Jerry Jones Talks Super Bowl - An Annual Dallas Cowboys' Tradition

In Thursday's "State of The Cowboys" address, Jerry Jones showed several signs that three consecutive seasons without a playoff berth were taking its toll, admitting that the Cowboys "have got a lot of work to do."
 
Yet, being the cheerleader that he is, he couldn't help but talk about how much better the team is at this juncture than a year ago, and even managed to insert a comment - though tongue-in-cheek it may have seemed - about making a run at the Super Bowl.

This pre-training camp talk about a push to the Super Bowl is a Jones trademark. During the writing of Decade of Futility, I was shocked to learn just how much so. Since the "One Year Away" Cowboys shocked the world in 1992 by destroying Buffalo in Super Bowl XXVII by a 52-17 score, Jones has neglected to thrill listeners with Super aspirations a grand total of four times. That's four out of a possible twenty-one opportunities. Truly incredible.

Even more incredible are the circumstances surrounding those times when he deemed it better to be humble, rather than bold. The first occurrence was in the wake of Troy Aikman's retirement in 2001, when all the Cowboys were leaning upon was the unproven right arm of Georgia rookie Quincy Carter. Yes, Jones was magnanimous that day in his respect for the dark hour that his Cowboys found themselves in, foregoing any Super Bowl predictions, prophesying instead for a ho-hum mediocre campaign filled with only - yes, only - ten wins.

The only other times that Jones was silent on any personal visions of impending glory just happened to be during the first three years of Big Bill Parcells' four-year reign of pigskin terror, when Jones was effectively kept under wraps.

Jones talks so boldly because he wants the fans to know that he cares, and that he - in his position as the team's General Manager - has pieced together a roster that everyone will be proud of. He envisions himself as the sharpshooter in a darkened gym that calls his own shot on one three-pointer after another.

More importantly, is the fact that Jones believes these predictions are within the bounds of reason, even when others around him are pleading with him for patience, and temperance. 

The passing years have revealed that Jones is oblivious to any personal prohibitions related to drinking that most seductive of drinks, Cowboy Kool-Aid. The Cowboys have reaped the rewards this millennium of changing head coaches a mind-boggling four times. Five losing seasons, countless melodramas, one measly playoff victory, and a decade (2000-2009) that houses the lowest winning percentage in franchise history. 

And there, impervious to reality, criticism, and countless glaring statistics, stood the Cowboys owner yesterday, handing out a beverage that has enslaved the innocent and gullible for more than a decade. Yes, drinks are always on the house at Valley Ranch, no matter the hour, the venue, or circumstance.

Read more about Jerry Jones and the Worst Decade in Dallas Cowboys History in my new book Decade of Futility.

For a hard-copy of Decade of Futility, click here:
https://www.createspace.com/4161551


For the Kindle version of Decade of Futility, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Decade-of-Futility-ebook/dp/B00DXFGLSE/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373808496&sr=1-1&keywords=decade+of+futility

Jerry Jones & Bill Parcells - Just a Part of the Dallas Cowboys' Decade of Futility

Not exactly a match made in Heaven!

Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells on working with Jerry Jones for four years:
“He’s a straightforward, honest guy,” Parcells said. “He really is. That’s all I look for. He was very supportive of me as a coach. Now were there things going on that occasionally I didn’t like? Yeah, there were, but that didn’t inhibit me from going to him, talking things out. He’s really great about that.”


So what drove these two apart? Find out in Chapters 15 and 16 of Decade of Futility.

For a hard-copy of Decade of Futility, click here:
https://www.createspace.com/4161551


For the Kindle version of Decade of Futility, click here: http://www.amazon.com/Decade-of-Futility-ebook/dp/B00DXFGLSE/ref=sr_1_1_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373808496&sr=1-1&keywords=decade+of+futility

Will Tony Romo Save the Cowboys From Their Decade of Futility?

2004 Pre-Season game against Raiders

 That Tony Romo has had his share of difficulties in win-or-go-home games has been well documented, but nobody can rightly question the fact that he is a championship-caliber quarterback. Romo is the reason that Jerry Jones and a whole host of expectant Cowboy fans can hold out hope that America's Team can get back to the top of football's steep, and winding, staircase. Yes, Romo often drives coaches crazy with ill-advised impulse decisions, but has also used this same gunslinger mentality to give his team many more victories that otherwise would have been improbable, if not impossible.
What, you ask, is his most important last-minute effort over his ten-year career? Well, only a meaningless preseason contest from the Black Hole in Oakland where Romo's go-for-broke mentality not only won a game, but might very well have saved a franchise with it.

Read the full story in Chapter 13 of Decade of Futility by Ryan Bush.

For a hard-copy of Decade of Futility, click here:

For the Kindle version of Decade of Futility, click 

Decade of Futility by Ryan Bush - Now Available

My book about the Dallas Cowboys is now available as a hard-copy, and is available in Kindle version as well!  The book is called Decade of Futility: How The Leadership of Jerry Jones Transformed America's Team into a 21st Century Debacle, Resulting in The Worst Decade in Dallas Cowboys History.

Detailing the many pitfalls that befell the organization throughout the course of this millennium, Decade of Futility is a must have for anyone enthralled with the world's most captivating NFL franchise.  Rich in history and laced with timeless quotes, Decade of Futility is a true tale of defeat, providing readers with authoritative answers to why the Dallas Cowboys have fallen from football’s highest throne, and can’t pick themselves up.

Click Here for the Amazon Createspace Paperback Version.

Click Here for the Amazon Kindle Version

O.J. Santiago Trade Just Another Swing-and-Miss Moment At Tight End For Dallas Cowboys & Jerry Jones

O. J. Santiago

Tight ends had become a difficult position to get a handle on for the Dallas Cowboys in the wake of Jay Novacek’s retirement some three seasons before.  They became even more so when backup tight end Mike Lucky suffered a season-ending injury during the early portion of training camp 2000.

Lucky’s misfortune left management scrambling to fit two able bodies behind starter David LaFleur on the depth chart.  And after more than three weeks of searching and five tryouts, the Cowboys had managed to wrangle veteran Jackie Harris onto the team, but still needed more.  That’s when the Falcons phoned and shipped fourth-year player O.J. Santiago their way, allegedly solving all of the Cowboys’ problems.

Granted, it cost Dallas fourth and seventh round draft picks, but that was chump change for shoring up what had long been a weakness for the Dallas offense.  And remember, giving away draft selections had become somewhat of a fad around Valley Ranch in those days, the Cowboys only months removed from swapping two No. 1 choices with Seattle for speedy receiver Joey Galloway.

The Cowboys considered Santiago a dual threat on offense from the tight end position with a proficiency in both run-blocking – he helped Jamal Anderson lead the NFC in rushing two years before – and pass receiving, having hauled in a total of 42 passes over the previous two seasons.  New head coach Dave Campo envisioned pairing Santiago with LaFleur on early downs, and with Harris on passing downs, providing the Cowboys with a rare flexibility to threaten the middle of the field at any time. “I feel very comfortable he’ll be able to walk in and contribute immediately,” Campo said.

So it happened that a full week before the season was scheduled to begin, Santiago boarded a flight to Dallas, holding tight to a Cowboys playbook.  Rumor has it that his plane never landed.

Though active for the first eleven games, Santiago was released prior to Dallas’ Thanksgiving Day game versus Minnesota, having placed nary a scratch on a stat sheet.

27-0 Embarrassment Versus Super Bowl-bound Ravens Left Jerry Jones Little Room To Dodge Reality

There's not much to say!

Throughout the twenty-first century, a bitter war between reality and perception has been waged within the confines of Valley Ranch.  Though perception persists, reality has nevertheless prevailed, even sometimes in alarming fashion.

So in honor of today’s Super Bowl XLVII participant from the AFC, let’s take a peek back into history and remind everybody just how good the Baltimore Ravens were back in the year 2000…and how low the Dallas Cowboys of once mighty glory had descended.

The Ravens were a Super Bowl-bound team reliant on a powerful rushing attack led by rookie running back Jamal Lewis and a tenacious, hard-hitting defense.  The Cowboys, on the other hand, were a bad 4-6 squad that owner Jerry Jones envisioned on the way back up, a week removed from a gut-wrenching overtime defeat in Philadelphia with backup quarterback Randall Cunningham filling in for Troy Aikman.  Now, with Aikman slotted to be back in the starting lineup, Jones thought nothing could stop the Cowboys from muscling past an unproven Ravens squad in an unfamiliar environment in Maryland.

What transpired, however, on a cold Sunday afternoon before a Fox television audience was an omen of eventual triumph for the Ravens in Super Bowl XXXV against New York a few weeks later, and a harsh reminder that the Team of the ‘90s was nothing more than a tread mark on the highway of irrelevance.

Going left, right and anywhere he pleased, Lewis rushed for 187 yards on only 28 totes.  Of Lewis’ carries, 17 went for 7 yards or more, and seven rushing attempts totaled 10 yards or more.  Coupled with a Dallas offensive attack that never got off the team bus, it all added up to a 27-0 hope-shattering defeat that left Jones little place to hide.

“This is very embarrassing,” said Jones following the game.  “This is stunning.

“Overtime losses have you looking at turnovers, at mistakes. This is a clearer read on where we are.  The way Baltimore ran the ball on us almost at will this left no doubt today.”

The head coach tried to be diplomatic in defeat, but even he was rendered speechless.  ““They came out and blocked us,” Dave Campo said.  “Why?  We’ll have to look at the film and find out why.”

The “why” in it all can, in retrospect, be linked to the ultimate destiny of each respective franchise. 

Brian Billick, Art Modell and Ray Lewis stood tall celebrating a championship season for the ages in early February, while Jones and Co. licked their wounds at Valley Ranch trying to figure out how such a 5-11 squad could have fooled them into thinking that a Super Bowl was imminent.

Here we are twelve years later with Baltimore still playing and Dallas back at home, the victim of sabotaged expectations yet again.  One will be making another attempt at football immortality, while the other continues to grapple with a reality that fails to line up with in-house perception.

Some things never change.

The Day Jerry Jones Tossed Troy Aikman Aside

In Search For Head Coach, Jones’ Politics Reveals Just Whose Image Is No. 1 At Valley Ranch

Terry Donahue

Public criticism had dogged his and his Cowboys’ steps every inch of the way through a turbulent season that concluded in the smoke of a 6-10 train wreck.  A very self-aware Jerry Jones had just witnessed the official end to the Cowboys dynasty of the 1990’s as Dallas wobbled, teetered, and then finally crashed down the stretch of the 1997 campaign, missing out on the playoffs for the first time in seven years.

Now, Jones was out to do more than just replace the departed Barry Switzer as head coach.  He was out to protect the two sacred foundational pieces that make up the bottom-line in Big D’; his trophy case and, yes, himself. 

He desperately wanted to hire a head coach who called his own plays, if only to quell the crazy rumor going around that a meddlesome Jones spent the previous season in the suite of offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese suggesting plays.  Publicly, the status-quo linked the necessity for an offensive mind with the health of battered quarterback Troy Aikman.

That much was well known.  What was not known, however, was just how sensitive the owner’s public image had become.

After a few weeks of what was repeatedly referred to as an “intensive coaching search,” it appeared that Aikman’s old ball coach at UCLA, Terry Donahue, was all locked up for the job.  Uh, in fact he was.  A news conference announcing the hiring of the fourth head coach in franchise history had been scheduled.

But then Donahue read the small print on the contract.

The Cowboys had included a clause in Donahue’s contract, clearly stating that he would be fined $25,000 every time he said anything that might throw a poor light on the Cowboys, or in particular, Jerry Jones.

Donahue balked at it and walked away.

“We never thought the insubordination clause, and certainly the money ($500,000 annually), would be the thing that turned it one way or the other,” Jones said.  “He was offered the job…I did feel he’d come in as a coordinator on an entry-level basis [pay scale] into the NFL as opposed to coming in as a Super Bowl coach.”

But then Jones tried to smooth things over and suggest that Donahue wasn’t really the right man for the job, ignoring the fact that he was merely hours away from announcing the news to the entire world. “…We were not on the same page of how we were going to do things on offense,” Jones said.  “I was on the page whether he could do it or not, but when the issues on the contract came up, I talked with my son Stephen and we realized we were trying to put a larger foot in a small shoe here.  We’re trying to make something happen, and we’re not a team that needs years to make something happen.”

Donahue wasn’t willing to tow the company line every week during the season, especially on a team such as Dallas coming off a 6-10 season and with many bumps still in front of them.

Jones finally found his man in Chan Gailey, who reportedly signed the contract with the same clause in it that Donahue had issues with.

Chan Gailey

 And this doesn’t mean that Gailey, an up and coming assistant, was desperate for a head coaching job. Calling out his players or owner publicly simply wasn’t in Gailey’s nature.  Agreeing to those terms didn’t bother him in the least.

No Protection

 But rather than protecting Aikman’s backside, the hiring of Gailey proved to only shelter Jones.  The Cowboys now not only had a head coach doubling as an offensive coordinator, but a man able and ready to wield feather duster and furniture polish in honor of the Owner to each and every press conference.

All is Well!

 So, with Jones having alighted upon the perfect solution to safeguard his own domicile, the fact that his good buddy Aikman was to be saddled with an offensive scheme that he couldn’t appreciate had suddenly lost any significance.