erod
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 38,705
- Reaction score
- 60,327
Confession.
I've said some pretty dadgum ugly things on this board, and others, about Jerry Jones. Just like many of you, I know, but I'd bet few have been as specifically harsh as me. Biting digs, personal shots, fueled by disgust and anger and hopelessness. Damn near over the line a few times, I admit. Certainly beyond a point my mama would be OK with, for sure.
And so on a morning like this, I owe him the courtesy of an attaboy, and with the same intensity.
There I sat, feeling like my 40 years of fandom were hanging in the balance. Jerry found himself on the Mount of Temptation, with the football antichrist dangling the shiniest lure in the kingdom right in front of his nose. #2 jerseys could not have been printed fast enough. The lights would have been brighter than ever.
But Jerry spurred that deal with the devil and kept his faith in Will McClay. Manziel is another player for another team in another predicament altogether. Not here, where line-of-scrimmage sins are diminishing, but still remain, after years of drafting blasphemy.
Lo, our ugliest roster transgression of two years ago has been converted into the strength of this team. A decent running team from a year ago can be even better. Our battered and abused QB can now stand in with more confidence, and perhaps be required to throw less. The best defenses will not dictate to Dallas anymore.
Smith-Leary-Frederick-Martin-Free. Youth, strength, size, smarts, ability. It worked in the 90s to perfection, and I can't wait to see if this group can resurrect that bruising style yet again. Nothing is worse than offense with no offensive line, as we can all rightly attest.
This was important for Romo, as well as our next QB. Murray probably can't wipe the smile off his face, and Randle, Dunbar, and backs not yet here will have better careers for it. Dez will be better, as will all the receivers.
Even the defense will benefit greatly. Third-down conversions rest weary defensive legs.
Football-wise, the pundit criticisms are way off. Dallas HAS added six, possibly seven, defensive linemen to the team already, PLUS they'll add more tonight. Melton, Mincey, McClain, Spencer, Crawford, Bass, maybe Brent, plus tonight's newbies. None of them played here last year.
A lot of folks are enraged that Manziel wasn't picked. Good, and I wish to heck they'd leave our fan base altogether because they account for that embarrassing know-nothing band of Cowboy fans we have to tolerate. They make the rest of us look bad. We'll have another QB in a 3-4 years no matter what, and I wouldn't be surprised if Manziel is out of the league altogether by then. He might be good, but I just don't see it. I see a pizza delivery boy who's going to get crushed at this level. Certainly not worth the risk here, although Cleveland makes sense.
And adding him here would have caused unmitigated chaos - including a city-wide QB controversy the first pick Romo threw - and wouldn't have addressed a single roster need on this team. The national media would have dogpiled Jerry and Manziel mercilessly just for fun, even moreso than they do Romo, who actually is top tier. Manziel will be treated with kid gloves in Cleveland, but not here he wouldn't.
Apparently, Will McClay agrees, and God bless that man. I don't know how he cracked the code with Jerry, but he's earned his confidence and the right to counsel. Addictions die hard, and I suspect Jerry didn't sleep well last night, tossing and twitching without that Manziel fix he had in his hand.
It feels so cleansing to know that there actually is a plan, and they followed it. No doubt they wanted Donald or Barr, but it fell the way it did, and they stayed true. It will pay dividends long from now.
So I applaud Jerry, the football man. I respect the will power that took. I genuinely do. He's being praised nationally, and deservedly so.
Jerry is my GM today. Well done.
I've said some pretty dadgum ugly things on this board, and others, about Jerry Jones. Just like many of you, I know, but I'd bet few have been as specifically harsh as me. Biting digs, personal shots, fueled by disgust and anger and hopelessness. Damn near over the line a few times, I admit. Certainly beyond a point my mama would be OK with, for sure.
And so on a morning like this, I owe him the courtesy of an attaboy, and with the same intensity.
There I sat, feeling like my 40 years of fandom were hanging in the balance. Jerry found himself on the Mount of Temptation, with the football antichrist dangling the shiniest lure in the kingdom right in front of his nose. #2 jerseys could not have been printed fast enough. The lights would have been brighter than ever.
But Jerry spurred that deal with the devil and kept his faith in Will McClay. Manziel is another player for another team in another predicament altogether. Not here, where line-of-scrimmage sins are diminishing, but still remain, after years of drafting blasphemy.
Lo, our ugliest roster transgression of two years ago has been converted into the strength of this team. A decent running team from a year ago can be even better. Our battered and abused QB can now stand in with more confidence, and perhaps be required to throw less. The best defenses will not dictate to Dallas anymore.
Smith-Leary-Frederick-Martin-Free. Youth, strength, size, smarts, ability. It worked in the 90s to perfection, and I can't wait to see if this group can resurrect that bruising style yet again. Nothing is worse than offense with no offensive line, as we can all rightly attest.
This was important for Romo, as well as our next QB. Murray probably can't wipe the smile off his face, and Randle, Dunbar, and backs not yet here will have better careers for it. Dez will be better, as will all the receivers.
Even the defense will benefit greatly. Third-down conversions rest weary defensive legs.
Football-wise, the pundit criticisms are way off. Dallas HAS added six, possibly seven, defensive linemen to the team already, PLUS they'll add more tonight. Melton, Mincey, McClain, Spencer, Crawford, Bass, maybe Brent, plus tonight's newbies. None of them played here last year.
A lot of folks are enraged that Manziel wasn't picked. Good, and I wish to heck they'd leave our fan base altogether because they account for that embarrassing know-nothing band of Cowboy fans we have to tolerate. They make the rest of us look bad. We'll have another QB in a 3-4 years no matter what, and I wouldn't be surprised if Manziel is out of the league altogether by then. He might be good, but I just don't see it. I see a pizza delivery boy who's going to get crushed at this level. Certainly not worth the risk here, although Cleveland makes sense.
And adding him here would have caused unmitigated chaos - including a city-wide QB controversy the first pick Romo threw - and wouldn't have addressed a single roster need on this team. The national media would have dogpiled Jerry and Manziel mercilessly just for fun, even moreso than they do Romo, who actually is top tier. Manziel will be treated with kid gloves in Cleveland, but not here he wouldn't.
Apparently, Will McClay agrees, and God bless that man. I don't know how he cracked the code with Jerry, but he's earned his confidence and the right to counsel. Addictions die hard, and I suspect Jerry didn't sleep well last night, tossing and twitching without that Manziel fix he had in his hand.
It feels so cleansing to know that there actually is a plan, and they followed it. No doubt they wanted Donald or Barr, but it fell the way it did, and they stayed true. It will pay dividends long from now.
So I applaud Jerry, the football man. I respect the will power that took. I genuinely do. He's being praised nationally, and deservedly so.
Jerry is my GM today. Well done.
Just checking.
