to a Super Bowl. but he is the one who did it. Besides, you have to love a guy who is so relaxed he is seen eating a hot dog on the sidelines while coaching in the Pro Bowl.
6. Gil Brandt, Vice President of Player Personnel (1960-1988). Brandt revolutionized the way NFL teams scouted and found players. He was the first to use computer analysis on prospects. He found prospects in small colleges, playing basketball, and running track. Cliff Harris, Drew Pearson, and Everson Walls were some of his undrafted, free agent triumphs. Brandt stood alongside Schramm and Landry as one of the architects of America’s Team.
5. Jerry Jones, Owner/General Manager (1989 – Present). Perhaps no NFL owner is more maligned than Jerry Jones. Fans of his team hate him with as much fervor (albeit for different reasons) as those who despise the Cowboys. Local media types have consistently called for him to fire himself as GM of the team, some going so far as to challenge him to do so in interviews. He did not endear himself to the Metroplex when, shortly after acquiring the team, he unceremoniously fired the city’s greatest icon, Coach Tom Landry. For all of his misfires, missteps, and miserable attempts at expressing himself, the man did oversee the resurrection of a franchise that had plummeted to the hard rock bottom of the NFL. He helped construct the first NFL team to win three Super Bowls in four years. While most pundits reserve all the credit for that accomplishment for Jimmy Johnson, that hardly seems fair. If not for Jones, Johnson would never have been given the opportunity to do the things he did.
4. Clint Murchison, Owner (1960 – 1984). Murchison was the antithesis of Jerry Jones. He was the ultimate non-meddling owner. He hired football men, gave them long contracts, and let them do their jobs. The result was twenty straight winning seasons from 1966-1985, five Super Bowl appearance, and two wins. The only gripe any fan would have about Murchison is that, when he sold the team, he sold it to a bum…Bum Bright.
3. Jimmy Johnson, Head Coach (1989 – 1994). Jimmy took over a franchise in decline. The whole thing bottomed out in his first year, when the team posted only one win. He had just one player on that team with superstar status: the
Jimmeh!
great Herschel Walker. He and Jones knew they needed much more than one aging star to put the team back on track, so they traded the running back to the Minnesota Vikings. It was the biggest trade in NFL history, and a coup for the Cowboys. Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson, and other key pieces of the Cowboys soon-to-be-Super Bowl team became part of the haul from the Walker trade. Johnson became the first coach to win both an NCAA championship and a Super Bowl. He won back-to-back Super Bowls and was set to make a run at a third. The relationship between Johnson and Jones, however, had deteriorated to the point that Jimmy ended up accepting a buy-out and walking away from the team he had helped to build. Most people blamed Jones for the loss of Jimmy. There was, in fact, plenty of blame to go around. Nonetheless, Jimmy had forever made his mark on the franchise and the league, and established his legendary status.
2. Tex Schramm, Team President/General Manager (1960 – 1989). During his reign over the Cowboys’ organization, Schramm was widely recognized as one of the NFL’s most powerful GMs. He had carte blanche from owner Murchison
Architect Par Excellence
to operate the club, including voting on behalf of the organization at league meetings. Schramm hired Landry. Schramm envisioned and brought to reality the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Schramm aided in the negotiation of the merger between the AFL and NFL. Schramm was the chief influence behind the rookie combine as it is known today. A bigger than life figure with one of the all-time great names in pro football history, Schramm was ultimately slighted an honor he greatly deserved. As the founder of the Ring of Honor and, for twenty-nine years, its one-man election committee, Tex was himself denied induction due to a strained relationship with new Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. In fact, Texas E. Schramm was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame before he was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. Finally, in 2003, Jones decided to put Schramm in, but the great architect of America’s Team died before his induction.
1. Tom Landry, Head Coach (1960-1989). Hardly anything need be said here. Any legitimate list of top five coaches
Man in the Funny Hat
in NFL history would have the name of Tom Landry on it. His 29-year tenure is surpassed only by George Halas. His 270 career wins is third all-time. His team posted an unprecedented twenty consecutive winning seasons. He coached the Cowboys to five Super Bowls, winning two of them. He was the architect of the Flex defense and the Mutliple offense. He revived the Shotgun. Tom Landry is not only the greatest icon of the Dallas Cowboys; he is the greatest icon in the city’s history. No politician, no businessman, no athlete or celebrity ranks above the man Roger Staubach affectionately dubbed “The Man in the Funny Hat.”
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There has been a good deal of talk about Jerry and Co. looking for a player in this draft who can run some version of the “wildcat” offense. I had been thinking all along that they drafted a guy a couple years ago and converted him to a receiver, a guy who seems to fit the bill.
That guy, of course, is Isaiah Stanback. He played quarterback at at the highest level of college ball. He has the quickness, the speed, and he knows the position. So, why spend a draft pick to find a guy you already have in the fold?
Now, there is word that Jerry is talking about Stanback for just that role…and we learn from Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that they had plays in the playbook for Stanback last year, but never used them.
Maybe, if that little issue is settled, the Cowboys can focus on finding a legitimate quarterback to groom behind Tony Romo. If a Rhett Bomar or a Graham Harrell is NFL worthy and can be taught to run the team’s offense, that seems a much greater value than a guy who might run a play or two every other week or so.
At any rate, as draft day approaches, the bluebloods are getting anxious to see whether the Cowboys braintrust can be trusted to make sound decisions. They posted a good draft a year ago. String a couple together in a row and you might be building your way back to respectability.
But I digress. Back to the Wildcat formation and its usefulness. Hill Also points out that Felix Jones would be an important part of any Wildcat operations…and that makes perfect sense, with his pure speed and ability to hit the corner of the defense.
Concerning the newest rage in NFL offense, Hill writes:
In 2008, the Dolphins used the Wildcat formation 91 times, netting 580 yards (6.7 yards per play) and eight touchdowns.
However, the Wildcat didn’t always work.
The Patriots stopped it cold in the rematch, and the Baltimore Ravens were not fooled in a 27-9 wild-card playoff victory against the Dolphins.
Yeah. A tricked-up play here and there may bag you a big gainer, or even a win. But Cowboys fans are looking for more than regular season wins. It’s that elusive playoff victory that matters.
Let’s keep that in mind on draft day, boys.
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Miles To Go?
Jerry Jones has insisted that the primary reason he gave T.O. the boot was to make room for the Cowboys’ young receivers to flourish. The one name he has mentioned as a plausible replacement for Owens, especially as a deep threat, is Miles Austin.
Today, the Dallas Morning News is reporting that the New York Jets are showing interest in Austin, who is a restricted free agent…
According to sources, the Jets have scheduled to meet with Austin, a restricted free agent, Thursday and Friday.
The Cowboys gave Austin a $1.545 million tender offer that would require a team to give up a second-round pick as compensation if the Cowboys did not match. The restricted free-agent signing period ends on April 17. Four restricted free agents have signed offer sheets this off-season, but their teams matched the offers.
The Jets may well force Jerry to put his money where his mouth is. Is the undrafted, untested speedster really more valuable than what you may find with a second round pick…or the leverage having those consecutive picks might give you? Expect Jones to pay whatever the fiddler requires. He has made a commitment to finding out just what Austin can be and do.
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