PFT: Stephen Jones worries about older Cowboys fans deciding, “We’re done”

townsend

Banned
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
5,377
There's still no telling the kind of manager Stephen will be. Jerry's faults are in his wildcatting nature, I'm not sure that Stephen inherited that. I also the Stephen could actually have a consistent team building philosophy.

I wonder if a few years ago, we wouldn't have been in a bidding war with a the Redskins over Norman, the way we ended up nearly killing ourselves to try and land Asomugha.
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,453
The funny thing is I'm slowly becoming more of a general NFL fan. Despite the Cowboys lackluster play, I actually enjoyed the 2015 NFL season.
I'm actually the opposite. I still watch the Cowboys religiously but I've found the NFL in general is becoming less watchable and enjoyable. So other then the Cowboys I honestly don't watch much of anything.

College football on the other hand I can watch two teams play that I have no investment in. Unlike the NFL it seems like college officials just let players play. You have more styles of offense and teams that actually appear to at least play defense. The NFL has just become so vanilla with a bunch of teams all doing the same stuff and very little defense. It seems like officials take it upon themselves to determine outcomes.
 

UncleMilti

This seemed like a good idea at the time.
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
17,981
He's right but the problem is they're not taking a hit in the wallet so there really isn't much incentive for them to change their ways. Sure winning the Super Bowl is nice but didn't the last Forbes list have the Cowboys as the most valuable sports franchise in the world. So even though over the past 20 years this team has only achieved marginal on-field success, the Joneses are making money hand over fist.

Also, when you look and listen to Stephen Jones you realize that he's going to have a similar philosophy as his pops. I.e. "Keep it in the family. Nepotism trumps credentials." Then you look at the young kid (Shy or whatever his name is) who is always hanging out in the draft room and at organizational functions, and you realize that 30 years from now he'll be running the show. And everything that he's learned, he learned it from Jerry. So he'll probably grow up thinking Jerry's way is the "right way".

And once Shy marries and has kids of his own he'll likely pass down the same flawed ownership/management style to his children; and so forth and so on.

It's just a vicious cycle that I see no end to. Which is why I've become increasingly apathetic towards the Cowboys. I don't buy merchandise anymore, I rarely read Cowboys related articles, etc. If I hear about a key player suffering an injury I just shrug and move along. Whereas in the past I'd be wringing my hands and over-analyzing the impact of playing w/o said player(s). I've just grown tired of trying to fool myself that this year or next year will somehow be different.

And no this isn't a case of me just being over-saturated with the vast amount of sports information available at our fingertips. I read multiple articles a day on the Atlanta Braves, OKC Thunder, and Sooners. I think that's because I value accountability and at least with those teams I know if the GMs/coaches are performing poorly at their jobs then changes will be made accordingly. Whereas with Dallas, we all know that the ultimate decision makers in the Cowboys' front office will never be held accountable for their missteps.
Good stuff. If I ran my business the way the Jones family runs the football team (players) I'd be out of business.

I give Jerry credit for spinning the Cowboys name, stadium and merchandise to make billions...however the product on the field would equal or surpass the first three things if winning truly mattered.
 
Last edited:

Chocolate Lab

Mere Commoner
Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
19,842
And no this isn't a case of me just being over-saturated with the vast amount of sports information available at our fingertips. I read multiple articles a day on the Atlanta Braves, OKC Thunder, and Sooners. I think that's because I value accountability and at least with those teams I know if the GMs/coaches are performing poorly at their jobs then changes will be made accordingly. Whereas with Dallas, we all know that the ultimate decision makers in the Cowboys' front office will never be held accountable for their missteps.
Amen. The older I get, the more I value the properly run organization over the simple jersey or logo. It's hard to watch well-run and properly structured organizations like the Rangers and Thunder and then look over at the nepotism and comfort-over-results shitshow the Cowboys run out there... Especially when they then lie to our faces about how earnestly they're trying to win.

Also like you said, I still love football as much as ever. I just enjoy the general NFL and the storylines that form every year much more than I used to.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,695
After the Thanksgiving game I think I watched maybe 6 quarters of Cowboys football the rest of the year. Primarily due to some key injuries, there was very little entertainment value in watching last year's Cowboys.

Those who faithfully watched every snap of the Weeden/Cassel/Moore era are better men than me. I salute you all.
I watched every snap. Maybe it's just so inherent now that I can't help it, but I haven't missed a Cowboys game in many many years.
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
21,689
I watched every snap. Maybe it's just so inherent now that I can't help it, but I haven't missed a Cowboys game in many many years.
Yep. That's why we are fans (fanatics). When the Cowboys play us followers will watch no matter the anguish.
 

1bigfan13

Your favorite player's favorite player
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
27,122
I watched every snap. Maybe it's just so inherent now that I can't help it, but I haven't missed a Cowboys game in many many years.
I really wasn't disgruntled or anything. I just chose to skip the games because there were better entertainment options available. The Cowboys were hard to watch last year. Luckily I had Sunday Ticket so the choice was easy for me. I chose to tune in to watch the Antonio Browns and Cam Newtons of the league rather than watching a broken down group of Cowboys being led by noodle-armed Kellen Moore.
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
119,695
I really wasn't disgruntled or anything. I just chose to skip the games because there were better entertainment options available. The Cowboys were hard to watch last year. Luckily I had Sunday Ticket so the choice was easy for me. I chose to tune in to watch the Antonio Browns and Cam Newtons of the league rather than watching a broken down group of Cowboys being led by noodle-armed Kellen Moore.
Fair enough. I'm not judging you at all. I guess I'm just masochistic. I can't not watch.
 

Cowboysrock55

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
52,453
Fair enough. I'm not judging you at all. I guess I'm just masochistic. I can't not watch.
Not only not watching the Cowboys but instead watching other NFL games. I wish I had that ability but I just wouldn't be able to enjoy it at all.
 

DLK150

DCC 4Life
Joined
May 16, 2014
Messages
8,789
I got to that point about 3 years ago and honestly, I don't miss it.

I watch the Cowboys most times, and I'll catch the occasional NFL game when it's on, but I don't miss not having Sunday Ticket.

I think what's happened is that feeling like you don't have a horse in the race makes the rest of what's going on in the league less interesting.

I'm much more into college football these days.
Same here. College football isn't perfect either but it's still a small step above the clusterfvck the watered down NFL has become.
 

townsend

Banned
Joined
Apr 11, 2013
Messages
5,377
Same here. College football isn't perfect either but it's still a small step above the clusterfvck the watered down NFL has become.
College isn't dependent on all star one in a million QBs to make the game competitive. The NFL is so dependent on QBs that a handful of injuries can spoil the competitiveness of the entire league. Meanwhile TCU and Baylor are on their emergency 4th QBs and still winning bowl games.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
20,162
College isn't dependent on all star one in a million QBs to make the game competitive. The NFL is so dependent on QBs that a handful of injuries can spoil the competitiveness of the entire league. Meanwhile TCU and Baylor are on their emergency 4th QBs and still winning bowl games.
Ha. God help your college program if you lose a coach who's worth a shit. We've struggled forever at Maryland since Bobby Ross left in the mid-80's.

College football is a pool of 10000+ 18-22 year-olds, so we accept that the talent and quality of play is a joke by comparison to that of 1500 seasoned NFL vets. Similarly high school football is competitive within its own pool of 1 million+ kids, but can't hold a candle to division 1 colleges.

Both HS and college football offer pure enjoyment, but the execution is nothing compared to the NFL. Sorry, it's not.
 

VA Cowboy

Brand New Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2013
Messages
4,710
Ha. God help your college program if you lose a coach who's worth a shit. We've struggled forever at Maryland since Bobby Ross left in the mid-80's.

College football is a pool of 10000+ 18-22 year-olds, so we accept that the talent and quality of play is a joke by comparison to that of 1500 seasoned NFL vets. Similarly high school football is competitive within its own pool of 1 million+ kids, but can't hold a candle to division 1 colleges.

Both HS and college football offer pure enjoyment, but the execution is nothing compared to the NFL. Sorry, it's not.
Maryland did have some decent years with Friedgen but at that point, FSU, Miami and then VT joined the ACC making it much more difficult. In the '80's it was basically Clemson, UNC and Maryland.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
Messages
20,162
Maryland did have some decent years with Friedgen but at that point, FSU, Miami and then VT joined the ACC making it much more difficult. In the '80's it was basically Clemson, UNC and Maryland.
Appreciate your describing the up times with Friedgen as "years", i.e. plural. It was more like one year, and I get the feeling just about every program has a good year once in a while.

The NFL is definitely QB-driven, nothing we can do about that.

The great execution at every other position cancels everyone else out, so on average a QB's playmaking ability ends up being the biggest differentiator.

Colleges don't have enough great talent for this to happen, so a RB, defender, or strong position group can make a bigger impact.

You have 5 players with NFL talent on a college squad, you have a serious contender.
 
Top Bottom