Free is the new cheap

The speculation on Doug Free staying or leaving the Dallas Cowboys has ended, according to ESPN’s Todd Archer:

IRVING, Texas – Doug Free has accepted a pay cut and will remain with the Dallas Cowboys, according to a source.

Free was scheduled to make $7 million this season and count $10.02 million against the salary cap, but the new two-year deal opens up salary-cap room for the Cowboys and allows Free to remain with the team that drafted him in 2007.

He will make $3.5 million in each of the next two seasons. His salary in 2013 is guaranteed, a source told ESPN NFL Insider Ed Werder.

Free’s new contract clears roughly $3.5 million in salary-cap space, which the Cowboys could use in extension talks for linebacker Sean Lee, who is an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Free has started 48 consecutive games since 2010 but struggled in his return to right tackle in 2012, which led to the salary reduction. In 2011, Free signed a four-year, $32 million deal, including $17 million guaranteed.

Apparently, the Cowboys’ flirtations with free agent right tackle Eric Winston are done with, though I am not sure they should be. With the new-found money, it might make sense to pursue Winston for the tackle position and move Free inside, to guard. Free gets beat in space. He is a little tall for the guard spot, but experts believe he can play there and enjoy more success than on the edge.

The Cowboys would not have to ask Free to take a pay cut, if they were better able to self-evaluate. As Gregg Rosenthal observes:

This marks yet another misadventure by the Cowboys in self-scouting. They overpaid Free, and then were forced to change course. Jones often hypes his own players, and then he winds up paying for it.

If you are among Cowboys fans leery of trusting the health of suddenly insanely wealthy quarterback of the present and the future, Tony Romo, to the too-often over-matched Doug Free, too bad.

Free is not free to leave, which means left defensive ends may feel free to knock Romo into the middle of next week, or even the end his career.

The post Dallas Cowboys Doug Free ain’t free, but at least he’s cheap appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

Long-suffering Cowboys fans have looked with a wishful and hopeful eye to the future. Jerry Jones cannot go on forever. Some day, he will give in to the advancing years or the Grim Reaper and his son Stephen will take the reins. Then, sanity will be restored to team leadership. Stephen will save the day!

Jerry Jones is sick. We all know it. He has a horrible case of Optimisticitis, which causes him to see everything he does and sees as better than it actually is. This dread disease robs the mind of a realistic view of the world. Couple that with Spinster’s Disease, which causes its host to put a spin on every topic, regardless of how insane the spin may be, and you have one very sick man.

After getting off to one of the worst starts of any owner of any professional sports franchise in history, Jerry Jones earned the respect and trust of Dallas Cowboys fans by hiring Jimmy Johnson and subsequently delivering three Super Bowl championships. Then, he lost it when his pride got in the way of football and he fired Jimmy. Then, he regained it when he and Barry Switzer proved that, by God, that team was so good “any of 500 coaches” could have won the Super Bowl with it. Then, he lost it again, slowly, over 15 years and counting of fielding football teams that ranged from disgraceful to mediocre to under-achieving.

Stephen save us!

But Stephen won’t save you. He cannot. It appears he is suffering from the same crippling disease as dear ol’ dad.

Case in point: his comments on the recently departed bust of a first round running back, Felix Jones. This from John Machota of Sports Day:

“The guy played for us in a significant role,” Stephen Jones said. “I still say that’s very successful. I’d also say running backs, this day and time, a guy can be very successful in his first contract as a running back and not necessarily sign the second one. The shelf life of a running back, unfortunately is not as long as some other positions. We were very pleased with the career Felix had here with us. You always hate when it comes to a close. No regrets there.”

It seemed evident that the Cowboys would not re-sign Felix Jones after they drafted Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle last month in the fifth round.

Felix Jones, who started 23 games in Dallas, will get a chance to face his old team at least twice next year, with the first matchup coming on Oct. 20 in Philadelphia.

“You know what we think of Felix, being a Razorback,” said Stephen Jones, an Arkansas graduate. “He made a lot of great plays for us. Obviously, we wish him luck, except when the Cowboys and Eagles play.”

He cannot be serious! This was not some guy they took a late-round flier on. He was not an undrafted free agent like Tony Romo. He was a first-round draft pick! 

The man was never a featured back in college, nor was he in Dallas.

Inside the Felix Jones numbers

• Jones was drafted in the first round in 2008, 22nd overall pick
• In five years with Dallas (5×16=80), he started just 23 games.
• He compiled 2728 yards rushing, an average of 545.6 yds/year.
• He had 1066 yards receiving.
• He scored 11 touchdowns rushing and 3 receiving. (That was a half season of work for Emmitt Smith.)
• He did have 1534 kick and punt return yards and one TD to go with that.
• He fumbled the ball 12 times.
• He never came close to winning NFL post-season honors, like All-Pro, Pro Bowl, All-Conference, etc.

Those are not miserable stats.

But it is not first round production, either. Jones’ production peaked in his third season, when he accumulated 800 yards rushing. His final season, he had half that.

Meanwhile, the Titans’ Chris Johnson, taken two spots later in the draft has amassed 6,888 rushing yards and 44 rushing TDs. Rashard Mendenhall (not considered a great first rounder by any stretch) was taken one spot after Felix. He has rushed for 3549 yards and scored 29 rushing touchdowns.

Who cares if he is from Arkansas?

“You know what we think of Felix, being a Razorback,” Stephen Jones quipped.

Well, Stevie Wonder Boy Jones, you know what we think of you wasting a first round pick on an under-achieving Razorback, being Cowboys fans.

Who cares if he played for Arkansas or was smuggled in on a shipment of Mackerel from the Ukraine? Can he play football at a high enough level to warrant a first round pick? You only get so many of those in a lifetime. You cannot be playing partisan college football politics with them. Instead, build your fans a football team worthy of the stadium your daddy built.

And go see a doctor about that disease. It may be hereditary, but it does not have to be fatal.

The post Dallas Cowboys News: Stephen Jones showing signs of same disease as the old man appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

That is the thing about life. The longer you live, the more death is a part of it. People you looked up to, admired, whose careers you followed, who entertained and enthralled you in your youth, they don’t live forever.

I had not thought of Chuck Muncie in 20 years or more until yesterday when Mike Rhyner of KTCK 1310 “the Ticket” memorialized the former NFL running back. Rhyner, a few years my senior, gave Muncie a fitting tribute, remembering the impact he had on the game and how much fun it was to watch him run.

I remember Muncie as the tough and talented RB with glasses. He had bad eyes but great “vision,” which is common for all great running backs.

Muncie’s NFL career ended ingloriously in 1984, as he was suspended for cocaine use. As the LA Times reports, he kicked the habit and in his retirement became an advocate for overcoming drug addiction.

Muncie played his college ball at UC Berkeley. Berkeley in the 1970s was the epicenter of the counter-culture movement. Drugs were common fare there and that is where Muncie first came into contact with Cocaine, the drug that would end his career and later land him in jail:

In a statement, the Chargers called him “one of the greatest running backs” in the team’s history and a “tremendous athlete with a larger-than-life personality.”

Recruited to play football at Cal, Muncie started using cocaine and his drug-abuse only increased once he made it to the NFL, he said in interviews.

After the first regular-season game of 1984, Muncie’s career came to a dramatic end when then-NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended him after Muncie tested positive for cocaine.

Five years later Muncie was arrested and sentenced to 18 months for selling cocaine. Going to jail saved his life, he often said, and while behind bars he vowed to turn his life around.

In 1997 he established the Chuck Muncie Youth Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that helped youngsters steer clear of drugs and the kinds of bad decisions that nearly destroyed him. It also offered a highly regarded tattoo-removal program.

He also spearheaded a mentoring program for athletes at UC Berkeley that “would have made all the difference” when he was at the school, Muncie told The Times in 2008.

The LA Times article describes Muncie’s football career as follows:

At 6 feet 3 and 225 pounds, Muncie was gifted with size, speed and power. While playing for Cal, he finished second to Archie Griffin of Ohio State in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1975. He also earned a bachelor’s degree in social studies, according to the magazine.

A first-round draft pick by the Saints in 1976, Muncie was paired with Tony Galbreath in the team’s backfield. They were dubbed “Thunder and Lightning.”

In 1979, Muncie became the first Saints running back to break the 1,000-yard barrier in a season, with 238 carries for 1,198 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Former teammate Don Reese told Sports Illustrated in 1982 that Muncie had to be a “superman” to continue performing at such a high level despite his addiction.

Muncie would finish his NFL career with 1,561 carries for 6,702 yards, a 4.3-yard average, and 71 touchdowns. He also had 263 receptions for 2,323 yards.

In the middle of the 1980 season, Muncie was traded to the Chargers and the next year he led the NFL in rushing touchdowns with 19.

Muncie’s career spanned what, to me, is the golden age of the NFL. In the 1970s, the running back was the god of the gridiron. You had backs of such grace and power dominating the game. Names like OJ Simpson, Walter PaytonTony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Franco Harris, Larry Csonka and Chuck Foreman were among the greatest ever to tote the rock.

Muncie was in that group. Sure, he only eclipsed 1,000 yards twice. Remember this, though. The first half of his career was spent with the lowly New Orleans Saints, whose fans were famous for wearing bags over their heads. This was a team that seldom had the talent to sniff the playoffs.

The second half of his career, Muncie played for the San Diego Chargers. That team was coached by Don Coryell, the mad football scientist of his era, and threw the ball all over the field. His offense was nicknamed “Air Coryell.”

Whatever accomplishments Muncie mustered was either on a bad team or on a team that utilized the passing game more than any other team of its era. Muncie finished his 8+ year career with 6,702 rushing yards and 2,323 yards receiving. He went to three Pro Bowls. He was voted first team All-Conference once and second team All-Conference twice.

As a young football fan, I was enamored of the 1,000 yard back. Muncie was of particular interest because he looked different doing it than everyone else. Bill Williamson of EPSN knows what I mean:

Yes, those high-flying San Diego Chargers of the early 1980s were known as Air Coryell.

Yet one of the most memorable and recognizable figures on those teams was a hard-charging running back named Chuck Muncie. With a menacing bar down the center of his face mask and thick, black-frame glasses, the big, strong Muncie was a load for defenses around the league to handle.

Sadly, Muncie died Monday at the age of 60 after suffering a heart attack, according to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. His death was confirmed later by the New Orleans Saints.

The California product was the No. 3 overall draft pick by the Saints in 1976. He was traded to the Chargers in 1980. He gave them a strong running presence, and quickly became a major part of an entertaining offense.

Muncie the man got his life straight and made a positive impact on succeeding generations. Muncie the football player made memories for guys like me…

R.I.P., Chuck.

The post Blast from the past has passed on: Chuck Muncie dies at 60 appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

A friend recently suggested that I put together a top ten list of Jerry Jones foot-in-mouth statements. That might be fun…and a challenge. Not to find ten candidates but to settle on just ten.

Now, we can add another. Another friend, a Twitter friend, put me onto this one.

@doomsdaddy editorial opportunity for you, Jones talking about Staubach involvement in game planning and play calling in reference to Romo.

— Will Roberts (@Quantracing) May 14, 2013

Actually, Jones didn’t so much put his foot in his mouth as he simply demonstrated how precious little he really knows about the history of his own football team:

“He’s played a lot of games now,” Jones told co-host Gil Brandt and me on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday night. “He certainly had a lot of time on the job before he ever started and played. He has a unique grasp of our offensive concepts. The people who are around him the most – his coaches – tell me he’s never had a bad idea.

“If you think about where he’s at right now, he’s 10 years older than most of the players we have on the field. We think his skill level right now is very much where we hoped it would be and will be for several years to come. But what we want to use more than we ever have is the kind of thing that (ex-Cowboys quarterback Roger) Staubach contributed – input into designing a plan that helps us beat that opponent.”

Mind you, this was Gil Brandt, the head of the Cowboys scouting department during the Landry/Schramm years that Jones was talking to.

Apparently, Brandt let the comment about how much input Staubach had in play-calling and game planning slide. Any real fan of the pre-Jones Cowboys knows that Staubach actually offered to come back and play another year if Landry would let him call his own plays. Landry declined. Play-calling was a bone of contention between the two iconic Cowboys. Landry was a bit of a control freak in that regard. He would shuffle players in and out of the huddle with the next play. He trusted no one with his game plan more than he did himself.

Here is how famoustexans.com remembers it:

Wile (sic) others appreciated Staubach’s neat footwork, Tom Landry was not so impressed. “Coach Landry wasn’t happy with my scrambling,” the quarterback revealed. “It caused a running feud between us. “But I put up with his play calling and he put up with my scrambling.” Staubach tried to have more of a say in the Dallas offense. After winning Super Bowl VI against the Miami Dolphins Staubach said, “I’m going to study films more than ever, but it will be hard to convince coach Landry to let me call my own plays after we won 10 games in a row with him calling them.” The friction between two tough and intelligent leaders helped spark a dynamic game.

A January 1979 issue of the Lakeland Ledger, in an article leading up to the Super Bowl, ran side-by-side articles on Terry Bradshaw and Roger Staubach.

The Bradshaw article was titled, “Bradshaw is One of a Dying Breed.” It begins,

“Terry Bradshaw is one of a dying breed. A rarity in the NFL. He is one of the few quarterbacks still in the game that is allowed to call his own plays.”

The Staubach article, titled, “Staubach Like an On-Field Robot,” goes like this:

“On a football field, Roger Staubach is a robot. His decisions are made for him by Tom Landry

In the NFL, that is not unusual. Most coaches make robots out of their quarterbacks, sending in instructions for them to carry out.

However, since quarterbacks are flesh and blood with feelings of their own, and not a bucket of bolts activated by some remote control process, they don’t like being robots.

Staubach doesn’t like it. He has learned to live with it, and he doesn’t make a big deal of it, but he would like to call his own plays.

“I think any quarterback would,” he said prior to today’s Super Bowl. “When you call your own plays, you believe in them. You’re confident they will work.”

Landry was a renowned autocrat when it came to offensive game planning.

In a January 17, 1978 article on Landry (a real gem of an article) titled, The 12th Cowboy, Wilmington Morning Star staffer Dave Anderson wrote,

Tom Landry designs the offensive game plan and supervises the defensive game plan that is structured on the “flex defense” that he invented, just as he invented the 4-3 when he was a player-coach with the New York Giants a quarter century ago.

Tom Landry was not the impassioned, fiery, quotable motivator extraordinaire like his counterpart Vince Lombardi. He was often seen as detached and emotionless. One former player, the somewhat unstable Duane Thomas, called him a “plastic man.” He was a tactician. He believed in X’s and O’s. He believed in a superior plan of attack. He believed that if his players would run his plays the way he designed them, they would win way more than they would lose.

He was right.

Staubach was a great player. He was fiery and emotional on the field. He was a leader of men. He was an athletic, cool-headed, steady hand. He carried out Landry’s game plans with enough success and precision to get the Cowboys to five Super Bowls in a decade and win two of them.

But he never designed a single game plan and he never called his own plays.

Why would Jerry Jones know that? A narcissist knows nothing except to put himself in the middle of everything. Even if he has to do it with his own foot in his mouth.

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Believe this!

Spring has sprung. The 2013 NFL Draft is history. Mini-camps, training camp and preseason loom just ahead. There are bluebonnets on the hillsides, birds singing in the trees, and the 2013 Dallas Cowboys football team is undefeated…just like everyone else.

Your 2013 Dallas Cowboys are ready

This is the time of hope, the time of dreaming of that magical run to a championship. For more teams than not, it is fantasy. But for a few, it is a real possibility.

Which is it for your heroes in Silver and Blue? Are they a legitimate contender, or do we brace for yet another so-so year of teasing,  taunting, and tumbling into mediocrity?

I, for one, believe this team is already better than the 2012 version and here are a few reasons for you to believe, as well.

Tony Romo

I know that Romo is the most polarizing, divisive player on the squad, and possibly in team history. A couple of things do not lie. Statistically, he is among the league’s best in most categories, and that includes 4th quarter QB rating and come-from-behind victories. So, branding him a choker is just a misunderstanding of the facts. However, he still sports but one playoff victory in his career.

Romo is now 33. Aikman points out that his career was in its last year when he was that age. Romo is still playing at an extremely high level. Moreover, he just got paid big money. $55 million, to be almost exact. He is not playing for money now. He is playing for pride. He is playing for his place in history. Will he be villainized as the man that robbed Jerry blind, that set the franchise back a decade, that was overpaid and under-delivered? If Romo fails to deliver some playoff success, both locally and nationally, he will be excoriated. The most criticized current player in the NFL will go down in history as a failure. The vultures are already on the low limbs smacking their beaks.

I believe that, if this team fails to deliver a playoff run, it will not be due to any lack of effort or determination from its most important player.

Addition by subtraction

Rob Ryan is gone and that is good. He was overrated as a strategist and coach. His colorful personality might be fun on a winning team, but it becomes an annoying distraction on a team that is struggling. Look for him to continue to bounce around the league, bragging about his greatness.

Also gone are Felix Jones and Mike Jenkins. Jones’ production tailed off considerably over the course of his career. He lost the quickness that made him a home run threat and, more often than not, putting the ball in his hands was a wasted down. Jenkins never showed himself a first-round talent. He made a few plays, but gave up more than he took from opponents. Both were injury prone.

Better coaching

Jason Garrett is a focused, intelligent football man. He is a leader. Unflappable. His handling of the team during the Josh Brent episode last year showed him to be just that. Sharing or giving over offensive play-calling duties will only serve to make him better as a game day coach.

Replacing Rob Ryan with Monte Kiffin is like swapping a Kia for a Porsche. Kiffin will install a defense more conducive to instinctual and natural reaction to offensive plays. Look for play-makers to make plays in his system. Besides, he is a respected teacher and steadying influence on the staff.

Addition by addition

DeMarcus Ware, DeMarco Murray, Sean Lee, Bruce Carter, Jay Ratliff, Miles Austin, Orlando Scandrick…the 2012 Cowboys was a MASH unit. The defense was especially hampered by the loss of key players. But the offense was slowed, too. Give the 2013 team just a normal run of injury luck and you can add two victories right there.

Rookies that contribute

We can debate whether the Cowboys should have taken Travis Frederick in the first round, but it is hardly a debate at all that he will help solidify a vulnerable interior offensive line. Whether at center or guard, I look for Frederick to start for this team from game one, and to make a name for himself in the league.

Tight end Gavin Escobar catches everything thrown at him. As long as you put it in the right zip code, he will pick up the mail. Add him and fellow deep threat wide receiver Terrance Williams—the big, fast Baylor receiver and Dallas product—to the top-notch core of Dez Bryant, Miles Austin and Jason Witten, and you have an embarrassment of riches in the passing game.

The cornerback B.W. Webb, out of William & Mary is a superb athlete and may be one of the real jewels in the draft. He could have an immediate impact on the team in nickel and dime packages. Safety J.J. Wilcox should also impact the secondary right away. Despite playing only one season at the safety position at Georgia Southern, Wilcox was invited to the Senior Bowl, where he performed well. Before moving to safety, Wilcox was a successful running back with 484 yards on 85 carries. He is also a solid returner in the kicking game. Mike Mayock of the NFL Network sees him as a future starter for the Cowboys.

Perhaps the biggest steal of the Cowboys’ draft was Oklahoma State running back Joseph Randle in the fifth round. This dude ran for 152 yards to help OSU beat Baylor and RG3. He galloped for 151 yards against Oklahoma, leading his team in the beat down of their state rival. he is a big time big game player with skills. He will complement the injury-prone DeMarco Murray (an OU product) and, if Murray isn’t careful, push him for the starter’s role.

Linebacker DeVonte Holloman is a converted strong safety. That tells you he is a little smallish as a linebacker and quick. He should make a good fit for the new 4-3 defense and add depth to the linebacking core.

The ticking clock

The clock is ticking on the careers of 33 year old Tony Romo, 31 year old DeMarcus Ware, and and 31 year old Jason Witten. The tread will wear thin on those tires very soon. These team leaders have done about all they could statistically, putting up eye-popping numbers at times. What they have not done is win. As they transition into that exclusive club called the Dallas Cowboys Fraternity, you can bet they want to do so as winners. They know it. Jones knows it. Garrett knows it.

This team should be “all in.”

The hot seat

Speaking of Garrett, he could very well be coaching for his career. This man is not about having a “career,” though. He is about establishing a legacy. He is not the type to be satisfied to survive. He will want to thrive.

2013 sets up as perhaps the most intriguing season in recent memory for your Dallas Cowboys. The stakes are high. The challenge is great, with the resurgent Redskins, the ever-present Giants, and the reforming Eagles all setting their sights on the NFC East crown. The talent is here. The time is now.

And I believe…

The post The 2013 Dallas Cowboys: Seven reasons to believe in them appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

Closed for Bidness, Y’all

Dallas Cowboys Country Club is closed as Jerry Jones raises accountability bar on #cowboys players

Dallas Cowboys Country Club is closed as Jerry Jones increases player accountability at Valley Ranch.

Storified by Gene· Fri, May 03 2013 11:09:44

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Jones will tell you he has always been the General Manager of the team, from day one. In a sense, that is true. But Johnson revealed in 2012 that he and Jones had a contractual agreement that he would have the say on all things football. Here is how Barry Horn of the Dallas Morning News reported Johnson’s comments:

Jimmy Johnson said he wasn’t interested in creating controversy, but he wanted to set the record straight Wednesday about his role with the Cowboys in the years he coached the team.

“The time I was with the team, I had complete and total responsibility over the football operation,” Johnson said in a telephone interview from his home in the Florida Keys. “That meant personnel, the draft, coaches, including the strength coach. Everything.

“It was always in my contract.”

Johnson was reacting to comments owner Jerry Jones made in the wake of the Cowboys’ loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Jones said he ran the Cowboys’ football operation from the day he bought the team in 1989 and would continue to do so.

“When I bought the team, the night I bought it, I said I would be doing what I’m doing and that’s GM the team and making the final decisions on personnel,” Jones said late Sunday night. “That’s the way it’s always been done. We’ve won three Super Bowls doing it that way, so I’m going to do it again.”

Johnson, who coached two of those three Super Bowl teams, and has been widely credited for assembling the talent that twice beat the Buffalo Bills and the team that went on to win a third against the Pittsburgh Steelers under Barry Switzer, agreed that Jones held the title of “general manager” but…

“When we signed that first contract Jerry said, ‘I’ll be in charge of the finances, you’ll be in charge of the football,’ we’ll make history,” Johnson said.

Johnson and Jones had a winning formula. Jones, the promoter with the Midas touch, turned the Cowboys—and really, the NFL—into a money-making machine. He used Texas Stadium as a revenue-winner by signing deals with firms like Pepsi and Nike. The NFL sued him, lost, and then joined him. With Jones in the lead, the National Football League became America’s pastime and a branding juggernaut.

Meanwhile, Johnson pulled off the football deal of the century with the Herschel Walker trade and put together one of the most dominant teams in NFL history.

Johnson received national acclaim for his accomplishment in turning around a franchise that seemed to have pulled loose of its moorings and was adrift.

It is not speculation or unfair to say that Jerry Jones envied Jimmy Johnson. When Johnson seemed to snub Jones during the post-Super Bowl celebrations, after the team had won back-to-back Lombardi trophies, the rift lead to Jones’ dismissal of Johnson. Jones ate a million or so bucks, literally paying Johnson to go away.

Jones would famously assert that “any of 500 coaches could take this team to the Super Bowl.”

He was apparently somewhat right about that. The team Johnson had built was so strong that it withstood the storm its owner’s ego created, reached the NFC Championship game the year after Johnson was set free, and won the Super Bowl the following year.

But the new era of free agency (which Jones helped to bring on) took its toll. Players left for more money in other places. The core group of players grew older and the supporting cast became weaker. Barry Switzer, another old friend of Jones’ from Arkansas and Johnson’s replacement, forgot he had packed a gun and was detained at an airport. That gaffe aided Jones in getting rid of yet another old friend.

Then it was Chan Gailey and his marginal success followed by Dave Campo and his three straight 5-11 teams.

Jones was truly the General Manager of the team once Jimmy left. And that team slid into disarray. Jones had to bring in Bill Parcells, a football guru and personnel evaluator not unlike Jimmy Johnson, to salvage the team, turn it around, and get it pointed in the right direction. Then, Parcells was turned out to pasture. And on we go.

Under Jones the GM, the Dallas Cowboys have mismanaged and missed on personnel decisions so much that the team has been mired in .500 ball for nearly two decades. That kind of NFL irrelevance happens in other cities and to other football teams. That does not happen in the city of Tom Landry or to America’s Team.

Unless, of course, Jerry Jones is in charge.

Jones has overseen some of the worst drafts in NFL history. His 2009 draft consisted of 12 players. Three years later, not a single player from that draft remains on the team. Most of them are not anywhere in the NFL. In 2008, Jones had two first round picks. He chose RB Felix Jones and CB Mike Jenkins. Jones, who was not a featured back at the University of Arkansas, never established himself as one in Dallas, either. Jenkins was up and down, a so-so NFL cornerback. Both are gone.

Felix Jones (from Jerry’s Alma Mater) was selected over the speedy Chris Johnson and Rashard Mendenhall. That kind of mistake at RB was a repeat from the 2004 draft (another mangled mess), when  the Cowboys traded down and took Julius Jones, rather than staying put and selecting Steven Jackson.

A mismanaged roster. Misfires on both personnel and head coach hirings. I would point particularly to the promotion of Dave Campo, who was clearly over his head, and to the hiring of Wade Phillips, the laissez faire coach, who knew how to scheme a defense and spin an excuse for losing.

But Jones is not a failure. How can a self-made billionaire be a failure? He bought a flagship NFL franchise and turned it into an empire. Even through two decades of mediocrity, the Cowboys remain among the most marketable teams in America. They remain the team America loves and loves to hate.

Forbes still lists the Dallas Cowboys as the NFL’s most valuable franchise:

The Cowboys are the NFL’s most valuable team for a sixth straight year thanks to the league’s highest sponsorship and premium seating revenues—a combined $200 million. The Cowboys are the first American sports franchise worth more than $2 billion. The ’Boys are still America’s Team. Thirty-one million viewers tuned in to their Thanksgiving Day matchup with the Dolphins, making it the most-watched show of the 2011 fall TV season.

Everywhere but on the field, The Cowboys are still the team to beat. Merchandise flies off the shelves. Talk radio phones light up. Acres of paper and tons of Gigabytes are used up in the discussing and cussing of the Cowboys.

Then, there is Cowboys Stadium, perhaps Jones’ crowning achievement as a D/FW business owner and as a sports team owner. One of the most beautiful and versatile sports venues in the world continues to score one huge sporting event after another.

Hello, Super Bowl. Hello, NCAA Final Four. Hello, College Football Championship.

Meanwhile, Jerry Jones, bolstered by past successes on the field and current successes off, defiantly dismisses every suggestion that he might not be the best man for the job of Cowboys General Manager.

Why, though? He has fired coach after coach for not getting the team to the ultimate prize. Why does he give himself a pass?

I will let Jones answer that in his own words:

“I pretty much go with what I did the night I bought the team,” Jones said, via the Star-Telegram. “I said I was going to be the GM. . . . It would be a facade if someone else was sitting in my shoes and someone thought they were spending the money. It would be deception. . . . I would grant you the decisions that have been made over the years have not produced a Super Bowl, two Super Bowls or three Super Bowls that I would like to have been a part of. And the only thing I am going to do there is keep trying and then make sure I get the credit when we do get that one. Y’all are going to give it to me, aren’t you?”

Credit. That is what Jones craves. Jerry Jones would rather never win another Lombardi trophy than to have his Cowboys win it and someone else get the credit for it.

Jerry Jones would rather never win another Lombardi trophy than to have his Cowboys win it and someone else get the credit for it.

Rather than letting history take care of itself, Jones is determined to force history’s hand. He believes he can make his critics admit it was all his doing.

Well, I admit. This mess is all his doing.

And now we have the 2013 NFL draft, which has Jones failing again. Failing to get value when he trades his first round pick. Failing to recognize a third round pick from a first. Failing to remember he has already used two second round picks to try and find a complement TE to Jason Witten. Failing.

I give Jerry credit for that.

Finally, I will get to the point of this article, as suggested by its title. What about “Jerryatrics?” What does this term I have coined mean? What does it mean to be Jerry Jones today?

• It means you are an old dog trying to learn new tricks, but still gnawing on the same old bone.
• It means you are self-deluded, blinded by the successes of the past, believing you had more to do with them than you did.
• It means you have surrounded yourself with friends and family that tell you what you want to hear, rather than what you need to hear.
• It means you are a complicated man: both wise and foolish. Your wisdom glistens and sparkles and attracts worldwide attention and international acclaim to the city quietly nestled between Dallas and Fort Worth. Your foolishness, meanwhile, keeps spotting can’t-miss football talent that mostly misses.
• It means you are driven–and nearly driven mad–by the need to be recognized for your genius.
• It means you hold everyone accountable but yourself.
• It means you are the kind of man that will put your ego and self-fulfillment ahead of the tens of thousands of fans that have made you and your team both prosperous and prominent.
• It means you are the worst kind of fool. There is no fool like an old fool. And there is no fool more foolish than the one that fools himself.

Jerryatrics, just like it sounds, is getting really, really old.

Jerry Jones would rather never win another Lombardi trophy than to have his Cowboys win it and someone else get the credit for it.

The post Jerryatrics: The art of being @dallascowboys GM Jerry Jones appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

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Rather than simply look at them in the order taken, let’s rank the picks, shall we? But we need a criteria by which to judge. So, here is mine:

1. Quality of player v. others available
2. Quality of player in relation to draft position (Taken too high, about right, or a steal?)
3. Positional need
4. Possibility of making impact on team in 2013

Since I have four categories and I want to grade on a percentage scale, I will weigh each category equally. So, the most points a player can receive in any one category is 25. The fewest is zero. I will use increments of five points.

Ready?

Travis Frederick may well prove to be the best player taken in this draft. he may be just what the Cowboys needed at center. But the Cowboys had the 18th pick and traded down to 31 to take him. No other center was taken until the third round. Chances are good that the Cowboys could have taken him in the second and gotten another quality player at 31. Plus, when grading him, you have to do so against all the picks from 18 to 30, which include DT Sharriff Floyd, thought to be a top ten talent and FS Eric Reid (a position of real need). Not to mention two offensive linemen, a guard and a tackle.

Gavin Escobar looks to have all the tools to be a good pass-catching tight end. He is another in a long line of tight ends the Cowboys have tried to find as a complement to Jason Witten. But again, the Cowboys ignored the greater need at safety, with D.J. Swearinger from South Carolina still on the board.

Terrance Williams, the wideout out of Baylor should help stretch the field and provide a deep threat for Romo and the offense. He is a hometown kid, and the first Dallas ISD product drafted by the Cowboys in 20 years. But he better be better than Keenan Allen out of California, whom the Chargers snagged two picks later. Allen grades out higher than Williams. Time will tell.

Joseph Randle, the Oklahoma Sate running back taken in the fifth round, may prove to be the steal of the draft. People are concerned about his speed. I prefer to look at his production. He was in a top tier conference, facing some of the best talent in the nation week after week, playing in a pass-happy offensive scheme, and still posting nice numbers. NFL.com says this on his player profile page:

The presence of Kendall Hunter limited Randle’s carries in 2010, but the true freshman had at least one tote in all 13 games (82 total for 452 yards and two touchdowns) and caught 37 passes for 427 yards on the year. He stepped into Hunter’s shoes admirably as a sophomore, earning second-team All-Big 12 honors with 1,216 rushing yards and 24 touchdowns in spite of Oklahoma State’s passing preference; he did not have 20 or more carries in any game after the first month of the season. His 152 yards and four touchdowns helped OSU beat Robert Griffin III and Baylor and he covered 151 yards in the team’s beat-down of the rival Oklahoma Sooners. Despite the team’s rotation at the quarterback position, Randle remained the constant figure in the Cowboys’ offense in 2012. He rushed for 1,417 yards and 14 touchdowns on 274 carries. He added 224 receiving yards on 28 receptions.

I remember another running back the Cowboys drafted that was considered a little slow of foot (Randle registered 4.63 in the 40 at the NFL Combine). His name was Emmitt Smith and he is the NFL’s all-time leading rusher. I am not saying Randle is Smith. But I believe he can play on a much higher plane than his fifth round draft spot would indicate.

All told, I think the Cowboys had a rough start to the draft, but may have saved the day with second and third-day picks. At least that is the hope.

Coach Jason Garrett thinks they did exactly what they needed to and should have done, according to his post-draft interview with Rich Eisen of the NFL Network:

I hope Garrett is right and this draft deserves an A+, rather than the C- I am tempted to saddle it with.

The post Ranking the Dallas Cowboys 2013 draft picks appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.

Do you trust them?

The post Dallas Cowboys 2013 NFL Draft | So far, so-so? appeared first on Silver and BlueBlood.