The 94 Cowboys would have been the best if not for Jerry Jones

[CouchCoach]

There is another element to this that doesn't get discussed as much and it's not just about ego.

When Booger arrived in Dallas, already with some swagger, he was the most hated man in the Metroplex for firing a legend and has even admitted he did not handle that right. I mean I encountered just normal people and not strong Cowboys fans that despised Booger for what he did.

Then comes the Emmitt holdout with death threats the police and Booger were taking seriously. Remember him hanging out in the alcove of game 2 and looking around nervously? To top that off, Johnson gets credit for going to Booger and telling him to sign Emmitt or forget the season.

Booger catches all the heat and Jimmy catches all the rainbows and sunshine. That set the wheels in motion and Booger knew he needed to get rid of that shade throwing Jimmy Johnson and get a little love himself.

One thing that gets sold here is not true. If not for Booger, there is no Jimmy. Johnson was high on the list and he would have made the move to the NFL. Would he have had that Walker trade to have as the catalyst? No, but he was already of that mind because his plan going to Miami was to trade Marino and he wasn't allowed to do that.

Jimmy Johnson's plan would have eventually worked with a lot of teams. Upgrade speed and team tackling throughout the team. That was his formula at OK St and Miami before coming to Dallas.

 

[Thrill99]

The 94 team made it to the NFC title game against a stacked 49ers team and turned the ball over three times. It’s not like the team never turned the ball over with Jimmy as head coach. The turnovers did them in. Let’s be honest had Jerry Rice’s TD not been called back early in the first quarter of the 92 NFC title game the Cowboys might have lost that one. We caught some breaks in that game and we didn’t catch any in the 94 game. If you listen to some fans here, they seem to think the Cowboys would have continued winning Super Bowls year after year had Jimmy stayed. That wasn’t going to happen. The salary cap and free agency eventually caught up with our great 90s teams.

If you want to be honest, if McIntyre didn't Maryland on that play Young would have been sacked or scrambling for his life. We forced that penalty, no luck involved.

 

[KJJ]

No one is saying they would have won every year Jimmy was here. But it would have easily been at least a 4peat....something that seems impossible even now. Historical.

I’ve seen some fans claim the Cowboys would’ve won four or five Super Bowls in a row had Jimmy stayed. To say the Cowboys would’ve easily 4peated with Jimmy is being silly. That was an outstanding 49ers team in 94. They had won 10 in a row until they sat all their starters in the season finale. The three early turnovers beat them in that game, and Jimmy wouldn’t have been able to prevent it.

 

[KJJ]

If you want to be honest, if McIntyre didn't Maryland on that play Young would have been sacked or scrambling for his life. We forced that penalty, no luck involved.

Say what you will but having that early San Francisco TD negated by a penalty was a huge break for the Cowboys. Getting down by seven early on the road in a championship game would’ve been difficult to overcome.

 

[DallasEast]

Not sure what you mean by that. Both men's egos got in the way of what could have been.

As Aikman said, “And so that disappointment for me was that egos are what ultimately tore our team apart at a time when the players themselves were sacrificing so much.”

It didn't ultimately matter whose ego was the greater one. Both men wanted the credit for the team's success, both resented the other for taking credit and not giving it to them and neither was willing to relent. If just one of them had been the bigger man (and it wasn't going to be Jerry because he's delusional ... which maybe is what you mean by psychologically) and said who cares who gets the credit, let's win, then the breakup wouldn't have happened. Therefore, they are both equally to blame.

I have never argued against a clash of egos was a primary cause of their divorce. A compromise could have resulted if Johnson made a self-concession to be more submissive to Jones and Jones could have been far less impulsive about desiring dominance. That did not happen and the rest is history.

However, I disagree that the distinction in each man's ego did not play a factor. Plus, I am almost always being literal on the subject. All people do not share the same type of ego, which is why it is a fallacy whenever anY observer lumps everyone into the same category.

Ego is as complex as are the variety of individuals owning them but the concept can be generalized into three distinct types. The first is egocentric. Practically everyone is egocentric at times. Our sense of self-centeredness develops in childhood. Some people have well-balanced their egocentric-ness by the time they reach adulthood. To take from the article, Johnson is certainly a 'obsessive, monomaniacal control freak' in regards to coaching but his behavior was centered upon achieving on-the-field success in Dallas. In Miami, in both the pros and college. At Oklahoma State. Johnson's egocentric self-centered is based upon what he accomplished as a coach wherever he went. And like individuals with 'normal' egos, he easily acknowledges what he has not accomplished.

Others are more egotistic than egocentric. Egotists are often easily offended when criticized and become defensive. They take issue to someone else be perceived as more insightful than themselves. They revel in telling others of past triumphs. Jones is definitely an egotist when he says (again per the article) “What’s the point of winning if you can’t gloat a little?”. After witnessing hundreds of examples from press conferences, on-the-spot interviews, heck, season schedule releases, etc., it is a fact stating Jones gloats. A lot. haha. Unfortunately, Jones does not neatly fit within an egotistic bubble.

Narcissists have a personal sense of grandeur for who they are and what they do. They long for voluntary superfluous appreciation. Narcissists proactively use whatever authority they possess to achieve their goals despite detriment to others or even their own set goals. This is where Jones' mindset resides.

Jones is much more than the man who 'could not let go' how Johnson would not share credit for winning two Super Bowls. An egocentric person would have eventually let bygones be bygones decades ago and inducted their college teammate, former head coach and supposed friend in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. An egotist would have begrudgedly after time voluntarily stepped down and hired a qualified football professional to take over as general manager. Again. Decades ago. Likely before or even during the Dave Campo era. Those types of egos can allow themselves to embrace such personal and business concessions.

On the other hand, a narcissist cannot commit to such self-motivated concessions, not without usually being under personal duress. It is highly likely Jones has been this way his entire adult life. Definitely now at age 80. And he was also the same when he was 51.

 

[Diehardblues]

There is another element to this that doesn't get discussed as much and it's not just about ego.

When Booger arrived in Dallas, already with some swagger, he was the most hated man in the Metroplex for firing a legend and has even admitted he did not handle that right. I mean I encountered just normal people and not strong Cowboys fans that despised Booger for what he did.

Then comes the Emmitt holdout with death threats the police and Booger were taking seriously. Remember him hanging out in the alcove of game 2 and looking around nervously? To top that off, Johnson gets credit for going to Booger and telling him to sign Emmitt or forget the season.

Booger catches all the heat and Jimmy catches all the rainbows and sunshine. That set the wheels in motion and Booger knew he needed to get rid of that shade throwing Jimmy Johnson and get a little love himself.

One thing that gets sold here is not true. If not for Booger, there is no Jimmy. Johnson was high on the list and he would have made the move to the NFL. Would he have had that Walker trade to have as the catalyst? No, but he was already of that mind because his plan going to Miami was to trade Marino and he wasn't allowed to do that.

Jimmy Johnson's plan would have eventually worked with a lot of teams. Upgrade speed and team tackling throughout the team. That was his formula at OK St and Miami before coming to Dallas.

Yep, Tex Schramm had already mentioned Jimmy as a potential prospect before we even knew who Jethro Jone$ was.

And Tex is only one who could have handled Tom appropriately . Tom wasn’t ready but I think Tex could have provided for him to leave on his own terms . It might not have been 1989 but could have been soon after much more respected owners like Buss of the Lakers or Carter of the Mavericks who had higher bids for the Cowboys could have proceeded.

The main reasons Bum Bright chose Jethro is it was a cash offer which with his Savings and Loan debacle and bankruptcy needed cash fast and the fact he didn’t have the power to fire Tom.

And why Bum is the real culprit in bringing Jethro in. Should have known a frikin Aggie would screw up the Cowboys.

We might not have had the immediate success we had but with Aikman already coming in and Herschel and Irvin in place we had a core to build around . Probably don’t win 3 out of 4 but we would have had more opportunities in last 27 years to win more while maintaining the respectability and classy organization we had established in building such an Iconic brand .

 

[xwalker]

Jimmy coaching that team I'm not so sure we lose 2 games and am pretty sure we land home field and the championship game woulda been different. In 94 we still had Harper and drafted Larry Allen and all the other core and role players. What a great team but sadly they just couldn't get over the HC and the Niners were stacked but again I think we win with Jimmy.

They won it in 95...

They lost because of the Erik Williams car crash. Zero Super Bowls in the Jerry era without EW.

Rookie Larry Allen tried to replace him but he came into the game with an injury issue and really struggled.

Aikman couldn't function without EW protecting him.

Defensive players were more afraid of pre-wreck EW than they ever were of LA.

LA just bullied them for fun. EW literally wanted to kill defensive players.

 

[JW82]

For 5 years Jerry was the best Owner in football, and for 29 he's been the worst.

 

[plasticman]

That team had the potential to win five consecutive Super Bowls with a Head Coach that pushed them. They were that good.

I will say this with complete conviction. If Jimmy had stayed he would have accomplished this without Deion Sanders.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

The 94 team is a testament to Jerry’s hubris

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

For 5 years Jerry was the best Owner in football, and for 29 he's been the worst.

His inability to understand what he is good at and what he isn’t.

 

[noshame]

I loved Jimmy but some players were getting tired of him.
Not sure how it would have played out.
But still despise Jerry for it.

 

[INCowboysFan]

No that’s lazy. Jimmy gave and demoted his life to that team. He molded it, he influenced it, he created it. He made them winners. He was the psychologist who made it all happen. For the owner to disrespect him the way he did, getting drunk and saying he could get anyone to coach that team was the ultimate disrespect. It’s not like Jimmy got drunk and came out and **** talked Jerry. It was 100% Jerry’s fault.

Wrong. Watch the Football Life episode on Jimmy. He clearly states that he was ready to move on. I believe it was Gil Brandt that said Jimmy was basically trying to get Jerry to fire him. Both men are the blame, yet Jerry is the villain and Jimmy is the hero. Both men should have put their egos aside and went after that history making 3rd consecutive super bowl win. But neither could do it and they had an ugly parting.

 

[stuckindc]

The 94 team made it to the NFC title game against a stacked 49ers team and turned the ball over three times. It’s not like the team never turned the ball over with Jimmy as head coach. The turnovers did them in. Let’s be honest had Jerry Rice’s TD not been called back early in the first quarter of the 92 NFC title game the Cowboys might have lost that one. We caught some breaks in that game and we didn’t catch any in the 94 game. If you listen to some fans here, they seem to think the Cowboys would have continued winning Super Bowls year after year had Jimmy stayed. That wasn’t going to happen. The salary cap and free agency eventually caught up with our great 90s teams.

Jimmy new how to ***** talent and had revolutionized the draft. He would have reloaded those lost in FA and the teams talent would not have dropped nearly as much.

 

[INCowboysFan]

Jimmy new how to ***** talent and had revolutionized the draft. He would have reloaded those lost in FA and the teams talent would not have dropped nearly as much.

Why wasn't he able to do that in Miami? Trading Marino was off the table, but why didn't he load up Miami through the draft?

 

[KJJ]

Jimmy new how to ***** talent and had revolutionized the draft. He would have reloaded those lost in FA and the teams talent would not have dropped nearly as much.

Hard to reload talent when you have a salary cap. They couldn’t afford to pay those players. This is the reason the Cowboys kept losing talent. Hard to replace excellent veteran players in the draft every year. Jimmy didn’t have near the success in Miami because of the salary cap, he even talked about it in an interview. He missed on several premium draft picks with Miami.

 

[stuckindc]

Hard to reload talent when you have a salary cap. They couldn’t afford to pay those players. This is the reason the Cowboys kept losing talent. Hard to replace excellent veteran players in the draft every year. Jimmy didn’t have near the success in Miami because of the salary cap, he even talked about it in an interview. He missed on several premium draft picks with Miami.

100% agree. Which was kinda my point. He could evaluate talent so we would be able to fill spots , lost from FA. And agree he missed on picks as well. All teams do. I do believe he would have made better overall drafts each, especially as all the teams learned to manage the cap, FA ,etc.

 

[stuckindc]

Why wasn't he able to do that in Miami? Trading Marino was off the table, but why didn't he load up Miami through the draft?

He did better with talent in Miami than Dallas did without him. He also lead 3 Miami teams to the playoffs. So it want like he sank the team and franchise. The whole Marino thing was a tough situation to maneuver. He was kinda in a no win. You trade Marino and your public enemy. You keep him and , we’ll we say what happened

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

He did better with talent in Miami than Dallas did without him. He also lead 3 Miami teams to the playoffs. So it want like he sank the team and franchise. The whole Marino thing was a tough situation to maneuver. He was kinda in a no win. You trade Marino and your public enemy. You keep him and , we’ll we say what happened

He wasn't given the same sort of power he had in Dallas. That was Marino's team.

 

[KJJ]

100% agree. Which was kinda my point. He could evaluate talent so we would be able to fill spots , lost from FA. And agree he missed on picks as well. All teams do. I do believe he would have made better overall drafts each, especially as all the teams learned to manage the cap, FA ,etc.

Not even Jimmy could elevate players when they weren’t good enough. He found that out in 1989 and 1990. We lost some talented role players during free agency like Jimmie Jones and began losing starters like Ken Norton, Russell, Maryland and Alvin Harper. It took its toll on our roster.