ESPN: Cowboys' complaint merits memo

[Juke99]

Cowboys' complaint merits memo
Chris Mortensen
ESPN

Archive In a league memo that some team executives, players and coaches believe is directly tied to Monday night's Cowboys-Redskins controversy surrounding errant snaps from Dallas rookie Phil Costa to quarterback Tony Romo, the NFL informed its clubs that as of this weekend centers no longer are required to wear a microphone for the purpose of television broadcasts.


"Clubs will have the option of having the microphone placed in the pads of the starting center OR in the pads of both starting guards," the memo reads. "If the club chooses the option of wiring both starting guards, the microphone will be opened on the pads of only one of the guards at any time ..."

The memo does not specify the reasons for a change in protocol, but players, coaches and executives who have spoken with ESPN on the condition of anonymity say they believe it is the result of persistently expressed concerns about the practice of teams using technology to detect opponents' verbal audibles, snap cadences and in-line adjustments. On Monday night, Costa claimed the opposing Redskins were shouting out simulated snap counts similar to Romo's normal cadence, which resulted in errant snaps from center.

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/7038987/nfl-memo-offers-microphone-options-end-mimicking

[Hostile]

The amazing thing to me is, some people, including our own fans, still doubt this was happening.

Kudos again to the team for not hiding behind it and saying they will make adjustments so it can't happen again. Professionalism. Across the board.

[MichaelWinicki]

The amazing thing to me is, some people, including our own fans, still doubt this was happening.



I think it was agenda driven. They don't like Costa so they'll take whatever position they need to take in order to make Costa look worse.

[burmafrd]

more a case of wondering why Costa could not figure it out; why the team could not apparently figure out what was going on and do something about it.

You do remember all the talk about wondering what was going on; Romo chewing Costa out, etc?

Why the hall of fame OL coach could not figure it out.

Why the so called smart HC could not figure it out.


Why nothing was done though it went on the whole game.


While it was clear Costa was screwing up, it is also clear that NO ONE ELSE did a thing about it.

Total team failure top to bottom

[SilverStarCowboy]

I think it was agenda driven. They don't like Costa so they'll take whatever position they need to take in order to make Costa look worse.


It's amazing to see some fans complain about the OLine, if those are really fans the best guess is that they actually believed and bought into the hype of the Leonard BIGGs, Gurodes, Columbos and Hollands of the past.

Probably argued that we had a Pro Bowl OLine for years, disagreeing with those that watch the game and know football is won and lost in the trenches.


So it seems some are begrudgingly standing their ground on a sinking ship with nothing to save them except a bucket with a hole in it but they keep trying... bless their little hearts.

[Hostile]

more a case of wondering why Costa could not figure it out; why the team could not apparently figure out what was going on and do something about it.

You do remember all the talk about wondering what was going on; Romo chewing Costa out, etc?

Why the hall of fame OL coach could not figure it out.

Why the so called smart HC could not figure it out.


Why nothing was done though it went on the whole game.


While it was clear Costa was screwing up, it is also clear that NO ONE ELSE did a thing about it.

Total team failure top to bottomYou should be an offensive line coach. You spout off about it like you know more than anyone I have ever seen. I bet the OL would be a sieve with you calling the shots.

[Cajuncowboy]

I was all over Costa during the game. I couldn't understand why he wasn't getting yanked. It seemed really odd that a guy who was making that kind of mistake, that often wouldn't have been pulled.

Then after the game I heard about cadence-gate. I have to think that the Oline coach knows a tad more than I do about what is going on. And the fact that he is starting this week tells me that it wasn't all on Costa.

Add to that the fact that I never understood the fans at our home games seem to make noise at all the wrong times, I gave him somewhat of a pass.

On that subject, I remember being at a Cowboys Giants game at Texas stadium and we had a first and goal on the giants 2 yard line. My seat was in the lower bowl of the EZ right behind the goal posts. I remember how loud it was when Romo was trying to call the cadence and I thought WTH is wrong with these fans.

So we have an educational issue with our home fans. But it's been like that for a long time.

[burmafrd]

You should be an offensive line coach. You spout off about it like you know more than anyone I have ever seen. I bet the OL would be a sieve with you calling the shots.

poor widdle hos

I committed the sin of doubting your messiah


your sacred cow have a sensitive udder?

[Hostile]

poor widdle hos

I committed the sin of doubting your messiah


your sacred cow have a sensitive udder?How would I know? I don't milk her the maid does.

[RoyTheHammer]

The amazing thing to me is, some people, including our own fans, still doubt this was happening.

Kudos again to the team for not hiding behind it and saying they will make adjustments so it can't happen again. Professionalism. Across the board.

The feeling i get from most of the posters here is no one is quite sure if it was going on or not, but whether it was or wasn't isn't the biggest issue. The biggest issue is why no adjustments were made by the coaching staff after the first couple times it happened. That needs to be fixed and we should be able to make those adjustments on the fly on gameday. That problem could have cost us the game.

[Hostile]

The feeling i get from most of the posters here is no one is quite sure if it was going on or not, but whether it was or wasn't isn't the biggest issue. The biggest issue is why no adjustments were made by the coaching staff after the first couple times it happened. That needs to be fixed and we should be able to make those adjustments on the fly on gameday. That problem could have cost us the game.How can you get that feeling when people openly accused Costa, Romo, and Garrett of lying and trying to cover up an inability to train themselves properly? That is just a bit beyond fantastic for me.

[RoyTheHammer]

How can you get that feeling when people openly accused Costa, Romo, and Garrett of lying and trying to cover up an inability to train themselves properly? That is just a bit beyond fantastic for me.

The majority of posters didn't accuse Costa and Garrett of lying about it. However, i do feel that the lack of an adjustment being made the entire game was a problem by the coaching staff. I put very little blame on Costa in this to be honest.