What the caterpillar calls the end, the rest of the world calls a butterfly.
Lao Tzu
The difference therein is indeed perspective. This understanding can bridge the gap between many of life’s mysteries from the ever-so-popular why-did-God-let-that-happen to why-won’t-he/she-love-me; the NFL is no exception.
Take this magical carpet ride of a season we Cowboys fans have enjoyed. A premature out in the upcoming playoffs would likely fuel an offseason of mud-slinging, naysaying, and second-guessing. Can you imagine the hate that would be spewed at every player, coach and/or member of the Front Office should they fall short of their ultimate goal of playing a football game in February in Houston? Picture the player who drops a critical pass (ala Patrick Crayton) on a promising drive that leads to a punt: his legacy will forever be accompanied by an asterisk denoting that fateful lack of focus on one of a thousand plays this young man has been involved in his life. One play in a sea of plays. One dropped pass amid an ocean of catches and touchdowns and contributions to wins. And yet, that one dropped pass will be the story of him; how he is remembered.
All the while in his own self-reflection he does not see that one play; he sees the butterfly that he is. Because, let’s face it people, you don’t get to this stage of playing football for a living with a poor self-image. You really do have to love you some you to play at a level that warrants being drafted in the NFL. And mind you, there absolutely is nothing wrong with loving you some you…in fact, I’d say there is nothing more important in a single individuals life than to find a way to love themselves despite their innate and specific knowledge in regards to their own characters flaws and shortcomings. That, after all, is what life is all about. Because if you don’t figure out a way to love you some you, that may be the only thing you will have in common with those who have been placed around you. But I digress…
Should the Cowboys fall short of a Super Bowl, there is no question the various blogs, news outlets and their accompanying comment sections, and YouTube will become an endless string of angry “They should have started Romo; a rookie QB can’t win the Super Bowl,” “Fire Garrett,” “Trade Dez,” “Jerry should fire himself,” a picture of Zeke on a milk carton, should he not get enough perceived touches, etcetera, ad nauseum, etcetera…all the while, the Cowboys organization will be sitting on a team that very well could be one of the (if not the) team(s) to beat in 2017.
Will it suck if the Cowboys don’t make it to the Super Bowl this year? Of course it will. But I do believe there is a difference between this team and the Cowboys of 2014. As we bade fair thee well to the 2014 season, our Cowboys waded in a swamp of uncertainty. Could they keep Dez and Murray? The answer was no. Could Romo stay healthy for another season? The answer was no…and that is still the answer. Could the Cowboys find a passrush? Yes and no. It is still a work in progress, but by 2017 we fan’s I suspect will have to find a new bugaboo to label as the reason the Cowboys will fail again. Will the Cowboys ever find an eventual successor to Romo? The answer was a resounding “yes” as they snatched up Dak at the end of the fourth round to begin this amazing year. And that above all other reasons for hope that we as a fanbase may cling to is the one reason we should hold our heads high come what may going forward. There are not 32 starting caliber quarterbacks in the league, let alone enough to provide team’s a starter and a viable back-up. And if you are a viable backup, chances are you have your sights a bit higher than warming a bench and holding a clipboard. And yet here we are (every fan should be so lucky) waltzing into the playoffs with two players that very likely are more than capable of winning a Super Bowl provided their supporting cast does their job and does it well. If that bare-boned dose of truth doesn’t brighten your path, nothing will.
But the illumination I offer does not begin and end with Dak. Because were it not for the emergence of Dak and Zeke, we Cowboy fans would be pointing to another set of facts that suggest this organization is finally on the right path. Maliek Collins (drafted in the 3rd round) and Anthony Brown (drafted in the 6th round) have also found their way on the starting 22…and have also, in their own right, shined. Add to that the return of Charles Tapper and Jaylon Smith, and much of the Cowboys offseason work for that side of the ball is already done, which likely mean’s the Cowboys will do very little if anything in Free Agency…and rightfully so.
They can sit back and let the draft come to them because as it is it will be very difficult to find players who would supplant starters going into 2017. Much depends on who the Cowboys allow to walk and who they keep, but we can finally let go of that long-pent-up sigh of relief with the knowledge that Jerry is done paying veterans for what they have done and not what they are going to do. He’s done overpaying for Free Agents whose best days are behind them or their off-the-field issues outweigh their contribution on the field. He’s done driving this organization on a perpetual set of train tracks on a collision course with unending failure. And that alone, without the benefit of knowing what we have in Dak, Zeke, Brown and Collins, is yet another flood light on the path we tread as fans.
The difference, once again, is perspective. To be honest, I am not expecting the Cowboys to make it to the Super Bowl this year. Not sure why. Perhaps it is simply a defense-mechanism forged through years and years of disappointment. But here’s the deal, I’m not all that upset about that belief either. Because I vividly remember the countless years I left many a season behind wishing I could figure out a way to love another team other than the Cowboys; any team not being ran by Jerry Jones would do just fine. Just so long as I did not have to sit by and watch as he insanely tried every wrong way to win he could find and/or buy. Alas for then and fortunately for now, switching team allegiances is not a skill I possess.
But with this new Jerry and regime I have finally found my place of Zen. The future outlook for these Cowboys is far from bleak. So be it, should this year be added to the many years of not reaching the big show. From my perspective, this season was merely the caterpillar anyway.
