dpf1123
DCC 4Life
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2013
- Messages
- 2,171
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Oh No! I don’t want you to feel that way about a team that has won 36 games in the last three years. This is a very good football team and I try to preach that constantly so people don’t get carried away with their battle against the last three decades. But, sometimes, especially within a few weeks of the latest playoff demise, it is always tough to kick it positive.
The general view I have about the state of Cowboys football is that I often wonder about the Jones family’s commitment to winning a Super Bowl. I have talked about this for years and certainly don’t want a label as a “hater”, but for decades I have seen them operate in the public eye and the number of times I see them make decisions that impact their financial growth far outweigh the number of times I have seen them make decisions that impact their football dominance. People conflate and confuse these issues as the same thing, but they are not. Running a profitable business that has grown into the most valuable franchise in professional sports worldwide often can hurt the actual football operation. Troy Aikman has recently chatted about the messages that are sent that don’t suggest everything is always about football in this facility. They maximize profits and popularity, but sometimes that can come at the price of building an environment that sends the wrong messaging. And then if you do, that getting every dollar is more important than getting any trophy, sometimes that gets to the individual players and they start thinking the same way. I got to get mine, too!
So, I do try to kick things positive as often as possible, but when I do turn those stones over, it does leave a bit of a bummer attitude.
I do want to say this: I do think it is very possible Stephen will hire a General Manager the moment he is put in place as head of the company. That will not preclude him from making the biggest moves as owner (see Mark Cuban and pretty much every owner in the universe) but it would remove him from my biggest issue with Jerry Jones being the GM.
What is that, Bob?
I just expect my GM to do all the GM things. Run the scouting department by example, study film, write evaluations, go see players in person, burn the midnight oil learning the league, and looking for ways to optimize success on the field nonstop. I have covered the team for 26 years and there has not been a day where I thought Jerry Jones had an independent evaluation of any college player on his own. I have never thought he has studied even his own team’s film (sitting in a room when someone else does it should not count) and I don’t think he can give me the starters of the Giants or Commanders defense right now. I think those are all basic things every GM in the league can do, besides him.
So, in short, if Stephen wants to be taken more seriously, he can either demonstrate that he knows ball enough to sit in the chair or he can step aside and let Will McClay or someone else do what the job expects of the title holder.
There is no shame in not insisting in this game of dress-up that Jerry has done for over 30 years.
Thank you, Nick! I don’t know if you have all gotten to know Nick, but we have talked for ages about the statistical probabilities that Dallas could go this long without a single NFC Title game. He has written it out here back in October:
98%! There are times like these where it is easier to understand why Cowboys fans have lost their energy for the fight. Hope does spring eternal, but this fanbase seems collectively out of optimism and perhaps we have stumbled upon the reason why. They have defeated a 98% probability with their 2% result. Yikes.
Trust me, I agree. After working with Troy for almost a decade, I can tell you that he watches the film and knows the players at a proper level. I would love to see it and I also know that there was a time (of many years) where he aspired to that sort of job in the NFL. However, I do think that his move to ESPN has him happy and secure where he currently is and I am not sure he is as interested in front office life. I can say this: the Cowboys are probably the one place that would make him change that mind, but I also know that Jerry has never even flirted with the idea. Troy would want to team with a coach he believes in like Lynch and Shanahan (who actually met through a Fox broadcast where Lynch was working his game and interviewing then Atlanta-OC Shanahan) and have a partnership that is unified in vision and focus.
Again, does Dallas prioritize streamlining the focus on winning? You tell me.
I often have said that it would be interesting to see what the Cowboys would become without a salary cap. If you could spend without penalty (baseball/soccer) and build your own super team with your profits, would you? Would they? They could literally go 2-deep with the best at every position and double up the league’s payroll. We see this at Manchester City or PSG and it works pretty well to always have more great players. Would they do it? Or does the profit margin of the current NFL system where the Cowboys clear more than they spend on their payroll every year suit everyone just fine in the ownership family? I hesitate to guess on this one.
“Nothing Ever Changes Because Nothing Ever Changes.”
Yeah, it is a depressing truth. Like I said, I am a sports optimist, but the Jerry Jones way of doing things has never inspired hope. I have always based my hope – because I do believe the Cowboys will win big again and soon – on the ability of a team to circumnavigate their owner. I saw it in the movie Major League once! Haha.
I thought HBO’s Succession was amazing and it probably is because every time I watched an episode, I thought about the Jones family. It is incredible how close it seems in nearly every way. Of course, I have also heard people compare it to several other families of a billionaire, so maybe it is more common than I know.
Maybe there is always jockeying for position to make sure you have dad’s blessing when the time comes.
It seems pretty stressful, overall. But you are supplied with many fashionable vests and a helicopter. So, positives and negatives abound. And maybe the show helps us understand the dynamics better. Of course, maybe it is just a show and families are complicated. Who can say?
- Yes, you can have different timing for different players and it is ok. This is not a recipe and you don’t follow it the same for every player. If you wait too long on a QB, the market may double in the time you waited and at those prices, you have hamstrung yourself with stupidity. Also, the Jaylon Smith contract was too early because it was a failed attempt to show guys how they reward those who are cooperative and at camp. The Smith deal was 100% a negotiation ploy with Zeke in Cabo. I promise because I saw it happen in real time.
- The Manziel/Zack Martin disagreement really did happen. Did they actually wrestle for the card? Probably embellished, but if you don’t think Jerry really wanted to draft Johnny Manziel, you are incorrect. He did. And Stephen helped his dad follow the board and do the smart thing.
- The answer to your third question is the saddest. It means they don’t really have a set philosophy on this stuff and it changes as the wind blows. There are countless examples of this that go all the way back to passing on Randy Moss in 1998. They simply run in circles and zig zag back and forth on their “core tenets” of what they believe in.
That is completely fair and I hope Stephen is a massive uptick. He may be and I hope that is all true. I just have a hard time seeing the last eight years and hearing his words that go with each of those decisions and not getting a bit worried that the new boss is quite similar to the old boss.
“You are better than this Bob. This is racing to the mainstream lowest common denominator.” If you are trying to hurt my feelings, I guess you did. I have never subscribed to that and won’t start now.
What I do hate is to see the usual suspects as the identifiable reasons in your response. You mention coach and QB. Look, I am not saying Dak Prescott or Mike McCarthy have the goods. I am saying that since I have arrived in 1998, we have had a dozen sacrificial lambs laid on the alter to avoid pointing at the big office up top. We love to blame the newest head coach or offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator or special teams coach or quarterback or running back or you name it. And you know why we love to point to them? Because they change a lot.
But, what doesn’t change? Well, I think you know. The owner still sits on his throne and makes the decisions that seem to allow this team to defeat a 98% statistical probability. And I realize it is energy draining to point at the immovable object as the issue, but I also think it is ridiculous to ignore it.
So, I guess in closing. I disagree with your premise, but understand how it feels better to assume or hope that the next coach and QB will break this cycle.
I get it. But I promise, I cover this team because I do believe the sun will come out tomorrow and I refuse to miss it when it does!
