I played college football for a Coach in the College Football Hall of Fame. When you play for someone like that, it changes your perspective about the game. Provided of course that your mind is open to change and you are eager. There are a lot of guys like that who never make it as players. The fact is some people love the game more than they are great athletes with physical gifts. I say that and I acknowledge that to even play college football you have to have some physical gifts.
But football is so much more than that. You come out to a football practice to watch. There are two QBs throwing the ball. One is wearing number 16, the other number 3. Both have pretty good accuracy. Number 3 has a much better arm. His passes travel a good 15 yards deeper than number 16. He's 2 inches taller and about 15 pounds heavier. Your eyes tell you that number 3 is a better quarterback than number 16. The reality is Jeff George couldn't carry Joe Montana's jock.
What makes a guy so much better despite lesser talent? We can ask the same thing of Tony Romo and Drew Henson. I saw them warming up together years ago, and Henson had a much better arm. Noticeably better in fact. But he flamed out and Tony became the new sheriff in Dallas. Why? It works at all positions. Blair Thomas was faster than Emmitt Smith. Was more highly sought after by a wide margin. You take Emmitt's worst years in Dallas and they are better than Thomas' best years anywhere. Why?
Football is about passion. I learned that from Lavell Edwards. When you set out to build a team the first thing you have to build is their passion. Their confidence is already there by virtue of being gifted athletes. But passion is the great equalizer. Not just passion for the game, passion for each other. Passion for something bigger than self.
I've told you guys before about out motto at BYU on the football team. We had gray workout t-shirts with yellow letters that said this.
TEAM
me
BYU's colors were not gray and yellow, but these colors were carefully chosen for our workout shirts as was the message. The gray was chosen because it is a common workout color for t-shirts. The yellow was on purpose. In the color spectrum it is the color yellow that gives other colors their light. When you see old photographs that are fading, the color that is fading that causes them to lose their luster is yellow. So that color was chosen because we needed light and life and color on our football team. In other words, passion.
The word "TEAM" was all caps and larger font. It was at the top of the message. The word "me" was in lower case letters below and in a smaller font. It meant, "the team is greater than me."
From the minute Jason Garrett took over this team to me he began teaching this concept to the team. He instituted a dress code for flights. Not a small thing like some believe. The message he was sending was that he wanted them to show pride and professionalism. Marion Barber, one of the least troublesome guys on that team showed up for a flight not dressed to code. He had on jeans and a blazer jacket over a t-shirt, no tie. We never heard what his punishment was. Jason Garrett demanded that of the players and the coaches. The message they got, it stays in our house.
I can tell you this, when the flight landed at LaGuardia airport, before the team arrived at the hotel Barber already had a suit paid for. He wore it on the flight home. That never got reported. He didn't start that game. Some assume that was his punishment. I don't. I think the professionalism spoke volumes to the people to whom it matters most, the team.
See, that is what people don't understand about me. I put the thoughts of the team above me, even though I am not on that team. So when I say the opinions of the players matter to me more than the opinions of the fans, I include myself in that.
The next thing Garrett did was to cut a lot of high priced but under achieving players. This sent a message. Some of those players were very popular. But popularity does not win football games. Passion does.
I see our Defense over achieving despite the awful season because they played with incredible passion. I am not sure how anyone can deny this. Even the announcers remark how our guys fly to the football. I love passion in a football team. You want to know why Jason Witten is my favorite player? It's real simple, the run without his helmet against Philly. It showed me incredible passion. You want to know why I love Dez Bryant? Because he shows a real passion for the game. He wears his heart on his sleeve for all to see. For all the criticism of him as a diva, I don't see it because I don't see him upset when we win. I see him the most excited guy on the field when a teammate scores. I see him trying to fire people up.
Who fired Dez up? According to him, it is Coach Garrett. Why shouldn't I pay attention to this?
There are only two things I do not like that I am seeing from this team. They are the injuries and the losses, and I cannot drive home hard enough how much I believe one of those causes the other. For the life of me I do not understand why that is not obvious to everyone. I've tried. I have done all I can to try and see the talent that is supposedly George Selvie as good as Anthony Spencer and I just don't see it. I want to see it. I see in Selvie a serviceable player at best. I do see a guy hustling. Where did that passion come from? Inside himself? Then why hasn't it manifested itself before now in his career?
Watch closely, some of these guys we used a lot this year will not be on this team next year. I predict they will never again show the passion they had this year when they play for another team. Never have the results they had this year as far as personal achievements. What we had was a bunch of Practice Squad caliber players out there trying to stop starting quality players and teams and they couldn't. Why is that surprising? It shouldn't be.
So yes, I do like what I see in this football team. I like it because I see the foundation of a team. You take a team and get them to buy into the systems, or the process and you have a chance at a dynasty. It doesn't guarantee a dynasty. Nothing does. But I want a chance at one of those again over a flash in the pan occasional great year team like what you saw with Washington last year. You guys want wins. I want a united team focused on a long term legacy.
I see that being built here, and no amount of losses or how they occur is going to take the yellow out of that picture and fade it away. You want to know why I am so sure that Jason Garrett is going to succeed here, there it is. That is the best way I can describe it to you. His team already sees it. I hope to heaven the rest of us catch the vision ahead of the arrival of the prophecy.
I'll be glad to quit harping on it for the good of the forum. I believe I have worn thin on a lot of people here. Forgive my passion. I don't know any other way to be.
