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NFL: COWBOYS: Henson Not On Fire; Jones On Tagliabue
Mickey Spagnola - Email
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 20, 2006 6:42 PM
IRVING, Texas - Even though his NFL Europe Rhein team jumped off to a good start, defeating the Frankurt Galaxy,10-6, in the season opener Saturday night, Cowboys quarterback Drew Henson didn't exactly start off the spring season like a ball of fire.
Henson, starting and finishing his first football game of any kind since the 2000 season at Michigan, drove his Rhein Fire to just one score in seven possessions on a muddy LTU Arena field in Dusseldorf, Germany, and at that, an inauspicious drive. In fact, it was a one-play drive, Henson handing off to wide receiver Chris Samp, who pulled up on an end-around to throw a 45-yard pass to Juan Wong on Rhein's first offensive play of the game for what turned out to be the only touchdown of the evening.
"That was a great way to start the season," Henson said. "We had the defense on their heels and the situation was good to run the play, so we executed it. It never looked that good in practice, but it worked when it counted."
Henson completed just five of 11 attempts for 58 yards and suffered one sack. He did not throw an interception. Backup Timmy Chang played the second quarter, hitting on six of 13 attempts for just 59 yards.
During Henson's seven possessions, he had a hand in leading the Fire into scoring position three times, but Ola Kimrin missed a 36-yard field goal and had a 50-yarder smothered almost before he even got the ball off the ground.
That might have been Henson's best possession of the game, completing two of four passes for 30 yards, including his game-long of 21 yards on a nice pass up the middle to highlight the 44-yard drive.
His final full possession of the game ended at the Frankfurt 18-yard line when his fourth-and-1 pass to the tight end fell incomplete. Henson's final possession required him to simply kneel down to run out the clock.
Henson would seem to have a very limited receiving corps, since Rhein's top receivers in the game were Wong, a college player from Mexico who had spent time on the Dallas Desperados' practice squad, and Zuriel Smith, a Cowboys sixth-round pick who was never anything more than a kick returner.
The Fire next plays at Berlin on March 25, and the game is scheduled to air on the NFL Network at 7 p.m.
The Cowboys other two players allocated to NFL Europe also played in the game, receiver Tom Crowder catching one pass for five yards for Frankfurt while cornerback Lenny Williams had three tackles for the Galaxy.
Jones Praises Retiring Commish
The only NFL commissioner Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has really known, Paul Tagliabue, has decided to step down from his post after 16 years.
Tagliabue, 65, will retire in July and remain a consultant to the NFL for the next two years.
"Paul's legacy of leadership to the National Football League will be that he presided over - and helped further the development of - the most dramatic period of growth and popularity that any one professional sports league has enjoyed," Jones said in a statement. "Under his leadership I was always encouraged by one of his personal philosophies that he shared with the ownership on several occasions:
"'If it isn't broke,' Paul would say, 'let's fix it anyway.' That played well with me. It inspired me to think outside the box."
Taliabue took over for the retiring Pete Rozelle in 1989, the same year Jones bought the Cowboys. And even though Jones butted heads with Tagliabue on several occasions, especially when it came to marketing deals the Cowboys owner was knocking out independently of the NFL, the two seemed to work well together.
Jones was a big player in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations two weeks ago in Dallas, helping Tagliabue to secure labor peace throughout his 16-year tenure after the strikes to hit the NFL in 1982 and then again in 1987. Tagliabue also has a hefty television contract in place.
"We didn't always agree, but he encouraged the airing of different opinions and philosophies amongst the entire ownership," Jones said. "From a personal perspective, I know he brought out the best in me in what I could do to serve the NFL and the fans of this league. That's leadership."
Mickey Spagnola - Email
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 20, 2006 6:42 PM
IRVING, Texas - Even though his NFL Europe Rhein team jumped off to a good start, defeating the Frankurt Galaxy,10-6, in the season opener Saturday night, Cowboys quarterback Drew Henson didn't exactly start off the spring season like a ball of fire.
Henson, starting and finishing his first football game of any kind since the 2000 season at Michigan, drove his Rhein Fire to just one score in seven possessions on a muddy LTU Arena field in Dusseldorf, Germany, and at that, an inauspicious drive. In fact, it was a one-play drive, Henson handing off to wide receiver Chris Samp, who pulled up on an end-around to throw a 45-yard pass to Juan Wong on Rhein's first offensive play of the game for what turned out to be the only touchdown of the evening.
"That was a great way to start the season," Henson said. "We had the defense on their heels and the situation was good to run the play, so we executed it. It never looked that good in practice, but it worked when it counted."
Henson completed just five of 11 attempts for 58 yards and suffered one sack. He did not throw an interception. Backup Timmy Chang played the second quarter, hitting on six of 13 attempts for just 59 yards.
During Henson's seven possessions, he had a hand in leading the Fire into scoring position three times, but Ola Kimrin missed a 36-yard field goal and had a 50-yarder smothered almost before he even got the ball off the ground.
That might have been Henson's best possession of the game, completing two of four passes for 30 yards, including his game-long of 21 yards on a nice pass up the middle to highlight the 44-yard drive.
His final full possession of the game ended at the Frankfurt 18-yard line when his fourth-and-1 pass to the tight end fell incomplete. Henson's final possession required him to simply kneel down to run out the clock.
Henson would seem to have a very limited receiving corps, since Rhein's top receivers in the game were Wong, a college player from Mexico who had spent time on the Dallas Desperados' practice squad, and Zuriel Smith, a Cowboys sixth-round pick who was never anything more than a kick returner.
The Fire next plays at Berlin on March 25, and the game is scheduled to air on the NFL Network at 7 p.m.
The Cowboys other two players allocated to NFL Europe also played in the game, receiver Tom Crowder catching one pass for five yards for Frankfurt while cornerback Lenny Williams had three tackles for the Galaxy.
Jones Praises Retiring Commish
The only NFL commissioner Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has really known, Paul Tagliabue, has decided to step down from his post after 16 years.
Tagliabue, 65, will retire in July and remain a consultant to the NFL for the next two years.
"Paul's legacy of leadership to the National Football League will be that he presided over - and helped further the development of - the most dramatic period of growth and popularity that any one professional sports league has enjoyed," Jones said in a statement. "Under his leadership I was always encouraged by one of his personal philosophies that he shared with the ownership on several occasions:
"'If it isn't broke,' Paul would say, 'let's fix it anyway.' That played well with me. It inspired me to think outside the box."
Taliabue took over for the retiring Pete Rozelle in 1989, the same year Jones bought the Cowboys. And even though Jones butted heads with Tagliabue on several occasions, especially when it came to marketing deals the Cowboys owner was knocking out independently of the NFL, the two seemed to work well together.
Jones was a big player in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations two weeks ago in Dallas, helping Tagliabue to secure labor peace throughout his 16-year tenure after the strikes to hit the NFL in 1982 and then again in 1987. Tagliabue also has a hefty television contract in place.
"We didn't always agree, but he encouraged the airing of different opinions and philosophies amongst the entire ownership," Jones said. "From a personal perspective, I know he brought out the best in me in what I could do to serve the NFL and the fans of this league. That's leadership."
