Hostile
The Duke
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Yeah, no kidding.
I've been pondering the death of Jim Johnson of the Eagles a lot. Though I hate the Eagles I always truly respected him as a football coach. I think his blitz packages were among the absolute best I have ever seen. It is very rare for me to have that level of respect for a rival coach. No doubt about it, his Defenses owned us this decade. I tip my cap to you Coach Johnson. Rest in peace, sir.
Don't get me wrong, I respect almost all of the NFL coaches very much. Their jobs are nuts. But now and again, one coach or another rises above the rest in my level of respect.
Such it is with George Allen. I couldn't help but notice that his name is not in the thread among the 50 greatest coaches of all time. I am not saying he should be, because that is a great list, but for me there was something empty about that list because he was not there.
You see, no one, and I really mean no one, ever hated the Cowboys quite like George Allen. I respect that like you cannot even imagine.
George Allen made it vogue to get more amped up to play the Cowboys than any other team. He didn't just cajole his teams to beat the Cowboys he drove his teams. Even when they weren't playing Dallas he constantly talked about what it would take to beat them. Beating the Cowboys was more important to George Allen than winning a Super Bowl. That was the honest to Pete feeling around the NFL in the days of this rivalry.
Guys would come to the Commanders from another team (he was the originator of the get rid of all the Commanders Draft picks for aging veterans) and the first thing he taught them was to obsess about Dallas.
He came to the Commanders from the Rams and when he arrived he traded for some of his Rams players. The first thing they learned upon arriving in Washington, was how to hate the Cowboys. Deacon Jones was one of his Ramskins or Redrams. That was what they called the players who followed him from Los Angeles to DC. Hearing Deacon Jones talk about Allen's obsession with beating the Cowboys is pure entertainment. I wish I had a youtube clip of it.
In those days they called these aging veteran Commander teams, the Over-The-Hill Gang. They loved to parrot Allen's verbal tirades about the arrogance of the Cowboys and their fans. It spurred the hate and fanned the flames of the rivalry more than any other Coach in History.
No one could get inside Tom Landry's head like George Allen. Over the years people wondered if the two of them should just get in a knock down drag out fight. At times Landry was convinced that people at the Practices were spies for George Allen. He had people removed from the field. He imagined people hiding in trees and behind dark glass windows taking notes.
You look around at the thousands of fans watching practice today. That might have driven Landry nuts. If the Commanders were next on the schedule you can bet your shorts it would have.
You are probably asking yourself what this has to do with the Cowboys. I think a little bit of the spirit of George Allen creeped into the NFL in 2008. Once again it was en vogue to get amped up to play the arrogant ("we were 13-3," "the better team didn't win") Cowboys. Make no mistake about it either, the 2008 Cowboys were arrogant. They thought they could flip a switch at any time and be the best team in the NFL and no one could hang with them.
I don't know whether they couldn't find the switch or not, but I do know teams came out punching against us in 2008 like the old days under George Allen. The Cowboys got punched right in the mouth often. George Allen would have loved it.
Part of me does too.
I think pride is a tremendous motivator. This team has been systematically stripped of everything except their pride. Gone is the shroud of invincibility that pervaded the expectations of 2008. Gone is the belief in coaches here and productive players. In their places are questions of leadership, lame duck coaches, and can they live up to a stadium.
Part of me wonders what Jerry was smoking with the new stadium as motivation crap. Another part of me gets it. In 1971 the Cowboys christened the opening of Texas Stadium with their first Super Bowl. In 1971 they were a team coming back from being stripped of everything but their pride. The circumstances were different then, they lost the Super Bowl to a team they felt they were superior to because they kept turning over the ball and making stupid plays in crucial situations.
In 1971 the Cowboys came back with the lingering crown of "Next Year's Champs" firmly back on their heads after consecutive losses to Green Bay in earlier Championship games. They could not win the big one. They were "always the bridesmaid, never the bride."
No one bothered to tell that to the Doomsday Defense. They only rolled into Tulane Stadium in New Orleans pissed off at the world and they took it out on the Miami Dolphins. To get there they protected their own turf by winning all 5 of their games in the brand new Texas Stadium. In the playoffs they added a victory against a very powerful 49ers team. The new stadium became a a feared place for opposing teams to come to.
1971 was a huge year for the Cowboys. Helping the Cowboys create that pissed off attitude was the arrival in our Nation's Capital of a fireball football coach named George Allen. With him he brought the one ingredient the 1971 Cowboys really needed. He utterly despised them.
2009 will depend on a few things. One of them is how much this team is willing to fight for the pride they have left which has been so bruised. I can't help but think it would be easier to stand up to the punches in the mouth if there was a George Allen out there beating the drum.
I tip my hat to you Coach Allen. I didn't realize how much respect I actually had for you until pondering the death of Jim Johnson this week.
Here's hoping a little of the old George Allen hatred for the Cowboys pushes its way into this season and motivates this team the way the 1971 team was motivated.
I've been pondering the death of Jim Johnson of the Eagles a lot. Though I hate the Eagles I always truly respected him as a football coach. I think his blitz packages were among the absolute best I have ever seen. It is very rare for me to have that level of respect for a rival coach. No doubt about it, his Defenses owned us this decade. I tip my cap to you Coach Johnson. Rest in peace, sir.
Don't get me wrong, I respect almost all of the NFL coaches very much. Their jobs are nuts. But now and again, one coach or another rises above the rest in my level of respect.
Such it is with George Allen. I couldn't help but notice that his name is not in the thread among the 50 greatest coaches of all time. I am not saying he should be, because that is a great list, but for me there was something empty about that list because he was not there.
You see, no one, and I really mean no one, ever hated the Cowboys quite like George Allen. I respect that like you cannot even imagine.
George Allen made it vogue to get more amped up to play the Cowboys than any other team. He didn't just cajole his teams to beat the Cowboys he drove his teams. Even when they weren't playing Dallas he constantly talked about what it would take to beat them. Beating the Cowboys was more important to George Allen than winning a Super Bowl. That was the honest to Pete feeling around the NFL in the days of this rivalry.
Guys would come to the Commanders from another team (he was the originator of the get rid of all the Commanders Draft picks for aging veterans) and the first thing he taught them was to obsess about Dallas.
He came to the Commanders from the Rams and when he arrived he traded for some of his Rams players. The first thing they learned upon arriving in Washington, was how to hate the Cowboys. Deacon Jones was one of his Ramskins or Redrams. That was what they called the players who followed him from Los Angeles to DC. Hearing Deacon Jones talk about Allen's obsession with beating the Cowboys is pure entertainment. I wish I had a youtube clip of it.
In those days they called these aging veteran Commander teams, the Over-The-Hill Gang. They loved to parrot Allen's verbal tirades about the arrogance of the Cowboys and their fans. It spurred the hate and fanned the flames of the rivalry more than any other Coach in History.
No one could get inside Tom Landry's head like George Allen. Over the years people wondered if the two of them should just get in a knock down drag out fight. At times Landry was convinced that people at the Practices were spies for George Allen. He had people removed from the field. He imagined people hiding in trees and behind dark glass windows taking notes.
You look around at the thousands of fans watching practice today. That might have driven Landry nuts. If the Commanders were next on the schedule you can bet your shorts it would have.
You are probably asking yourself what this has to do with the Cowboys. I think a little bit of the spirit of George Allen creeped into the NFL in 2008. Once again it was en vogue to get amped up to play the arrogant ("we were 13-3," "the better team didn't win") Cowboys. Make no mistake about it either, the 2008 Cowboys were arrogant. They thought they could flip a switch at any time and be the best team in the NFL and no one could hang with them.
I don't know whether they couldn't find the switch or not, but I do know teams came out punching against us in 2008 like the old days under George Allen. The Cowboys got punched right in the mouth often. George Allen would have loved it.
Part of me does too.
I think pride is a tremendous motivator. This team has been systematically stripped of everything except their pride. Gone is the shroud of invincibility that pervaded the expectations of 2008. Gone is the belief in coaches here and productive players. In their places are questions of leadership, lame duck coaches, and can they live up to a stadium.
Part of me wonders what Jerry was smoking with the new stadium as motivation crap. Another part of me gets it. In 1971 the Cowboys christened the opening of Texas Stadium with their first Super Bowl. In 1971 they were a team coming back from being stripped of everything but their pride. The circumstances were different then, they lost the Super Bowl to a team they felt they were superior to because they kept turning over the ball and making stupid plays in crucial situations.
In 1971 the Cowboys came back with the lingering crown of "Next Year's Champs" firmly back on their heads after consecutive losses to Green Bay in earlier Championship games. They could not win the big one. They were "always the bridesmaid, never the bride."
No one bothered to tell that to the Doomsday Defense. They only rolled into Tulane Stadium in New Orleans pissed off at the world and they took it out on the Miami Dolphins. To get there they protected their own turf by winning all 5 of their games in the brand new Texas Stadium. In the playoffs they added a victory against a very powerful 49ers team. The new stadium became a a feared place for opposing teams to come to.
1971 was a huge year for the Cowboys. Helping the Cowboys create that pissed off attitude was the arrival in our Nation's Capital of a fireball football coach named George Allen. With him he brought the one ingredient the 1971 Cowboys really needed. He utterly despised them.
2009 will depend on a few things. One of them is how much this team is willing to fight for the pride they have left which has been so bruised. I can't help but think it would be easier to stand up to the punches in the mouth if there was a George Allen out there beating the drum.
I tip my hat to you Coach Allen. I didn't realize how much respect I actually had for you until pondering the death of Jim Johnson this week.
Here's hoping a little of the old George Allen hatred for the Cowboys pushes its way into this season and motivates this team the way the 1971 team was motivated.
