2011 is another season out the window for The Dallas Cowboys. Dallas flopped in the regular season finale to The New York Giants 31-14. Going into the game The Cowboys knew that it was an unofficial playoff game as the winner would advance and the loser would go home. The long flight back from New Jersey to Valley Ranch seemed even longer after the tough defeat to their division rival.
Every season seems to start with false expectations about Dallas being a Super Bowl contender and at the end of every season The Cowboys are at home watching the postseason. Jerry Jones is the owner/president/ball boy/ general manager/ team doctor of The Cowboys and it is long overdue that Jones takes a step back from some of his responsibilities with the team.
Within his first six seasons in Dallas, Jones’ Cowboys won The Super Bowl three times as they were the team that everyone wanted to emulate. When success appears, people tend to believe the press clippings that are being written about them. In 1994 Jones showed head coach Jimmy Johnson the door after Johnson had led Dallas to two Super Bowl triumphs. These two appeared to be attached at the hip as they were former teammates at The University of Arkansas. Jones however felt that he could win a Super Bowl with anybody as his head coach and showed the two-time winner who was boss. Johnson brought in Barry Switzer who did win a Super Bowl for The Cowboys, but he was always looked at as a guy who won with Johnson’s team.
Jones is still trying to live off of the success from the 90’s and he still believes that what worked then will work now. At first it looked cool when Jones would make his way from his suite at Texas Stadium to be on the field during the second half of games. In those days The Cowboys were winning so it seemed fine. Now with Dallas consistently failing to make the playoffs things like this appear to be a distraction.
As a general manager Jones hasn’t been able to produce players that serve as leaders on this team. The Cowboys of the 90’s had players such as Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman that held people accountable enough for Dallas to win. Those Cowboys were also successful because Jones and Johnson were able to sucker The Minnesota Vikings into giving them a ton of draft picks for running back Herschel Walker. In the current National Football League you will not find a team that is willing to mortgage the future for one player.
Jones has had a history of micromanaging and bringing in head coaches that he could control. After firing Johnson, Jones went through head coaches as if he were George Steinbrenner. From 1994 to 2002, Jones went from Switzer to Chan Gailey and finally Dave Campo. Jones tried to go the high-profile route in 2003 by bringing in Bill Parcells as the head coach. Parcells made The Cowboys respectable, but these two egos clashed over control in Dallas. It was reported that during Parcells’ tenure with The Cowboys, the team plane was once delayed at the airport while waiting for Jones. Parcells is a disciplinarian who leads by example. It is very tough for Parcells to tell the players to be on time and the owner is undermining him. The final straw came in 2006 when Jones brought in wide receiver Terrell Owens against Parcells’ wishes. Owens has been known to be a diva wide receiver and to clash with coaches and quarterbacks. After one season coaching Owens, Parcells bid farewell to The Cowboys. Since Parcells, Jones has had two head coaches in Wade Phillips and currently Jason Garrett who he hand picked.
Jones thinks that it is all about him when it should be about the team. Jones tries to bring in high-profile players to sell tickets to “La casa de Jerry” aka Cowboys Stadium. Jones has good players on his team such as linebacker DeMarcus Ware and wide receiver Dez Bryant, but where is the leadership coming from? It is time for Jones to bring in a general manager who is a talent evaluator. The great individual players do not win championships, it is the great teams. The Cowboys lost that game to The Giants partly because they appeared not to even show up in the first half. Before you blinked they were down 21-0. If players cannot be motivated by a win or go home mantra then they never will.
This era of Dallas Cowboys football has been mired by loses in big games. First quarterback Tony Romo botched the hold on the potential game-winning field goal against The Seattle Seahawks in The 2006 Wild Card round. The next season Dallas had the best record in The NFC only to be bounced in their first game by The Giants. In 2008 The Cowboys faced a win and in scenario in the final game of the season against The Philadelphia Eagles only to lose 44-6. This is the same team that led The Detroit Lions 27-3 in the second half of a game this season only to lose 34-30. This is the same team that saw the head coach in Garrett ice his own kicker Dan Bailey in a game that The Cowboys would eventually lose to The Arizona Cardinals this season.
The term is that everything is big in the state of Texas. The stadium that The Cowboys play in is big and so it the mess inside of it. As long as Jones continues to control this team in the form that he does, Dallas will continue to look at The Eagles and Giants consistently winning The NFC East. Until Jones stops wearing so many different hats in Dallas, it will continue to be a three ring circus for The Cowboys.
About the Author: William Martin
Leave A Comment