TexasBacon
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 707
- Reaction score
- 1,621
This will be a TL;DR post. Sorry.
I am a Dak supporter.
I am a football fan. I voluntarily follow the Cowboys to my own detriment and have for my 36 years of life. I was 7 the last time they were in an NFC Championship game. I’ve stuck by this team through the Campo years, the Quincy Carter years, the Garrett years, and have felt true hopelessness with no end in sight. I choose to continue to root for this team despite all the things we see (and don’t see) from Jerry and company. I used to defend Jerry too. Now, I can’t. He’s really shown his true character lately and I can’t abide his personal decisions, nor the way he runs my favorite team.
I am not blind to Dak’s shortcomings. I root for him because he is the QB of my favorite team. He will be the QB of my favorite team for this year and at least the next 3 years, barring some unfortunate injury or something detrimental. I wanted Dak to be resigned for the most part. Not because I’m delusional and think he’s a top 3 QB in the league, but because I follow the NFL closely enough to feel that I have good understanding of the QB market and have seen the way this front office has evaluated and acquired the QB position since Aikman retired. It hasn’t been good. The high round QBs this FO have been linked to in recent memory like Manziel and Paxton Lynch have been nothing short of busts. We also know that this FO seems to value a quantity of draft picks more than having a small number of quality draft picks, and so I do not trust the FO to leverage future 1st and 2nd round picks to move up in the draft to take a QB that I feel would be better than Dak, or close enough to Dak that the cap savings would make up the difference in talent. With our luck if they didn’t sign Dak and traded up we’d draft Shedeur Sanders (who I think will be Jameis Winston at best) and be even more of a clown show than we already are.
If Kyle Shanahan or Ben Johnson was our coach, I would feel much differently. IF we had a coach that I felt could create a schematic advantage with any top 25 QB, or even a journeyman QB like Darnold or Cousins I would likely have advocated for the FO to move on from Dak as strongly as the staunchest anti-Dak posters on this board. But we don’t have that. We have McCarthy. And even though this is highly likely his last year, does anyone trust Jerry to take the risk and hire an innovative offensive mind? I don’t. I think Jerry will do what he always does and hire a retread like Belichick. Yes, Bill may instill some discipline, and who knows, maybe he’s seen enough of the modern NFL to hire an innovative OC, but NOTHING that Jerry and co. have done in the past have made me think that’s anywhere in the realm of possible in the near future. Therefore, in my mind, the best chance we have is with QB who has shown the ability to make all the throws, who has now almost a decade of starting experience for the Dallas Cowboys at QB, and who, for the most part, has shown an ability to continue to improve each year, provided he has enough around him to support him. I am nowhere close to a “Dak over Cowboys fan.” I just genuinely don’t see the point in hating him. He is our QB, and we should all be rooting for him to overcome his demons, get better, and win. He’s shown he can do it. He just needs to do it consistently.
I do not blame Dak for the poor showings this season, even despite his price tag. I believe that anyone would be hard pressed to find examples of a QB elevating a team this devoid of both talent and creative coaching/play calling any more than Dak has. Yes, he’s made some bad throws and reads. But, between having no defense, one good receiver who get blanketed every game, no running game, and a patchwork O-line with one great player (Martin picked a terrible year to fall off) and two bad tackles, I genuinely cannot blame Dak. I do blame him for the SF playoff losses. Those were examples of games that he had enough to work with that he should have put the team on his back. I blame him for some of the regular season losses in prior years against good teams where a QB who is paid a max deal should elevate his team. But I watch enough football to know that even the best QBs have those games and are often carried by their teams. Look at Mahomes’ stats and play on a freaking undefeated Chiefs team this year. He’s been helped so much by coaching and defense and a run game. It’s downright asinine to expect anything more out of Dak this year with how bad literally every facet of players and coaching have been just because of the deal he got. Dak got a max deal because that’s how the QB market works. By this time next year, he’ll be the third or fourth highest paid QB. It is what it is.
I can’t believe the number of posters I see who put forth the notion that Dak, Martin, pretty much every player who has signed a deal with Dallas, etc., are intentionally fleecing the FO, and the idea that they should evaluate themselves the way the angry fans on this board do and intentionally play for less than they could get because they aren’t as good as fans’ perception of their contract. Do you guys not realize how absolutely insane that line of thought is in the world of NFL contracts/markets/agents, etc.? And then to question the character of players for simply being paid what they can get? Do you guys know the amount of work it takes to make the NFL, let alone play for a decade and make multiple pro bowls? Do you work hard at anything in life? Do you build up to something and then decide to just get lazy one day? No. You work hard and keep that mentality for life and continue to build on it and apply it to everything you do. You never think that you aren’t as good, because people who are good at something don’t think that way. You have confidence that continues to grow. You even have a little bit of controlled arrogance. It comes with the territory of putting in the work to become elite at something. If you’ve never done that in your career and seen the merits of your hard work being rewarded then I hope you do one day, because it’s one of the best feelings there is in life. It’s downright stupid to expect anything other than this mentality from professional athletes. Especially when they have to make pretty much all of the money they and their families will live on for life in 10-15 years AT MOST.
Finally, Dak has never done anything to make me question his character. He seems to be a genuinely good person, and I think it speaks to the poor character of some posters/fans when they try to conflate his poor play on the field with his character. The only time I go hard at the ant-Dak crowd is when they start ripping his character or assigning motivations to his actions that have no basis in reality out of pure anger. I get it. We are all sick of this teams’ mediocrity. We’re all numb at this point after years of hopeful seasons and offseasons. We’ve been punched in the gut as fans virtually every way possible over and over and over again, and there seems to be no end in sight when our moronic owner continues to double and triple down on his arrogant, ignorant approach to running this team. But don’t let your frustrations turn you into the type of person that goes after a player’s character, especially when there’s 0 evidence of them being a bad person in this day and age.
My point in saying all this? I’m a Dak fan because he’s a good dude who is the QB of my favorite team. I will never be a Dak over Cowboys fan. But far too many of you guys are anti-Dak over Cowboys fans. Dak’s not going anywhere. We can’t control it. So why not root for the guy to finally get over the hump? Why constantly attack his character and motivations? Can you not see that any assertions you make against his character are just your anger at feeling completely helpless over this teams’ continued failures manifesting? We all choose this fandom. We choose to feel like this. Why on Earth would you not choose to hope for the best, and pull for every single player wearing the star on their helmet to do better, and to overcome all of this adversity? That does not mean you shouldn’t criticize or hope for the team to move on when the time comes if that is warranted. The pro-Dak and anti-Dak crowds really love generalizing one another, but I really don’t know of any (of the few) staunch pro-Dak posters I see on here who would follow Dak to another team over the Cowboys. No one should be attacked by their fellow fans for rooting for a player on the team to do well. At the same time, no pro-Dak supporter should be blind to his shortcomings and not acknowledge bad play or problematic trends when they arise. Frustrated fans aren’t “haters” as long as they keep the frustration to football and not make it personal.
This post is probably very naïve, and certainly too long. I just think it would benefit many to step back and think about your fandom and save all the vitriol for the front office and for the Eagles. Screw the Eagles. Stop using it against the players who are trying to get better/right the ship, and especially against your fellow fans on an anonymous internet forum.
I am a Dak supporter.
I am a football fan. I voluntarily follow the Cowboys to my own detriment and have for my 36 years of life. I was 7 the last time they were in an NFC Championship game. I’ve stuck by this team through the Campo years, the Quincy Carter years, the Garrett years, and have felt true hopelessness with no end in sight. I choose to continue to root for this team despite all the things we see (and don’t see) from Jerry and company. I used to defend Jerry too. Now, I can’t. He’s really shown his true character lately and I can’t abide his personal decisions, nor the way he runs my favorite team.
I am not blind to Dak’s shortcomings. I root for him because he is the QB of my favorite team. He will be the QB of my favorite team for this year and at least the next 3 years, barring some unfortunate injury or something detrimental. I wanted Dak to be resigned for the most part. Not because I’m delusional and think he’s a top 3 QB in the league, but because I follow the NFL closely enough to feel that I have good understanding of the QB market and have seen the way this front office has evaluated and acquired the QB position since Aikman retired. It hasn’t been good. The high round QBs this FO have been linked to in recent memory like Manziel and Paxton Lynch have been nothing short of busts. We also know that this FO seems to value a quantity of draft picks more than having a small number of quality draft picks, and so I do not trust the FO to leverage future 1st and 2nd round picks to move up in the draft to take a QB that I feel would be better than Dak, or close enough to Dak that the cap savings would make up the difference in talent. With our luck if they didn’t sign Dak and traded up we’d draft Shedeur Sanders (who I think will be Jameis Winston at best) and be even more of a clown show than we already are.
If Kyle Shanahan or Ben Johnson was our coach, I would feel much differently. IF we had a coach that I felt could create a schematic advantage with any top 25 QB, or even a journeyman QB like Darnold or Cousins I would likely have advocated for the FO to move on from Dak as strongly as the staunchest anti-Dak posters on this board. But we don’t have that. We have McCarthy. And even though this is highly likely his last year, does anyone trust Jerry to take the risk and hire an innovative offensive mind? I don’t. I think Jerry will do what he always does and hire a retread like Belichick. Yes, Bill may instill some discipline, and who knows, maybe he’s seen enough of the modern NFL to hire an innovative OC, but NOTHING that Jerry and co. have done in the past have made me think that’s anywhere in the realm of possible in the near future. Therefore, in my mind, the best chance we have is with QB who has shown the ability to make all the throws, who has now almost a decade of starting experience for the Dallas Cowboys at QB, and who, for the most part, has shown an ability to continue to improve each year, provided he has enough around him to support him. I am nowhere close to a “Dak over Cowboys fan.” I just genuinely don’t see the point in hating him. He is our QB, and we should all be rooting for him to overcome his demons, get better, and win. He’s shown he can do it. He just needs to do it consistently.
I do not blame Dak for the poor showings this season, even despite his price tag. I believe that anyone would be hard pressed to find examples of a QB elevating a team this devoid of both talent and creative coaching/play calling any more than Dak has. Yes, he’s made some bad throws and reads. But, between having no defense, one good receiver who get blanketed every game, no running game, and a patchwork O-line with one great player (Martin picked a terrible year to fall off) and two bad tackles, I genuinely cannot blame Dak. I do blame him for the SF playoff losses. Those were examples of games that he had enough to work with that he should have put the team on his back. I blame him for some of the regular season losses in prior years against good teams where a QB who is paid a max deal should elevate his team. But I watch enough football to know that even the best QBs have those games and are often carried by their teams. Look at Mahomes’ stats and play on a freaking undefeated Chiefs team this year. He’s been helped so much by coaching and defense and a run game. It’s downright asinine to expect anything more out of Dak this year with how bad literally every facet of players and coaching have been just because of the deal he got. Dak got a max deal because that’s how the QB market works. By this time next year, he’ll be the third or fourth highest paid QB. It is what it is.
I can’t believe the number of posters I see who put forth the notion that Dak, Martin, pretty much every player who has signed a deal with Dallas, etc., are intentionally fleecing the FO, and the idea that they should evaluate themselves the way the angry fans on this board do and intentionally play for less than they could get because they aren’t as good as fans’ perception of their contract. Do you guys not realize how absolutely insane that line of thought is in the world of NFL contracts/markets/agents, etc.? And then to question the character of players for simply being paid what they can get? Do you guys know the amount of work it takes to make the NFL, let alone play for a decade and make multiple pro bowls? Do you work hard at anything in life? Do you build up to something and then decide to just get lazy one day? No. You work hard and keep that mentality for life and continue to build on it and apply it to everything you do. You never think that you aren’t as good, because people who are good at something don’t think that way. You have confidence that continues to grow. You even have a little bit of controlled arrogance. It comes with the territory of putting in the work to become elite at something. If you’ve never done that in your career and seen the merits of your hard work being rewarded then I hope you do one day, because it’s one of the best feelings there is in life. It’s downright stupid to expect anything other than this mentality from professional athletes. Especially when they have to make pretty much all of the money they and their families will live on for life in 10-15 years AT MOST.
Finally, Dak has never done anything to make me question his character. He seems to be a genuinely good person, and I think it speaks to the poor character of some posters/fans when they try to conflate his poor play on the field with his character. The only time I go hard at the ant-Dak crowd is when they start ripping his character or assigning motivations to his actions that have no basis in reality out of pure anger. I get it. We are all sick of this teams’ mediocrity. We’re all numb at this point after years of hopeful seasons and offseasons. We’ve been punched in the gut as fans virtually every way possible over and over and over again, and there seems to be no end in sight when our moronic owner continues to double and triple down on his arrogant, ignorant approach to running this team. But don’t let your frustrations turn you into the type of person that goes after a player’s character, especially when there’s 0 evidence of them being a bad person in this day and age.
My point in saying all this? I’m a Dak fan because he’s a good dude who is the QB of my favorite team. I will never be a Dak over Cowboys fan. But far too many of you guys are anti-Dak over Cowboys fans. Dak’s not going anywhere. We can’t control it. So why not root for the guy to finally get over the hump? Why constantly attack his character and motivations? Can you not see that any assertions you make against his character are just your anger at feeling completely helpless over this teams’ continued failures manifesting? We all choose this fandom. We choose to feel like this. Why on Earth would you not choose to hope for the best, and pull for every single player wearing the star on their helmet to do better, and to overcome all of this adversity? That does not mean you shouldn’t criticize or hope for the team to move on when the time comes if that is warranted. The pro-Dak and anti-Dak crowds really love generalizing one another, but I really don’t know of any (of the few) staunch pro-Dak posters I see on here who would follow Dak to another team over the Cowboys. No one should be attacked by their fellow fans for rooting for a player on the team to do well. At the same time, no pro-Dak supporter should be blind to his shortcomings and not acknowledge bad play or problematic trends when they arise. Frustrated fans aren’t “haters” as long as they keep the frustration to football and not make it personal.
This post is probably very naïve, and certainly too long. I just think it would benefit many to step back and think about your fandom and save all the vitriol for the front office and for the Eagles. Screw the Eagles. Stop using it against the players who are trying to get better/right the ship, and especially against your fellow fans on an anonymous internet forum.
