burnet44
01-28-2007, 11:36 AM
It's hard to see a silver-and-blue lining right now
01:48 AM CST on Sunday, January 28, 2007
Five Lombardi Trophies and eight Super Bowl appearances and 28 trips to the playoffs have generally made it easy to be a Cowboys fan. But has it ever been any harder than right now?
I think the winter of 2007 ranks in the top three of the "Tough To Be A Cowboys Fan" list. And it may rank right at the top.
Your team has no coach and no direction, and you are counting on Jerry Jones to set the course. And that's only the beginning of the crisis.
But before going on, let's examine two other Januarys when it seemed oh-so-bleak in the world of the Cowboys.
January 1970
Your heroes had made four straight trips to the playoffs and had nothing to show for it. Two NFL championship losses to Green Bay weren't so bad. One game would become legendary.
But when the NFL broke into four divisions to create an additional round of playoffs, the Cowboys lost in consecutive seasons to the Cleveland Browns. The first loss in Cleveland sent Don Meredith into early retirement.
The second was even more devastating, a 38-14 whipping in the Cotton Bowl that cast doubt over new quarterback Craig Morton and the direction of the entire team. Author Steve Perkins had classified the Cowboys as "Next Year's Champions," and it appeared this team might never get over the hump.
Would they ever win a playoff game?
Actually, the team was about to turn the corner and make its first two trips to the Super Bowl.
But it hardly looked that way at the time.
January 1990
Jones and Jimmy Johnson had hijacked your team and guided it to a sparkling 1-15 record in 1989. To make matters worse, they already had squandered the No. 1 pick in exchange for backup quarterback Steve Walsh.
Although the New Orleans Saints would ease the pain of that misstep by trading for Walsh, I think Junior Seau might have looked good in a Cowboys uniform for the last 15 years or so.
In 1990, there was no sense that the Cowboys knew what they were doing. At the Senior Bowl that winter, one scout told me, "Jimmy and Jerry act like they just went 15-1, not 1-15."
We had no sense at the time that there was any foundation for their cockiness. But the drafting of Emmitt Smith would change their fortunes in a hurry.
That brings us to today. The Cowboys aren't a laughing stock as they were in 1990, but their state of affairs puzzles people across the league.
The Bill Parcells era turned out to be fruitless. He upgraded the roster but was unable to deliver a single wild-card playoff win. All the optimism generated by that 10-6 beginning has been lost.
The quarterback is a work in progress. Tony Romo has plenty of potential, but it's left to unproven coordinator Jason Garrett to tap into it.
Jones is back, fully in charge, and don't expect that to change anytime soon. He's doing things his way, which means hiring a coordinator before the head coach. I don't know, you tell me how that works.
Your self-appointed team spokesman is one Terrell Owens. And when he rips Parcells after the coach's exit, Romo is left in the uncomfortable position of having to defend the receiver who remains his teammate.
The offense was mostly very good in 2006, and those coaches are heading out the door.
The defense was a disaster as the Cowboys' season fell apart, and most of those coaches remain in place.
The switch to the 3-4 has not met with success, but having drafted players to fit that style, it seems there is no turning back in the near future.
The franchise's state is such that hiring Norv Turner, a twice failed head coach, sounds like a good idea.
Anything that conjures memories of 1992 sits well with Cowboys fans. That's what 10 years without a playoff win and the realization that even a proven "football guy" can't necessarily save the franchise will do.
01:48 AM CST on Sunday, January 28, 2007
Five Lombardi Trophies and eight Super Bowl appearances and 28 trips to the playoffs have generally made it easy to be a Cowboys fan. But has it ever been any harder than right now?
I think the winter of 2007 ranks in the top three of the "Tough To Be A Cowboys Fan" list. And it may rank right at the top.
Your team has no coach and no direction, and you are counting on Jerry Jones to set the course. And that's only the beginning of the crisis.
But before going on, let's examine two other Januarys when it seemed oh-so-bleak in the world of the Cowboys.
January 1970
Your heroes had made four straight trips to the playoffs and had nothing to show for it. Two NFL championship losses to Green Bay weren't so bad. One game would become legendary.
But when the NFL broke into four divisions to create an additional round of playoffs, the Cowboys lost in consecutive seasons to the Cleveland Browns. The first loss in Cleveland sent Don Meredith into early retirement.
The second was even more devastating, a 38-14 whipping in the Cotton Bowl that cast doubt over new quarterback Craig Morton and the direction of the entire team. Author Steve Perkins had classified the Cowboys as "Next Year's Champions," and it appeared this team might never get over the hump.
Would they ever win a playoff game?
Actually, the team was about to turn the corner and make its first two trips to the Super Bowl.
But it hardly looked that way at the time.
January 1990
Jones and Jimmy Johnson had hijacked your team and guided it to a sparkling 1-15 record in 1989. To make matters worse, they already had squandered the No. 1 pick in exchange for backup quarterback Steve Walsh.
Although the New Orleans Saints would ease the pain of that misstep by trading for Walsh, I think Junior Seau might have looked good in a Cowboys uniform for the last 15 years or so.
In 1990, there was no sense that the Cowboys knew what they were doing. At the Senior Bowl that winter, one scout told me, "Jimmy and Jerry act like they just went 15-1, not 1-15."
We had no sense at the time that there was any foundation for their cockiness. But the drafting of Emmitt Smith would change their fortunes in a hurry.
That brings us to today. The Cowboys aren't a laughing stock as they were in 1990, but their state of affairs puzzles people across the league.
The Bill Parcells era turned out to be fruitless. He upgraded the roster but was unable to deliver a single wild-card playoff win. All the optimism generated by that 10-6 beginning has been lost.
The quarterback is a work in progress. Tony Romo has plenty of potential, but it's left to unproven coordinator Jason Garrett to tap into it.
Jones is back, fully in charge, and don't expect that to change anytime soon. He's doing things his way, which means hiring a coordinator before the head coach. I don't know, you tell me how that works.
Your self-appointed team spokesman is one Terrell Owens. And when he rips Parcells after the coach's exit, Romo is left in the uncomfortable position of having to defend the receiver who remains his teammate.
The offense was mostly very good in 2006, and those coaches are heading out the door.
The defense was a disaster as the Cowboys' season fell apart, and most of those coaches remain in place.
The switch to the 3-4 has not met with success, but having drafted players to fit that style, it seems there is no turning back in the near future.
The franchise's state is such that hiring Norv Turner, a twice failed head coach, sounds like a good idea.
Anything that conjures memories of 1992 sits well with Cowboys fans. That's what 10 years without a playoff win and the realization that even a proven "football guy" can't necessarily save the franchise will do.