A column I wrote back in April

[parchy]

Was anybody else worrying about this like I was?

There are few things I savor from Bill Parcells' four-year stint as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.



His two playoff appearances in four years, both of which ended in disappointing first-round exits, didn't line up with the historic legacies of the coach or the franchise.



And a 34-30 four-year record certainly isn't going to help him nudge his way into the annals of Cowboys history. He simply didn't leave a lasting legacy in Dallas worthy of exalted reverence like coaches gone by. He was simply good. And in the end, good isn't enough in Dallas.



But one area in which Parcells excelled -- and the area in which I miss him most -- was his exceptional eye for the talent without attitude. He might have been a relic, an old pro whose antiquated schemes had long been trampled underfoot by the shiny new NFL machine.



But man, the guy had an eye for talent, and it was the kind of talent that didn't talk back, the kind of talent that can make a mark without leaving a black eye in its wake.



So it's with this skeptical and discerning lens -- the one thing I'm happy to say Parcells did leave behind -- that I approach the Cowboys' recent signing history.



And it worries me.



Of note, of course, is the Cowboys' recent public courtship of mercurial Tennessee Titans cornerback Pacman Jones.



For those unfamiliar with Jones' antics, he's been arrested twice since 2005 and allegedly touched off a night club shooting at the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. And he even had the gall to recently state on a radio broadcast that he still "peeks his head" into strip clubs from time to time.



No wonder the Titans are desperately trying to unload him.



Jones, however, isn't the only blight on the Cowboys' post-Parcells hiring history. Just last season, the Cowboys took a flier on defensive tackle Tank Johnson, who was arrested three times in the span of little over a year among numerous other nefarious convictions that led to his release from the Chicago Bears. And the Cowboys front office deigned it necessary to throw that Molotov cocktail into a reasonably stable and happy Cowboys locker room.



And don't forget Terrell Owens. Sure, the controversial Owens was brought in on Parcells' watch, but does anybody honestly believe that Parcells was the principal driver in that acquisition? I'm not convinced.



Don't misunderstand me here. I'm fully aware that the NFL is not a church bake sale. It's a business, and the Cowboys are a moneymaking machine. And yet Parcells was able to build a strong foundation with high-character guys like Jason Witten, Tony Romo, Terence Newman, Bradie James and DeMarcus Ware. The list goes on.



Never hear a peep out of those guys, and they were the foundation for a 13-4 team last year. Controversial players are pretty much a 50/50 bargain. Sure, you're paying on the cheap for castoffs and degenerates that other teams carelessly disregarded, but what is that doing to the fabric of the team?



I'd like to cite the Cowboys of the 1990's as much as anybody for proof that bad boys can rule the NFL. But that was a different time, an era before the salary cap and before the NFL overtook Major League Baseball as America's new pastime. The egos are simply more fragile now.



Jones and Johnson themselves won't distract the Cowboys from a title chase. But if you keep cramming these low-character guys onto the pile as band-aids instead of full-on fixes, a symbiotic Cowboys locker room will be a thing of the past.



Even if he didn't bring the Cowboys much else, at least Parcells brought them that.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

I wasn't worried then, I was distracted by the nice, glittery shine

worried as hell now, esp. with the master enabler running things

 

[the kid 05]

was jason drafted the year parcells got here or year before?

 

[parchy]

was jason drafted the year parcells got here or year before?

Parcells arrived in January 03 and Witten was drafted in April later that year.

 

[dmq]

Pretty easy to see that Jerry bringing in TO probably made Parcells leave a year or two earlier than he probably would have.

 

[tyke1doe]

Pretty easy to see that Jerry bringing in TO probably made Parcells leave a year or two earlier than he probably would have.

Agreed.

It was funny to read all the enablers shouting that Parcells approved of the T.O. signing and that T.O. would be here if not for Big Bill.

Jerry was hell-bent to sign T.O. Not even the Tuna could have changed that.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

Well in that case it only makes him that much more of a quitter, in my opinion, if having a single player on the team, that he didn't want, made him take his ball and go home.

Now that's not to tarnish anything he's done in his career, or to say he wasn't very positive for the Cowboys in getting us turned around, but if not getting your way, one time, causes you that much of a childish reaction that you quit, and go home, over it then that's pretty pathetic.

As bad as TO was, before getting here, and as much of a headache as he can be, there is no way that dealing with him, even if I hadn't really wanted to, would be enough to in anyway factor into my decision of rather or not to leave my head coaching position with the Cowboys.


I really, really, hope that TO being here wasn't a factor in his decision because that just makes his leaving even more pathetic than his 'burnout' reason that he'd already used before.

 

[THUMPER]

Agreed.

It was funny to read all the enablers shouting that Parcells approved of the T.O. signing and that T.O. would be here if not for Big Bill.

Jerry was hell-bent to sign T.O. Not even the Tuna could have changed that.

You mean Bill refused to call Owens by name because he really didn't want him here? Imagine that.

Jerry will do what Jerry wants to do regardless of how it effects others. :bang2:

 

[theogt]

Pretty easy to see that Jerry bringing in TO probably made Parcells leave a year or two earlier than he probably would have.

I don't think it had any impact whatsoever. I think he was old and tired and the Romo fumbled snap was all he could handle. He no longer wanted to put in the effort, regardless of when or where he was.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

It was funny to read all the enablers shouting that Parcells approved of the T.O. signing and that T.O. would be here if not for Big Bill.

Well, it's true. Jerry said he checked and double-checked with Parcells to make sure he was okay with it before he pulled the trigger.

 

[theogt]

Well, it's true. Jerry said he checked and double-checked with Parcells to make sure he was okay with it before he pulled the trigger.

Even Parcells himself stated that he approved of the decision.

I'm sure he regretted it later, because his ego couldn't take it, though.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Even Parcells himself stated that he approved of the decision.

I'm sure he regretted it later, because his ego couldn't take it, though.

because Jerry probably let TO do whatever the hell he wanted to