RKG - A Point of View

[dstovall5]

Are you making fun of my RKG quote?

 

[Idgit]

I don't expect guys to be saints but suspended players are no help for any team. Being a thug, creating problems on a team is not wanted or needed. It does not have to be either or situation I want tough aggressive men who play with a mean streak but that does not mean the guy also has to be a street punk dope head who misses games because he can't control his life.

Yep. Pretty much by definition, if the thug lifestyle is important to you, then football isn't. That's not the same thing as saying you're going to stay away from players with a rough upbringing, though.

Football was important to Michael Irvin, for example. He was hardly a choirboy the rest of the time. He wasn't a thug, but I think we can all agree he brought with him his share of off the field baggage. He's a right kind of guy, though, no doubt.

Here's what JG had to say about Michael a while back. This was from when Jason Witten was about to surpass Irvin on the Cowboys receptions list:

"Each of those guys is as good a teammate as I've been around, as passionate about this game as I've been around, work as hard as anyone I've been around," says Garrett.

Garrett pointing out that there is a facet to Witten and Irvin's greatness that makes them kindred spirits.

"A great example of guys who do have an exterior that's a little bit different; Michael is obviously flamboyant; Jason is not quite as flamboyant, but the passion in both those guys is there," says Garrett.

"The common denominator between great players and great coaches and great teams is the passion the passion and intensity for the game and each of those guys has it and I've been fortunate."

Notice a theme? A theme that has nothing to do with being a boy scout? It's about passion, intensity, commitment. That's what it's always been about. I like the 'right kind of guy' mindset, personally. It's a good way to evaluate players, if your scouting is good enough to get at that level of information and you know how to weigh it and evaluate it properly. That's a whole separate matter, but I'd be interested in hearing how they go about trying to normalize any measurement of passion or intensity over an entire college draft class.

 

[Idgit]

Are you making fun of my RKG quote?

No, just misunderstanding it, as far as I can tell.

 

[Hoofbite]

So you want talented, tough, smart players who are disciplined and don't get into trouble off the field? Wow. So does every other coach who ever lived.

Haha. I'm pretty sure the Raiders don't care about all that. Just be really fast and Oakland is the place for you.

 

[Bullflop]

I believe the RKG concept is Garrett's way of describing the ideals he values in players such as character, dedication, love of the game and certainly, talent as well. While some players may be more aggressive than others, there's still plenty of room for those who play the game cleanly but yet effectively. Guys like Bob Lilly and DeMarcus Ware fitted that bill to a "T." Complaining about someone like them not being aggressive enough is like complaining about paper money being wrinkled -- awfully hard to please.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Are you making fun of my RKG quote?

What did Jason mean by Right Kind of Guys, probably about as much as he meant by It's a Process.

Looks like a Rebuild to me...with or without Romo.

 

[burmafrd]

Bob Lilly did not have that savage side that some here think you need. That made him a loser, right?


Thugs are suspensions and stupid mistakes looking for a place to happen. Suh is a perfect example of that. One reason Detroit self destructs is that they have several like him.


To be blunt the reason we have lost many close games over the last few years is because we keep making STUPID mistakes at the worst possible moment. Has nothing to do with anything except that.

 

[visionary]

you could argue both sides of this issue, here is the bottom line however

a HC (Garrett in this case) should have a vision of what he wants to run and what he wants in players to run it and what the process of picking those players will be

then, results show if that vision and that process actually work... this is the key that Garrett homers run from like the plague

Garrett has been HC-in-waiting for 3 years with significant input and has been HC for 3 years

so his process has had at least 3 years and at most 6 years

what are the results?

8-8
8-8
8-8

results trump theory, hope, believe, and the rest of that nonsense

clearly whatever he is doing is not working

no matter how you define RKG, this is a mediocre (at best) or a failed (at worst) process

 

[TwoDeep3]

Let me frame this in a way you might understand, although this might be a weak example.

Now I do not believe this team can afford him, but DeSean Jackson is a talent, but has baggage.

I see the board summarily reject any notion of him, going so far as to suggest he is a gang banger. Although I have read that isn't really so.

I think the point of this thread, as misplaced as the Clyde Simmons comment was, it this.

There are very few players in the NFL, that if they performed their collisions in public and not on a football field, wouldn't get hauled off to jail. This is a violent sport and the nature of seeking out others to hit really isn't something you see at a ladies tea.

If they are violent men, prone to a testosterone-guided bravado to show they are real men by slamming into other men for a living, then why should I be so hypocritical and think it has to be a specific type of guy that plays for the team I follow.

A right kind of guy who loves the sport but also rescues puppies and walks old ladies across the street.

I kind of dig the attitude of a player that knocks you down, then when you put your hand out to be helped up, he slaps it away and steps over you.

This game is build on the foundation of intimidation, from the head coach to the water boy.

I've seen this finesse team enough to know I liked the early 90's version that slapped the other teams mouth then asked, "What'd ya gonna do about that, sport?"

Just my opinion.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Bob Lilly did not have that savage side that some here think you need. That made him a loser, right?

Yet Randy White did have that attitude. I was at the Chicago pre-season game when he pulled off the helmet of a Bear player and then beat him over the head with it.

Don't believe anyone is suggesting stupid players. Nor people on the verge of five to life.

 

[Idgit]

Let me frame this in a way you might understand, although this might be a weak example.

Now I do not believe this team can afford him, but DeSean Jackson is a talent, but has baggage.

I see the board summarily reject any notion of him, going so far as to suggest he is a gang banger. Although I have read that isn't really so.

I think the point of this thread, as misplaced as the Clyde Simmons comment was, it this.

There are very few players in the NFL, that if they performed their collisions in public and not on a football field, wouldn't get hauled off to jail. This is a violent sport and the nature of seeking out others to hit really isn't something you see at a ladies tea.

If they are violent men, prone to a testosterone-guided bravado to show they are real men by slamming into other men for a living, then why should I be so hypocritical and think it has to be a specific type of guy that plays for the team I follow.

A right kind of guy who loves the sport but also rescues puppies and walks old ladies across the street.

I kind of dig the attitude of a player that knocks you down, then when you put your hand out to be helped up, he slaps it away and steps over you.

This game is build on the foundation of intimidation, from the head coach to the water boy.

I've seen this finesse team enough to know I liked the early 90's version that slapped the other teams mouth then asked, "What'd ya gonna do about that, sport?"

Just my opinion.

I kind of like this, too. It's how I used to play, anyway. As long as they're smart and hard working and passionate about football, I'm not too concerned with temperament, one way or another. But it stands to reason that we'd eventually get some more-aggressive personalities on the team. At least there's nothing about the RKG prescription that would stand in the way of that that I've ever seen.

Then again, I would be in favor of Desean Jackson, too, if the stories about him being distracted outside of football are actually all bunk.

 

[birdwells1]

I believe the RKG concept is Garrett's way of describing the ideals he values in players such as character, dedication, love of the game and certainly, talent as well. While some players may be more aggressive than others, there's still plenty of room for those who play the game cleanly but yet effectively. Guys like Bob Lilly and DeMarcus Ware fitted that bill to a "T." Complaining about someone like them not being aggressive enough is like complaining about paper money being wrinkled -- awfully hard to please.

Have you ever tried to put a wrinkled dollar in a vending machine?

 

[BigStar]

Why does the 'right kind of guy' get misunderstood so often? It's got to be intentional at this point, doesn't it? It's not, nor has it ever been about ethics, citizenship, character. It's always been about finding smart, passionate players whom football is important to. Just as you say, TwoDeep. And any definition of Demarcus Ware that finds him lacking as a football player during his time in Dallas is an utterly useless definition. I'm sorry.

Here are a handful of quotes from JG himself where the right kind of guy is concerned:



And again:



Or again:



Sounds like he wants talent, physicality, hard work, and passion for the game, to me. And team players. I'm missing the ethics and citizenship part.

So a vague vague vague comment about liking players who like the sport they are professionals in? So it doesn't mean anything then. All players fit this mold or they wouldn't have gotten to the NFL? Well until the media tells us otherwise (Rat, Mincey, Spencer, Carter, DJax) football is always the #1 priority of any said player.

 

[Idgit]

So a vague vague vague comment about liking players who like the sport they are professionals in? So it doesn't mean anything then. All players fit this mold or they wouldn't have gotten to the NFL? Well until the media tells us otherwise (Rat, Mincey, Spencer, Carter, DJax) football is always the #1 priority of any said player.

I don't think that's the case, at all. There are tons of players who get into the league every year who are motivated by money or fame or attention and who are not necessarily passionate about their profession. And then again, the sample we're looking for is the guys to whom football is more important than it is to other players, which is, of course, a relative and qualitative measure. That's why we look at things like sons of coaches and team captains and whatever else it is we're looking at in college scouting when we put together our board.

 

[Bullflop]

Have you ever tried to put a wrinkled dollar in a vending machine?

I just KNEW someone couldn't resist playing that too-easy response. Okay, let's make it a $100 bill . . . would you still complain?
(Let's make it perfectly clear it's not a counterfeit, either.)

 

[joseephuss]

I've seen this finesse team enough to know I liked the early 90's version that slapped the other teams mouth then asked, "What'd ya gonna do about that, sport?"

Just my opinion.

That early 90's team didn't have to deal with the salary cap.

 

[Doomsay]

Why does the 'right kind of guy' get misunderstood so often? It's got to be intentional at this point, doesn't it? It's not, nor has it ever been about ethics, citizenship, character. It's always been about finding smart, passionate players whom football is important to. Just as you say, TwoDeep. And any definition of Demarcus Ware that finds him lacking as a football player during his time in Dallas is an utterly useless definition. I'm sorry.

Here are a handful of quotes from JG himself where the right kind of guy is concerned:

Jul 16 2011

My experience as a player and a coach in this league is that talent is really important. When we won those Super Bowls in Dallas in the 90s we had some very talented players. But I'll go to my grave saying, what makes Troy Aikman great is who he is, as much as the talent that he has. I can say that for Emmitt Smith, Daryl Johnston and go down the list. Darren Woodson, all the great players that we had on those teams, they were the right kind of guys.

They loved to play. They were talented, but they loved to play and they were great teammates. We're not living in the past, but we're trying to recreate that model. So as talented a guy as you can get, there's also the right kind of guy who can fit into your team and make the chemistry of your team right. That's what we're trying to do.

Sounds like he wants talent, physicality, hard work, and passion for the game, to me. And team players. I'm missing the ethics and citizenship part.

Interesting omission of Irvin by JG, probably the rightest kind of guy on that entire 90's team, even if he wasn't a boyscout like the aforementioned. You need a right kind of coach to be confident enough to bring in and manage the firebrands that are essential to most successful teams. From my perspective, Jason's emphasis on the RKG movement had more to do with culling anybody that had challenged him in the past as an OC or interim coach than building a dominant team.

Perhaps more prosaically, the RKG mantra became a useful platform message along with his unique introduction of game phase theory, at a point when he really didn't have much else to say or offer in press meatings.

 

[Doomsay]

press meetings

 

[casmith07]

That early 90's team didn't have to deal with the salary cap.

Always overlooked.

 

[casmith07]

Interesting omission of Irvin by JG, probably the rightest kind of guy on that entire 90's team, even if he wasn't a boyscout like the aforementioned. You need a right kind of coach to be confident enough to bring in and manage the firebrands that are essential to most successful teams. From my perspective, Jason's emphasis on the RKG movement had more to do with culling anybody that had challenged him in the past as an OC or interim coach than building a dominant team.

Perhaps more prosaically, the RKG mantra became a useful platform message along with his unique introduction of game phase theory, at a point when he really didn't have much else to say or offer in press meatings.

There's another quote in this very thread where Jason talking specifically about Irvin in comparing his passion to Witten.