Rob Ryan’s Firing Proves that Jerry Jones’ Ego is Still The King of Dallas

Once again Cowboys owner/president/general manager/ball boy/ chef Jerry Jones has found a scapegoat for his football team while he attempts to protect his “golden boy” quarterback in Romo. Jones wants Romo’s name to be linked to present day quarterbacks such as Eli Manning of The New York Giants, Aaron Rodgers of The Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. While these quarterbacks have risen to the occasion to lead their respective teams to Super Bowl Championships, Romo falters in big game situations. Every time that we see a glimmer of hope where Romo is turning the corner, Jones and the media run with it. After The Cowboys defeated The Giants in the season opener, many people figured that The Cowboys were ready to turn the corner. Dallas turned around next week and laid an egg in a 27-7 loss to The Seahawks. After starting the season with a record of 3-5, The Cowboys proceed to win five out of their next six ballgames as they found themselves in a three-way tie for first place in The NFC East with The Giants and Redskins. Just like 2011 when Dallas was 8-6, they lost their last two games to finish the season at 8-8.

This shouldn’t fall at the feet of Ryan, but it should land at the zenith of “Mount Jerry” in Arlington. Jones is the best football mind in The NFL if you listen to him. While he is still basking in the glory of winning three Super Bowl Championships in a four-year span from 1992-1995, Jones has failed to check his ego at the door. Jones has never been able to get over the fact that former Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson achieved much praise for the success that The Cowboys had for winning in the 90’s. Since Johnson left in 1993, Jones has primarily surround himself with “yes men” who would not challenge his authority within the organization. After three consecutive losing seasons, Jones hired Bill Parcells as The Cowboys head coach in 2003. Prior to coming to The Cowboys, Parcells led The Giants to two Super Bowl Championships while leading The Patriots to a Super Bowl appearance as well. Jones was forced to take a step back because Parcells had an ego almost as big as Jones’. Parcells did get things turned around for The Cowboys with two playoff appearances in four years, but the ego of Jones ran him out of town as Texas Stadium wasn’t big enough for the both of them.

Jones wants to be the head honcho in Dallas and he is letting his ego get the best of him and his football team. The general public wants to believe that The Cowboys are great based off of what they did in the 70’s with former head coach Tom Landry and again in the 90’s with Johnson. What Jones fails to realize is that he received a truck load of  draft picks for unloading running back Herschel Walker on The Minnesota Vikings. Emmitt Smith, Charles Haley, Troy Aikman, and Charles Haley are not walking through the doors at Cowboys Stadium anytime soon and if they do it is because Jones paid them a ton of money to appear at his personal amusement park.

This Cowboy team still lacks leadership that left town a long time ago. As good as outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware is, he is not a leader. Romo has proven himself time and time again that he isn’t a leader as he constantly falters when the chips are on the table. As far as passing yardage Romo enjoyed the best season that any Cowboy quarterback had as he threw for 4,903 yards, but what did he do to elevate his team to greatness? Most of his big passing performances were due to his errant passes putting the team in an early deficit which has partially now cost Ryan his job.

Along with his father Buddy and his twin brother Rex who is the head coach of The New York Jets, Rob brings an ego to the table but he backs it up. When the rumors began to swirl earlier this season about Jones possibly firing head coach Jason Garrett, we knew that Ryan would not have been promoted. Ryan is a fighter by nature and he would challenge Jones’ authority in Dallas. We constantly hear names in the media such as Tony Dungy, Mike Holmgren, and Jon Gruden becoming the next head coach of The Cowboys. Each of these coaches have a Super Bowl Championship on their resume which means that they would desire to have a say in personnel decisions which Jones wouldn’t give up.

In life there will be a time when we all need a shoulder to lean on as we can’t do it all by ourselves. Jones has yet to realize that. He has built a billion dollar fun house that Skip Bayless of ESPN refers to as “Jerry World”. Cowboys Stadium can hold nearly 100,000 fans which on the surface would give The Cowboys a tremendous advantage. Since this theme park opened in 2009, The Cowboys home record is only 17-15 with The Giants holding a 4-0 record over The Cowboys. Once again Jones outsmarted himself. Jones will continue to sail on the ship that is being captained by Garrett and Romo. The ship that is The Cowboys is ready to sink and everyone knows it except Jones. Like I have said before Jones needs to take a step back and hire a general manager and just concentrate on being an owner. Until he does The Cowboys will continue to be an 8-8 football team that will come up short in the big moments. With the average game in The NFL being decided by just eight points, it comes down to mental toughness in the crunch time. The Cowboys have failed to have that element for a long time. Jones threw it out when he ran both Parcells and Johnson out of town as he now skewers in mediocrity.R