http://jay-mariotti.fanhouse.com/2009/01/22/footballs-sharpest-mind-trumps-its-biggest-dummy/
Football's Sharpest Mind Trumps Its Biggest Dummy
Posted Jan 22nd 2009 1:00 AM by Jay Mariotti (author feed)
Filed Under: NFL
In the sense that America is one messed-up country, I suppose the Dallas Cowboys still can be called "America's Team." That's because they are indisputably the most chaotic, mismanaged, undisciplined sports franchise that we have the displeasure to follow. Down yonder, Jerry Jones keeps gushing about his new stadium, the Romo Domo, which makes the Taj Mahal sound like a slum and Wembley like a sandlot.
"This will become one of the most visible buildings in the world," he proclaims, which must make the Parthenon, the Colosseum, the Great Sphinx and the Leaning Tower of Pisa shake in fear. "NFL programming is the No. 1 programming in television, and Dallas Cowboys games consistently draw the highest TV ratings. What we have designed is a structure we feel is architecturally significant, yet reflects the emotion and the competition that goes on -- not only in the venue but in the minds of the people who see the venue. Almost a living entity."
Is he trying to say his stadium is actually ALIVVVVVE? That it can breathe and walk and order lunch? Then it would fit right in with all the other crazy happenings in Big D, as in Big Dummy, which sounds like an appropriate nickname for the owner these days.
Let there be no confusion about who's ultimately to blame for the colossal underachievement and relentless drama. It's Jones, who has failed to win even one postseason game since 1996 despite investing mammoth fortunes, committing to annual infusions of big-name talent, changing coaches like underwear and strutting around like the smartest guy in the NFL.
Little does he know that the rest of the league is laughing at him -- while concurrently applauding the management miracle of Bill Parcells, who grew tired of Big Dummy two years ago, sat out a season, then quietly transformed the 1-15 Miami Dolphins into a playoff team.
"We're very fortunate to have someone like Bill Parcells, who I think people have come to recognize as probably the best football mind in America," said Stephen Ross, new owner of the Dolphins.
It's an indictment of Jones' constant meddling and counterproductive buffoonery that Parcells, the BFMIA, would thrive again after fleeing Dallas. If the Cowboys were at least a respectable playoff qualifier with Parcells as head coach, they've become a faction-torn, emotionally-frayed circus since Jones summoned an overmatched Wade Phillips. A shrink will have to explain why Jones would be so foolhardy to bring in the criminally-troubled likes of Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson, embrace the petulance of Terrell Owens, let Tony Romo become a Hollywood boy toy -- and still employ the tamest, softest and most incompetent coach possible in Phillips.
Worse, as details of deeper dissension surface in the Dallas Morning News and other Texas media, Jones continues to stand by Phillips. He does so even after the season-ending, playoff-crushing debacle in Philadelphia and even though two coaches who've won three Super Bowls between them, Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden, are available to be wooed and help change a culture of disarray.
Just what are you doing, Jerry Jones? And why don't you get out of the way, step aside as general manager, stay upstairs like most owners and hire a real football man to run the program? Can't you hear the disgust from media and fans? Is this any way to open a new stadium, by simply nodding and keeping Phillips and trying to spin rampant criticism as the byproduct of a high-profile franchise?
"I am very aware that we have the visibility that we have. With all of that goes a lot of criticism. Not just a teaspoonful, but a large amount of criticism. It's structured that way," Jones told reporters in Mobile, Ala., where he's scouting college talent at Senior Bowl workouts. "I don't really look at it as (the team) stepped on my toes or something happened to me. When we end the season like we ended it, or when we are disappointed, I am fully aware of who is going to get the criticism. It's coming, just as sure as the sun comes up, and that's part of what gives you the incentive."
Incentive? Jones has been catching heat since he ran off Jimmy Johnson after two Super Bowl titles and hired Barry Switzer. If that experiment worked, with Switzer winning a third trophy thanks to Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, it also happened 13 years ago -- and represents Jones' last real triumph in the sport. It appeared the Cowboys had a championship foundation in place this season, but their usual December swoon included an unraveling of chemistry.
Where do we start? Owens, who sabotages locker rooms like a staph infection, moped about Romo and how the QB favored his close friend, tight end Jason Witten, as his favorite receiver. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, once a hot coaching candidate in the league, couldn't control the politics and was suspected by Owens of leaking negative stories about him. Then there was Romo, who was said to have shaky practice habits that went unaddressed by Garrett, causing players to reportedly lose respect for Garrett. Clearly, Romo became a reckless performer who winged too many throws in traffic and needed to be harnessed.
As all of this was percolating, there were the continuing off-field issues of Pacman Jones, an experiment that the owner stubbornly attempted despite warnings on the local and national levels. Pacman, off to alcohol rehab in midseason after a late-night incident? A shocker.
This team lacked control back in training camp, when HBO's "Hard Knocks" series revealed Phillips as inept and in over his head. So it was no surprise when this Son of a Bum, a glorified defensive coordinator, was incapable of calming the turmoil. A year earlier, Romo made a bad off-field decision when he headed to Cabo San Lucas with girlfriend Jessica Simpson the week before a Dallas playoff game. Why did Phillips let him go? Why weren't he and Garrett more involved in Romo's maturation process?
"I think maybe things happened so quickly for Tony -- in terms of obscurity to all of a sudden national spotlight -- that he hasn't fully grasped what being the Cowboys quarterback is all about," said Aikman, the Hall of Fame quarterback, appearing on Irvin's Dallas radio program this week. "And you don't go to Cabo the week before a playoff game. You just don't do that."
Pound on Phillips, if you must. But who enables such a madhouse environment? That would be Jerry Jones. An example: the respective fine systems of Parcells and Phillips. If a player was late for a meeting in the Parcells era, he was fined $5,000; a missed appointment with a trainer for injury treatment might have cost him $12,000. Under Phillips, players are fined only $100 when late for meetings or missing sessions with the trainer. But guess who originally reduced the fines to $100?
Big Dummy.
As the Cowboys were engulfed in tumult, Parcells was leading an unprecedented reclamation project with one of his trusted Dallas assistants, Tony Sparano. His aura of intimidation didn't shine through with Jones interfering, but in Miami, Parcells was given complete control over the operation by owner Wayne Huizenga. Suddenly , the old, menacing Tuna was back, and his presence pervaded the entire operation. Chad Pennington was resurrected as a quarterback. The defense, with Joey Porter playing the Lawrence Taylor role, far exceeded its talent level. The coaches were creative enough to inject the "Wildcat" formation on offense, while befuddling the likes of Patriots coach Bill Belichick, Parcells' old partner in crime. The new atmosphere oozed of respect and fear, and the Dolphins somehow won the AFC East.
When it comes to maintaining his internal power and, thus, his leverage with ownership, Parcells never rests. Huizenga sold the team to Ross and, immediately, Parcells put out word that he might accept a clause allowing him to leave the team -- and receive $9-12 million -- because the franchise changed hands. He needed to determine if he could trust Ross, which is why it was significant to hear the new owner come out and stroke Parcells.
"I feel very, very comfortable with him, and I think he feels comfortable with me," Ross said. "I think we've developed a good rapport. ... Bill Parcells thinks like a businessman: You don't solve all your problems with money; you solve them with brains."
Naturally, Parcells didn't say much in Mobile and didn't even commit to staying for the long term under Ross. But he did say he liked the new owner. And he did point out to reporters that he was on the job as vice president off football operations.
"What does it look like I'm doing? What do your eyes tell you?" Parcells asked as he scouted talent, on the same field where Jones stood.
The conclusion is that some men are born to run football franchises and some are delusional imposters. Bill Parcells builds champions. Jerry Jones builds stadiums that are almost living entities.
