Reputation vs. Reality

[tyke1doe]

On the Jackie Smith drop:

Staubach defended Smith. "It really wasn't a very good pass. It was low and it surprised him and he wasn't ready for it, " Staubach said. But Smith made no excuses. "I don't think it was Roger's fault. The ball was well thrown."

"It's amazing how people have latched on to that play," Staubach said. "It's just unfair. It wasn't the end of the game. We still had a full quarter to go. We were only four points behind and Jackie Smith has taken more heat than he deserves."

Staubach was being a gentleman. Jackie Smith should have caught that ball. It hits him dead in the hands. It wasn't underthrown. It wasn't overthrown. It hits him DEAD ... IN ... THE ... HANDS.

If anything, it shows the class of Roger Staubach.

 

[Doomsday101]

Staubach was being a gentleman. Jackie Smith should have caught that ball. It hits him dead in the hands. It wasn't underthrown. It wasn't overthrown. It hits him DEAD ... IN ... THE ... HANDS.

If anything, it shows the class of Roger Staubach.

I'm not disagreeing but Roger was not going to finger point and throw a teammate under the bus. In my view Leaders do not do that they look at themselves 1st and what they felt they could have done better. Was it a perfect pass? no it was low and a bit behind him but still very catchable and should have been caught

Roger was also correct that was not the game we were 4 points down with a qrt to play.

 

[Stautner]

On the Jackie Smith drop:

Staubach defended Smith. "It really wasn't a very good pass. It was low and it surprised him and he wasn't ready for it, " Staubach said. But Smith made no excuses. "I don't think it was Roger's fault. The ball was well thrown."

"It's amazing how people have latched on to that play," Staubach said. "It's just unfair. It wasn't the end of the game. We still had a full quarter to go. We were only four points behind and Jackie Smith has taken more heat than he deserves."

I don't think Troy would have said much different. Great QB's learn there is nothing to be gained by trashing a teammate after the fact.

As for jackie Smith, I never felt the animosity toward him a lot of people did. He was a great player, and even though the throw wasn't perfect, it was a play Jackie Smith would almost certainly make almost every time. It was a fluke, just a damn unfortunate result. It still hurts though, and it is very difficult to watch replays. I have always found it ironic that he caught so many passes against us and hurt us so many times over the years and that ended up happening the one year he played for us.

INTERESTING NOTE: I was watching some old Hall of Fame ceremony speeches that ESPN was airing just before the ceremony this year, and in his acceptance speech Jackie Smith said that his season with the Cowboys was his most enjoyable season in the NFL.

 

[burmafrd]

Jackie Smith was a great TE. It is horrible that he ends up being remembered for that play.

Roger put it right into his hands as he was falling backwards into the end zone. I remember that play so well - I knew at that moment we were going to lose the game. I just sat there and mourned.

 

[Doomsday101]

I don't think Troy would have said much different. Great QB's learn there is nothing to be gained by trashing a teammate after the fact.

As for jackie Smith, I never felt the animosity toward him a lot of people did. He was a great player, and even though the throw wasn't perfect, it was a play Jackie Smith would almost certainly make almost every time. It was a fluke, just a damn unfortunate result. It still hurts though, and it is very difficult to watch replays. I have always found it ironic that he caught so many passes against us and hurt us so many times over the years and that ended up happening the one year he played for us.

INTERESTING NOTE: I was watching some old Hall of Fame ceremony speeches that ESPN was airing just before the ceremony this year, and in his acceptance speech Jackie Smith said that his season with the Cowboys was his most enjoyable season in the NFL.

I agree. I enjoyed having Troy with us and think he is one of the all time greats and never once did he throw a teammate under the bus he would put the burden on his own shoulders before he would come down publicly on a teammate.

As for Jackie like you I did not cruse his name either and felt bad for the guy he was an outstanding player. While it was not a perfect pass it was a very catchable pass and should have been made no question about it

 

[Stautner]

Jackie Smith was a great TE. It is horrible that he ends up being remembered for that play.

Roger put it right into his hands as he was falling backwards into the end zone. I remember that play so well - I knew at that moment we were going to lose the game. I just sat there and mourned.

I took the play as a big blow to our chances to win, but I never thought we were going to lose with Staubach. He brought us back from some many seemingly impossible situations that I came to expect it from him. 13 points down with 2:45 left - yeah, we had a chance. 6 points down with 23 seconds left and 90 yards to the goalline, yeah, we had a chance. That's how I always felt with Roger, and I think that's how his teammates always felt. I've heard a lot of interviews with players from that era who said exactly that.

 

[THUMPER]

I agree. I enjoyed having Troy with us and think he is one of the all time greats and never once did he throw a teammate under the bus he would put the burden on his own shoulders before he would come down publicly on a teammate.

As for Jackie like you I did not cruse his name either and felt bad for the guy he was an outstanding player. While it was not a perfect pass it was a very catchable pass and should have been made no question about it

The thing about Jackie Smith is that he was brought in specifically for that type of situation, where you needed a guy to MAKE THE CATCH. He was 38 and had a reputation for being very sure-handed throughout his career. We didn't use him in the regular season at all and he only caught a couple of passes in the playoffs.

I will never excuse him for dropping that pass. :bang2: :bang2: :bang2:

 

[THUMPER]

I took the play as a big blow to our chances to win, but I never thought we were going to lose with Staubach. He brought us back from some many seemingly impossible situations that I came to expect it from him. 13 points down with 2:45 left - yeah, we had a chance. 6 points down with 23 seconds left and 90 yards to the goalline, yeah, we had a chance. That's how I always felt with Roger, and I think that's how his teammates always felt. I've heard a lot of interviews with players from that era who said exactly that.

Absolutely right! We always had a chance to win with Roger in the game, no matter how far down or how little time was left. His teammates felt that and so did the fans. So did our opponents for that matter.

 

[Doomsday101]

The thing about Jackie Smith is that he was brought in specifically for that type of situation, where you needed a guy to MAKE THE CATCH. He was 38 and had a reputation for being very sure-handed throughout his career. We didn't use him in the regular season at all and he only caught a couple of passes in the playoffs.

I will never excuse him for dropping that pass. :bang2: :bang2: :bang2:

I moved on. :laugh2:

He should have made the grab he didn't and while it was a big play it was not the last play and we still had a qrt to play as Roger said.

 

[Stautner]

Absolutely right! We always had a chance to win with Roger in the game, no matter how far down or how little time was left. His teammates felt that and so did the fans. So did our opponents for that matter.

That's really the element that younger people don't know about Staubach. You had to be watching the Cowboys week in and week out in that era to understand it. Going back and watching highlights of a handfull of games like the OP did doesn't tell the story of how special Staubach was. There was always a sense among fans, announcers and players that Roger just wouldn't let the team lose and would always find a way to pull a rabbit out of his hateven in situations that no reasonable person would expect.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Troy Aikman may have been a little more talented, but Rodger has that American hero aura that few are able to attain. The guy went to the Naval Academy and won the Heisman Trophy. He served as an officer in the Navy. He had a Hall of Fame pro career that included two Superbowl titles and several passing records at the time of his retirement. He then went on to be a wildly successful businessman and sold his company for $600 million, all the while maintaining a remarkable humbleness.

Rodger has excelled at everything he has ever done. He is the person every young man in this country aspires to be. He is just on another level because his greatness transcends football.

 

[DFWJC]

Roger was clutch man. He was best when the game was on the line. I just remember we were never out of the game when Roger was there. It didn't matter what the score was.

I irony is that is what was said about Favre....yet some here give Favre little credit.

I'm not comparing them as people...just sayin'.

 

[burmafrd]

That's really the element that younger people don't know about Staubach. You had to be watching the Cowboys week in and week out in that era to understand it. Going back and watching highlights of a handfull of games like the OP did doesn't tell the story of how special Staubach was. There was always a sense among fans, announcers and players that Roger just wouldn't let the team lose and would always find a way to pull a rabbit out of his hateven in situations that no reasonable person would expect.

That was about the only time I knew we were going to lose a game before the clock ran out. I just knew that no matter what Roger did it was not going to be enough.

 

[rcaldw]

That was about the only time I knew we were going to lose a game before the clock ran out. I just knew that no matter what Roger did it was not going to be enough.

The original poster watched Staubach week in and week out from the time he began starting until the day he retired. The handful of games were only given as an example.

Actually responding to Stautner on that one, not burmafrd

 

[Stautner]

The original poster watched Staubach week in and week out from the time he began starting until the day he retired. The handful of games were only given as an example.

Actually responding to Stautner on that one, not burmafrd

He said he was basing his conclusion on what he saw by going back and watching a handful of games, not on having watched Roger week in and week out. Perhaps Aikman's career is fresh on his mind, but he said with Staubach it wasn't the career, but the games he went back and watched that were fresh on his mind. Again, that's not a fair way to judge.

 

[THUMPER]

That's really the element that younger people don't know about Staubach. You had to be watching the Cowboys week in and week out in that era to understand it. Going back and watching highlights of a handfull of games like the OP did doesn't tell the story of how special Staubach was. There was always a sense among fans, announcers and players that Roger just wouldn't let the team lose and would always find a way to pull a rabbit out of his hateven in situations that no reasonable person would expect.

So true. This confidence/reputation wasn't built on a couple of games but on years of watching it happen over and over again and in ways that sometimes didn't seem possible.

Troy Aikman may have been a little more talented, but Rodger has that American hero aura that few are able to attain. The guy went to the Naval Academy and won the Heisman Trophy. He served as an officer in the Navy. He had a Hall of Fame pro career that included two Superbowl titles and several passing records at the time of his retirement. He then went on to be a wildly successful businessman and sold his company for $600 million, all the while maintaining a remarkable humbleness.

Rodger has excelled at everything he has ever done. He is the person every young man in this country aspires to be. He is just on another level because his greatness transcends football.

That's another part of it. Staubach wasn't just a hero on the field but off it as well both before and after his NFL career.

People look at his numbers and they don't compare with guys like Montana, Marino, Manning, etc. because he only started for 8 seasons and played in a more run-oriented league. It wasn't until his final few years that the league made the rules more pass-friendly and also went to the 16-game schedule that he passed for over 3000 yards.

He was the highest rated passer 4 times in his career and he was behind only Otto Graham for the highest career passer rating when he retired. He made the Pro-Bowl in each of his final 5 seasons.

 

[rcaldw]

He said he was basing his conclusion on what he saw by going back and watching a handful of games, not on having watched Roger week in and week out. Perhaps Aikman's career is fresh on his mind, but he said with Staubach it wasn't the career, but the games he went back and watched that were fresh on his mind. Again, that's not a fair way to judge.

Stautner, I'm the original poster! lol I watched Roger every week throughout his career.

Again, for the record, I LOVE STAUBACH. I'm a Roger the Dodger fan! Why do you think I watch those old games.

But I'm telling you that (in my opinion) if you watch those games without a "he's my favorite player" bias, you will see what I'm saying.

Now, the best argument put forth so far to the contrary is the concept of defenses changing. I think there is some merit in that argument.

But I will also say that if you watch Roger's games you will quickly see he was not nearly as accurate as Aikman. Roger would miss guys running wide open at times, without any pressure in his face, on intermediate routes.

He just wasn't as consistent as Aikman. A leader? NO DEBATE. Inspire confidence in your team. SECOND TO NONE. Lead a team from behind late, OVER AND OVER. But in many cases it was his average to poor play until late in the game that required those comebacks.

BUT, as has already been noted, HE WAS A LEADER IN PASSING STATISTICS throughout his career. So he was great compared with his peers.

 

[Az Lurker]

I was too young to ever see Staubach play, I got to grow up during the Aikman era so I can only go by what I saw on the old NFL films. The only thing Staubach and Aikman really seemed to have in common was they were winners and great talents. Aikman was a perfect QB, in that he was going to be perfect, but also required everyone else to be as well. Aikman never seemed to improvise, didn't excel at extending plays, he just dropped back and threw the ball more accurately than anyone I think I've ever seen.

Roger and Romo seem to have a lot in common in their style of play, mobile, accurate, elusive, but personality wise they're leagues apart. If Romo manages to win us a couple superbowls, he'll still probably be remembered as the unwanted stepchild of winning QBs just because of his backwards hats and Cabo.

 

[CoCo]

Staubach was being a gentleman. Jackie Smith should have caught that ball. It hits him dead in the hands. It wasn't underthrown. It wasn't overthrown. It hits him DEAD ... IN ... THE ... HANDS.

If anything, it shows the class of Roger Staubach.

It hit him "dead in the hands" because Smith adjusted to the less than perfect pass. He wasn't "falling down" as someone else stated. It looks like he chose to slide in order to have ball come to his bread-basket. Unfortunately, it clanked off his hands before it got to his bread-basket.

I agree with Roger that it wasn't a perfect pass. But Smith was not so surpised that he couldn't react. He had time & adjusted his body to the ball. Unfortunately his hands failed him.

Not criticizing either player. Sad for Jackie, Roger, the team, and us fans.

 

[bbgun]

It hit him "dead in the hands" because Smith adjusted to the less than perfect pass. He wasn't "falling down" as someone else stated. It looks like he chose to slide in order to have ball come to his bread-basket. Unfortunately, it clanked off his hands before it got to his bread-basket.

I agree with Roger that it wasn't a perfect pass. But Smith was not so surpised that he couldn't react. He had time & adjusted his body to the ball. Unfortunately his hands failed him.

Not criticizing either player. Sad for Jackie, Roger, the team, and us fans.

I could never figure that play out. If you're wide open, why are you falling as you're catching it? He clearly wasn't facing Roger flatfooted screaming "I'm open!" Something tells me Roger threw it before or as Smith made his break, or maybe Smith chose to fall to the ground instead of merely bending over to catch a low pass.