Mr Cowboy
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3:18 PM Fri, Sep 05, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
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While gushing about seemingly every player on the roster at the Cowboys Kickoff Luncheon a couple weeks ago, Wade Phillips made a comment that caught me by surprise.
"One of my strengths is judging talent," Phillips said. "And I said, 'We've got a linebacker here that can't play, and we need to replace him.' I was absolutely wrong. Bradie James is one of the best players we have because of his leadership and his play. I need to go back and look at the film again because I couldn't see it, but now I do. The reason I do is because of all the intangibles and his production."
I finally got a chance to ask Bradie James about it. Turns out he was rather stunned to hear those words come out of Wade's mouth, too.
"I don't know if you want to hear that, you know what I mean?" James said when asked what ran through his mind when Wade made the comment. "He could have cut half of that part and just said, 'Yeah, I was just was wrong about that guy.' But I guess it was a good thing. I guess he's saying that I can play."
James was surprised to hear Phillips tell a packed ballroom that he didn't think James could play after studying tape of the 2006 season. But James had a feeling that Phillips wasn't too fond of him when the coach first arrived at Valley Ranch.
"It's nothing that we talked about, but I could tell when he first got here," James said. "He would talk to everybody but me. So I was like, 'Oh, he might not like me, but I don't care about that. I better go out here and make some plays.'"
James readily admits that he was a different player last season than he was in 2006. He weighed as much as 265 pounds during Bill Parcells' final season, because he was asked to "wrestle with guards" on a regular basis.
"That's not Wade's scheme at all," said James, who weighs in the low 240s now. "That's probably what it was, but I'm going to always play within the structure. That's what I did. I mean, I did what Bill asked me to do. That wasn't good enough for Wade, but Wade wasn't there yet. Whatever Wade wanted me to do, I tried to do that."
He did it well, too, which is what Wade tried to say in his own awkward way.
Tim MacMahon E-mail News tips
NS_22COWSpanthersvb29.jpg
While gushing about seemingly every player on the roster at the Cowboys Kickoff Luncheon a couple weeks ago, Wade Phillips made a comment that caught me by surprise.
"One of my strengths is judging talent," Phillips said. "And I said, 'We've got a linebacker here that can't play, and we need to replace him.' I was absolutely wrong. Bradie James is one of the best players we have because of his leadership and his play. I need to go back and look at the film again because I couldn't see it, but now I do. The reason I do is because of all the intangibles and his production."
I finally got a chance to ask Bradie James about it. Turns out he was rather stunned to hear those words come out of Wade's mouth, too.
"I don't know if you want to hear that, you know what I mean?" James said when asked what ran through his mind when Wade made the comment. "He could have cut half of that part and just said, 'Yeah, I was just was wrong about that guy.' But I guess it was a good thing. I guess he's saying that I can play."
James was surprised to hear Phillips tell a packed ballroom that he didn't think James could play after studying tape of the 2006 season. But James had a feeling that Phillips wasn't too fond of him when the coach first arrived at Valley Ranch.
"It's nothing that we talked about, but I could tell when he first got here," James said. "He would talk to everybody but me. So I was like, 'Oh, he might not like me, but I don't care about that. I better go out here and make some plays.'"
James readily admits that he was a different player last season than he was in 2006. He weighed as much as 265 pounds during Bill Parcells' final season, because he was asked to "wrestle with guards" on a regular basis.
"That's not Wade's scheme at all," said James, who weighs in the low 240s now. "That's probably what it was, but I'm going to always play within the structure. That's what I did. I mean, I did what Bill asked me to do. That wasn't good enough for Wade, but Wade wasn't there yet. Whatever Wade wanted me to do, I tried to do that."
He did it well, too, which is what Wade tried to say in his own awkward way.
