In his latest column for FanHouse, Jay Mariotti rips Cowboy owner Jerry Jones for the current, dysfunctional state that his franchise is in.
In the sense that America is one messed-up country, I suppose the Dallas Cowboys still can be called “America’s Team.” That’s because they are indisputably the most chaotic, mismanaged, undisciplined sports franchise that we have the displeasure to follow. Down yonder, Jerry Jones keeps gushing about his new stadium, the Romo Domo, which makes the Taj Mahal sound like a slum and Wembley like a sandlot.
It’s an indictment of Jones’ constant meddling and counterproductive buffoonery that Parcells, the BFMIA, would thrive again after fleeing Dallas. If the Cowboys were at least a respectable playoff qualifier with Parcells as head coach, they’ve become a faction-torn, emotionally-frayed circus since Jones summoned an overmatched Wade Phillips. A shrink will have to explain why Jones would be so foolhardy to bring in the criminally-troubled likes of Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson, embrace the petulance of Terrell Owens, let Tony Romo become a Hollywood boy toy — and still employ the tamest, softest and most incompetent coach possible in Phillips.
Just what are you doing, Jerry Jones? And why don’t you get out of the way, step aside as general manager, stay upstairs like most owners and hire a real football man to run the program? Can’t you hear the disgust from media and fans? Is this any way to open a new stadium, by simply nodding and keeping Phillips and trying to spin rampant criticism as the byproduct of a high-profile franchise?
Where do we start? Owens, who sabotages locker rooms like a staph infection, moped about Romo and how the QB favored his close friend, tight end Jason Witten, as his favorite receiver. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, once a hot coaching candidate in the league, couldn’t control the politics and was suspected by Owens of leaking negative stories about him. Then there was Romo, who was said to have shaky practice habits that went unaddressed by Garrett, causing players to reportedly lose respect for Garrett. Clearly, Romo became a reckless performer who winged too many throws in traffic and needed to be harnessed.
Mariotti goes into much more detail so if you have three hours, make sure you read the entire piece.
Mariotti hits the nail on the head over, and over, and over again. While Jones is running a talented circus in Dallas, it’s a circus nonetheless. It appears that everything is finally bubbling to the service now, too, which paints an ugly picture for Jones and his Cowboys, but one that can also be rectified with a solid offseason complete with sound decisions.
Jones needs to reach out to Mike Shanahan. If the former Denver head coach is interested, Jones should allow Mike to run the team the way he wants to and then Jerry needs to get the hell out of the way. If Shanahan wants T.O. out, then T.O. should be in another uniform next year. If Shanahan wants new coordinators, then he should get new coordinators. The situation in Dallas is a mess and Jones needs a good football man to change around the culture in a hurry.
The owner doesn’t mind writing big checks. He should write his next one to Mike Shanahan.
“I think maybe things happened so quickly for Tony in terms of obscurity to all of a sudden national spotlight that he hasn’t fully grasped what being the Cowboys quarterback is all about,” Aikman said to Irvin. “And you don’t go to Cabo the week before a playoff game. You just don’t do it.
