The Cap, Fandom, and Loyalty

[gjkoeppen]

I agree but would only add I hated FA. Never wanted it, I like seeing a team built through the draft and guys playing most if not their entire career with each other.

To a large extent I agree but the players had no leverage then because they had to either accept what a team offered or sit out a season so they could negotiate with any team. To continue on free agency, that is actually what caused the cap. When free agency first started teams could protect some players and then it evolved into what it is today. Free agency drove up the player costs to where the packers and browns couldn't compete with the Cowboys on signing free agents so they brought up the idea of the cap and an owners meeting and for a year they convinced enough teams that it's not fair for 2 or 3 teams to be able to out spend all the rest of the teams for players so the following year it came up for a vote and passed.
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[Ranching]

My only rule as a fan, you root for the team, not the players.

I root for the players on my team.

 

[Doomsday101]

To a large extent I agree but the players had no leverage then because they had to either accept what a team offered or sit out a season so they could negotiate with any team. To continue on free agency, that is actually what caused the cap. When free agency first started teams could protect some players and then it evolved into what it is today. Free agency drove up the player costs to where the packers and browns couldn't compete with the Cowboys on signing free agents so they brought up the idea of the cap and an owners meeting and for a year they convinced enough teams that it's not fair for 2 or 3 teams to be able to out spend all the rest of the teams for players so the following year it came up for a vote and passed.
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I get that, but all I can say is I am thankful I got to see the NFL before FA when teams were like family and the rivalries were personal with these guys which made from some major slug feast games. I don't see that today. They are out there hugging and getting each others autographs at the end of the game.

 

[viman96]

As a fan I do not favor FA. However if I was a player I would be a huge fan of it. Free market is way it should be for everyone.

Imagine if you were stuck at a job because the company owned your rights? No thanks.

 

[Doomsday101]

As a fan I do not favor FA. However if I was a player I would be a huge fan of it. Free market is way it should be for everyone.

Imagine if you were stuck at a job because the company owned your rights? No thanks.

my boss said Im free to go anytime I want and get another job. Hell I have been a FA my entire working career. lol

 

[gjkoeppen]

Chances are you are not alone. Im die hard as it gets with Dallas, as a fan from 65 till today I have missed a total of 1 Cowboys game and that was due to a death in the family. I don't miss games even pre season games. Having said that you bet there have been some great names in this organization, guys I looked up to as a kid. I can also say I am a fan of this game and yeah there are guys I loved watching as a kid, guys like Fred Bilentnikoff with the Raiders, Decon Jones with the Rams hell even Mean Joe Green with Pitt and Montana with SF. I respected them because they were great but if they were going up against Dallas believe me 100% backing my Boys. lol

I've only missed a couple games and that was when I was in the USAF and was stationed in Germany. They had games on the armed forces TV and I was lucky that the Cowboys were on just about every week. The only bad thing was having to get up in the middle of the night to watch them. There always a big crowd that piled into the game room of our dorm and watched the games on this 19" TV. My roomy was from Tampa and he would come down every week and then whine because the Bucs were never on except 1 time when they played the Cowboys.
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[Future]

I like some of your ideas. The only problem I have with any changes, positive or negative, is that they will apply to all the teams. So, Cowboys will always be at a disadvantage due to the people in charge of the team.

Lol what are you talking about? Dallas would be in contention every year.

They'd be the highest bidder on every FA.

 

[fivetwos]

Chances are you are not alone. Im die hard as it gets with Dallas, as a fan from 65 till today I have missed a total of 1 Cowboys game and that was due to a death in the family. I don't miss games even pre season games. Having said that you bet there have been some great names in this organization, guys I looked up to as a kid. I can also say I am a fan of this game and yeah there are guys I loved watching as a kid, guys like Fred Bilentnikoff with the Raiders, Decon Jones with the Rams hell even Mean Joe Green with Pitt and Montana with SF. I respected them because they were great but if they were going up against Dallas believe me 100% backing my Boys. lol

Wow I'm all proud of my own streak, which is nothing up against that.

Congrats on that and may it continue....

 

[CATCH17]

Lol what are you talking about? Dallas would be in contention every year.

They'd be the highest bidder on every FA.

lol.. I don't think people understand the Cowboys worth.

Jerry Jones can print money.

The amount we are worth makes me just more upset with how the team is ran if I even begin to try and put it in perspective.

 

[aria]

I like the cap, glad it’s there.

 

[CouchCoach]

I am a laundry fan and still like the team in spite of the fact I do not like some of the players, Lawrence, Elliott, Smith and Woods because he has to whine every time the Cowboys get mentioned with another S. Just shut up.

I have had to look past players for a long time and didn't in the early days because it was all kept quiet. I didn't like Irvin, Sanders, Owens or Bryant but I did celebrate their plays made for my team.

I think the reason for the cap really does escape some people and while they think it might have been to create and preserve parity, it was put into place to keep the owners in check and guarantee a profit before the first kickoff.

There is this misconception that Booger would rule the NFL with no cap and I really don't get what that is based on as he does not have the deepest pockets. Which is why he was so strong on the cap from the beginning, his bout with Emmitt taught him a lesson of things to come.

You might get a team going for broke like the Marlins did and then blowing it all up but that would not be standard because these are business people first, they've not a bunch of fantasy players in a 15B industry. The cap was designed to keep the players' salaries down to a manageable level and make sure every owner makes money, not create parity.

 

[75boyz]

My only rule as a fan, you root for the team, not the players.

Yep. Whether you think it's a corny punchline makes no difference. It ALL boils down to what's best for The Team, The Team, The Team.

Not The Brand, The Brand The Brand OR most definitely NOT The Dak, The Dak, The Dak.

Dallas Cowboys. Period.

 

[TexasBacon]

I get that, but all I can say is I am thankful I got to see the NFL before FA when teams were like family and the rivalries were personal with these guys which made from some major slug feast games. I don't see that today. They are out there hugging and getting each others autographs at the end of the game.

In one sentence you articulated what I couldn't say in 4 paragraphs, lol.

 

[gjkoeppen]

lol.. I don't think people understand the Cowboys worth.

Jerry Jones can print money.

The amount we are worth makes me just more upset with how the team is ran if I even begin to try and put it in perspective.

Now you're no longer happy with what anyone who reads your comments on Prescott has to think it's humor because what you say is so far off reality, you're now making another funny with Jones can print money..
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[OmerV]

My only rule as a fan, you root for the team, not the players.

Of course a fan should root for both because the team has to have the players and the players have to have the team, but ultimately the team is more important

 

[DFWJC]

My only rule as a fan, you root for the team, not the players.

It's the bizaare thing about Pro Sports these days
It's almost comical.

You're saying you could take your favorite Dallas team (pick a year.) vs the team you most hated in that era....flip the rosters so all the players from your most hated team are now Cowboys and vice-versa.....and now you love them because of the color of their uniform.

Take college teams for example, in years past. People either went to that college or it was a college that they pulled for, usually, from their home state full of high school players from their home state.
So an actual, real, reason to have loyalty.

Or even the old pro teams where the players stayed much longer. Because of that, you built fan loyalty because the top players were often there for their entire careers--or close to it.
Again...a bond formed and there was loyalty both ways. Not just because of the players, but at least partly so.

Now its just so random.

 

[Colombiacowboy]

The team has an owner/GM that I am absolutely disgusted with at this point. So I can't abide by your "rule".

Even if the NFL has no salary cap, Jerry would still screw it up.

 

[gjkoeppen]

I am a laundry fan and still like the team in spite of the fact I do not like some of the players, Lawrence, Elliott, Smith and Woods because he has to whine every time the Cowboys get mentioned with another S. Just shut up.

I have had to look past players for a long time and didn't in the early days because it was all kept quiet. I didn't like Irvin, Sanders, Owens or Bryant but I did celebrate their plays made for my team.

I think the reason for the cap really does escape some people and while they think it might have been to create and preserve parity, it was put into place to keep the owners in check and guarantee a profit before the first kickoff.

There is this misconception that Booger would rule the NFL with no cap and I really don't get what that is based on as he does not have the deepest pockets. Which is why he was so strong on the cap from the beginning, his bout with Emmitt taught him a lesson of things to come.

You might get a team going for broke like the Marlins did and then blowing it all up but that would not be standard because these are business people first, they've not a bunch of fantasy players in a 15B industry. The cap was designed to keep the players' salaries down to a manageable level and make sure every owner makes money, not create parity.

The only owner with more money that Jones is Jody Allen and unless she is completely different than her dead husband when there was no cap and he didn't spend a lot of money in free agency, there really aren't any other owners that could out spend Jones for players if there was no cap. The players fought for and got free agency which is what later caused the league to start the cap. You are right that the cap was supposed to keep a reign on player's salaries but now it's turned into a class system with the super stars salaries rising faster than other's salaries and it's lost control of keeping salaries down. The biggest reason for the cap was because of 2 teams who couldn't keep up in the free agent market, the packers and browns. They convinced enough owners to not let the Cowboys and a couple other teams continue to buy Super Bowls by out bidding other teams for the best free agents.
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[gjkoeppen]

Even if the NFL has no salary cap, Jerry would still screw it up.

Gee he bought THREE Super Bowls with the free agents he got by out bidding other teams.
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[Swagger]

But surely being able to build a winning team is part of the challenge these days?

The salary cap in the NFL is actually what makes it more appealing to me than say football over in England/Europe as you just have the same teams spending the most money winning all the trophies. What's the point for the other teams competing every season?