Gil Brandt on Matt Johnson

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

Gil Brandt is Cowboys royalty and should be treated as such - show a little respect for our tradition. He is the last living of the 3 that built this franchise and should be revered from what he accomplished.

He is basicallly the guy who invented modern day scouting.

Gil Brandt didn't invent modern day scouting any more than Paul Brown, George Allen or Bucko Kilroy did. Moving to a computer based model was actually Tex Schramm's idea (with the help of Salaam Querishi, a developer from IBM).

I didn't see any disrespect being displayed, other than to point out how poorly he drafted once the draft moved from the end of January to April. Brandt deserves a lot of credit for building the teams of the 60s and 70s, but his failings in the late 70s and 80s had a lot to do with the team bottoming out.

He is a vertitable encyclopedia of facts, personal information and statistics when it comes to players. When it comes to analysis of players strengths and weaknesses, he is not as strong as others.

Once again, this board never fails when it comes to a critique of anyone associated with the Cowboys. It's sad.

[speedkilz88]

Originally Posted by Plankton

Gil Brandt didn't invent modern day scouting any more than Paul Brown, George Allen or Bucko Kilroy did. Moving to a computer based model was actually Tex Schramm's idea (with the help of Salaam Querishi, a developer from IBM).

I didn't see any disrespect being displayed, other than to point out how poorly he drafted once the draft moved from the end of January to April. Brandt deserves a lot of credit for building the teams of the 60s and 70s, but his failings in the late 70s and 80s had a lot to do with the team bottoming out.

He is a vertitable encyclopedia of facts, personal information and statistics when it comes to players. When it comes to analysis of players strengths and weaknesses, he is not as strong as others.

Once again, this board never fails when it comes to a critique of anyone associated with the Cowboys. It's sad.

You're sadder.

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by speedkilz88

You're sadder.

And why is that, because you don't agree?

I invite you to refute my statement with regards to the Cowboy drafts between 1978 and 1988. Tell me how they even remotely resemble doing a good job at running drafts. Also, show me how someone would be in error for pointing to the movement of the draft from January to April starting in 1978 as being coincident with the Cowboy drafts turning poor.

Just stating facts, without the name calling. Can you do the same?

[speedkilz88]

Originally Posted by Plankton

And why is that, because you don't agree?

I invite you to refute my statement with regards to the Cowboy drafts between 1978 and 1988. Tell me how they even remotely resemble doing a good job at running drafts. Also, show me how someone would be in error for pointing to the movement of the draft from January to April starting in 1978 as being coincident with the Cowboy drafts turning poor.

Just stating facts, without the name calling. Can you do the same?

And the beat goes on.

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by speedkilz88

And the beat goes on.

Sure does. With you bringing nothing to the table in terms of facts to an argument.

[speedkilz88]

Originally Posted by Plankton

Sure does. With you bringing nothing to the table in terms of facts to an argument.

All you have is your opinion and it sucks then you complained about the board because it didn't agree with your sucky and disrespectful opinion on a legend. Talk about bringing nothing to the table.

[JakeCamp12]

Originally Posted by Plankton

You're absolutely right - it wasn't talent that led them to be 1-7 in the second half of 1986, 5-7 in non-scab games in 1987, and 3-13 in 1988. One draft in 11 years does not make up for the utter ineptitude shown by Brandt and company in the draft once the event moved from January to April.

Keep one other thing in mind - not one NFL team looked to hire him once he was fired by Dallas. What does that tell you?

Well in 1987 he drafted Kelvin Martin, Kevin Gogan and Ron Francis...so right now he drafted 5 starting players on the Cowboys dynasty teams as well as drafting Walker who we re-built the entire franchise on. Again, Gil has forgotten more about the NFL than any of us will ever know.

[Eskimo]

This is from his Wiki:

Career

Brandt served as the Cowboys' chief talent scout since the club's birth in 1960. He had served as a part-time scout for the Los Angeles Rams under General Manager Tex Schramm in the 1950s. When Schramm took command of the newly formed Dallas franchise in 1960, Brandt was one of the first people he hired. Schramm, Brandt and Coach Tom Landry formed the triumverate which guided the Cowboys for their first 29 years.

Brandt helped pioneer many of the scouting techniques used by NFL clubs today, such as computer analysis of prospects (especially those from small colleges), converting basketball players and track athletes into football players and finding top free agent rookies, such as Drew Pearson, Cliff Harris, and Everson Walls. Brandt was also one of the first NFL talent scouts to look outside the United States for potential players. For example, he looked to Latin American soccer leagues for kickers.



I think one of the things Brandt brought to scouting was science like measuring different athletic attributes and I think he was one of the founders of the 40 yard dash.

Others who are older than me and know the history better than me might be able to shed more light on this but he was a visionary. He was one of the main brains that allowed the Cowboys acquire the talent to pull of 20 straight winning seasons. In that whole time they only had one franchise QB and they only got him after 5 years in the armed forces and the rust that it entailed.

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by Eskimo

This is from his Wiki:

Career

Brandt served as the Cowboys' chief talent scout since the club's birth in 1960. He had served as a part-time scout for the Los Angeles Rams under General Manager Tex Schramm in the 1950s. When Schramm took command of the newly formed Dallas franchise in 1960, Brandt was one of the first people he hired. Schramm, Brandt and Coach Tom Landry formed the triumverate which guided the Cowboys for their first 29 years.

Brandt helped pioneer many of the scouting techniques used by NFL clubs today, such as computer analysis of prospects (especially those from small colleges), converting basketball players and track athletes into football players and finding top free agent rookies, such as Drew Pearson, Cliff Harris, and Everson Walls. Brandt was also one of the first NFL talent scouts to look outside the United States for potential players. For example, he looked to Latin American soccer leagues for kickers.
[View Full Quote]


I think one of the things Brandt brought to scouting was science like measuring different athletic attributes and I think he was one of the founders of the 40 yard dash.

Others who are older than me and know the history better than me might be able to shed more light on this but he was a visionary. He was one of the main brains that allowed the Cowboys acquire the talent to pull of 20 straight winning seasons. In that whole time they only had one franchise QB and they only got him after 5 years in the armed forces and the rust that it entailed.

Brandt did not invent the 40 yard dash as a measurement for scouting - that was Paul Brown. Schramm was the one who pushed for computerizing the data used by the Cowboys. Brandt's strengths were the information network that he had, especially with the smaller schools. He also demonstrated a true skill in the fishnet approach, with inviting many undrafted rookies, sometimes over 100, to camp. He truly understood odds, and how to make them work personnel wise.

When the draft moved, it allowed other teams to scout more effectively (as they now had more time), and he never adjusted to the fact that other teams were now better prepared. The same advantages that led to the Dirty Dozen dried up when the draft moved later in the year (it's really striking when you analyze the results). Brandt was a remarkable organizer who was blessed with a photographic memory, but his last years in Dallas were not a testament to an all time great. It was a testament to someone who lost his Midas touch completely.

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by speedkilz88

All you have is your opinion and it sucks then you complained about the board because it didn't agree with your sucky and disrespectful opinion on a legend. Talk about bringing nothing to the table.

Seriously, of all the time I have read this board, I have yet to read an insightful post from you. And, you have nothing to refute what I posted except name calling.

It's expected behavior.

[BraveHeartFan]

And you're clearly the standard to which other posters should strive to be, right? Telling the rest of the board it's sad because they don't agree with your opinion.


I think you made some excellent points. But the focus is lost on that because you decided to go the way of complaining about others for not agreeing with you.

[Plankton]

Originally Posted by BraveHeartFan

And you're clearly the standard to which other posters should strive to be, right? Telling the rest of the board it's sad because they don't agree with your opinion.


I think you made some excellent points. But the focus is lost on that because you decided to go the way of complaining about others for not agreeing with you.

I have no issue with people disagreeing with me. None at all. The bigger issue I have is when people resort to name calling and disagreement for reasons related only to not speaking in glowing tones about a Cowboy or Cowboy related personnel.

Your response was certainly civil, and I see your point.

[Zardo76]

Gill is on sirius nfl radio

[honyock]

Originally Posted by Sitting Bull

Anyone questioning Gil Brandt as a top authority on draft prospects should listen to his radio show on satellite. They take tons of calls from listeners and gets put on the spot with no real prep time. He's very plugged-in, but its most amazing to hear him rattle off detailed, personal backstory about no-name college prospects from all over the country. He's a national treasure of the NFL and its fans.

He's a pleasure to listen to on satellite. The guy must have a near-photographic memory, and he it's amazing the amount of information he can call up about even late round prospects.

Nice to hear he was aware of and positive about Johnson.

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by Plankton

Once again, this board never fails when it comes to a critique of anyone associated with the Cowboys. It's sad.

I have more respect for your knowledge than anyone on this forum. I have told multiple people that I consider you to be the smartest fan on this forum as it pertains to the History of this team. That includes me, and I am no slouch on our History.

But I have to tell you the sad thing is this sentence and your attitude. Pointing fingers of blame at the forum cheapens your message. I realize it is done merely because you call another forum home and we are an interloper, but that also cheapens your message because it means what you said was out of spite, not knowledge.

I doubt you care since this is coming from me, but I'm saying it anyway. You do with the information whatever you wish, but I personally hope you learn from it because the backlash you got was well deserved.

Oh, and if you can find me any talent evaluator who can equal Gil Brandt's long term success I am all ears. If you can find me one who never missed on picks I am all ears.