What’s In a Name?
Photo from Reuters Pictures
It has been suggested in the past that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has opted not to fire coach Wade Phillips and/or offensive coordinator Jason Garrett in part because Jones, like most rich people who own millions in stocks, took a bath last year when the market imploded.
As a result, Jones likely wasn’t interested in buying out their respective contracts in excess of $3 million per year, and then pay more millions per year to hire a new coach.
According to WFAA.com (via SportsBusiness Daily), a mega-dollar naming rights deal for the Cowboys’ new stadium is a pipe dream in the present economy. As a result, Jones is “scrambling for a name — and the extra revenue it would bring.”
Full Story: ProFootballTalk.com
Is Wade Phillips On His Way Out?
Photo from AP Photo
It was right there in front of Jerry Jones‘ eyes. And he missed it.
There is no more shining example of how the radical move of an in-season head coaching change can work than the one being offered by the St. Louis Rams. Dead in the water at 0-4, the Rams fired Scott Linehan during their bye week and promoted Jim Haslett.
Last week’s two-point win over Washington seemed a bit of a fluke, predicated as it was on gathering in three Redskins fumbles. There was nothing remotely lucky about the Rams’ thorough 34-14 destruction of the Cowboys at the Edward Jones Dome on Sunday.
What has been gathering steam for a month reached something of a crescendo as the Cowboys played by far their worst game of the Wade Phillips era. And frankly, it should be the last game of the Phillips era, but Jones made it clear afterward that there will be no coaching changes made.
“It really isn’t about changes people-wise as much as it is changes within the people, within the coaches and players,” Jones said.
No, Jerry, it really is about changing the people. This team is 1-3 over the last four weeks, a win over winless Cincinnati the only highlight.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
Pacman Speechless After Suspension
Adam Jones, who got into a fight at The Joule with a team-issued bodyguard, was at his Prosper home when he was notified of the indefinite suspension. In a letter sent to the player, Goodell said the “alcohol-related physical altercation” was part of “a disturbing pattern of behavior and clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL.”
The suspension will cost Adam Jones $41,176 a week.
“He was certainly disappointed,” said his Nashville-based agent, Warrick Robinson. “He was in a very somber mood about the commissioner’s decision. In a lot of ways, he was a lot more speechless than at any time I’ve ever seen him.”
Jerry Jones and Goodell met privately after a break at the NFL owners’ fall meetings in St. Petersburg, Fla., before the suspension was announced.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
Is This the Real Tony Romo?
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His right hand packed in ice afterward, Tony Romo hid the famous dimples behind a mask. Nothing to smile about anyway, right? Not after you lose a sloppy overtime game to the Cardinals, 30-24, in front of a schizoid crowd of 64,389, half Cards, half Cowboys, polar opposites forced by wayward allegiances to sit side by side, cheek to cheek.
And if that scene wasn’t weird enough, you witnessed the Cowboys quarterback’s continued retreat into a shell.
The numbers say he completed 61 percent of his passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns. The body language? This is not the quarterback we thought we knew.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
The Cowboys Should Never Have Signed Pacman
What actually happened in the bathroom at the trendy Joule Hotel between Adam Jones and a member of his four-man security team doesn’t really matter. Whether he was involved in a fight, a skirmish or horseplay, any doubt about whether Jones is a fool has been removed. He must be.
There’s no other rational explanation for why Jones would put his career in jeopardy. After all, he has been told by commissioner Roger Goodell that any involvement in another off-field incident that brings shame to himself or the league could result in a lifetime ban. How stupid can you be? We’re talking about a guy who served a one-year suspension and didn’t get reinstated until last month, wrote Dallas Morning News columnist Jean-Jacques Taylor.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
It’s really dumb when you consider Jones arrived in Dallas with the equivalent of bus fare in his pockets, having partied away much of the $11.7 million he received in signing and roster bonuses in his two seasons in Tennessee. With a base salary of $700,000, he’s earning $41,176.47 per week for the 17-week regular season. Most of us could figure out a way to live on that. Now, he’s put all that in jeopardy.
This is why the Cowboys never should’ve signed him. The problem with adding Jones to the roster, as I’ve written before, is he’s such an immense talent that he eventually becomes an important part of the team. His ability makes you trust him; then he betrays that trust.
Of course, the Cowboys need him more than ever, because Terence Newman will miss at least the next few weeks with a sports hernia. If Jones gets suspended - I expect him to get at least one game - it forces rookie Mike Jenkins into the starting lineup.
Jones always says the right things. And he’ll even do the right things from time to time, but he obviously has no self-control.
Full Story: Dallas Morning News
