The Last Cowboy: A Life of Tom Landry Book excerpts...Landry died a Giants fan?

[CowboyGil]

Sounds like some NY propaganda to me.

 

[CowboyGil]

The worst thing also fired Jimmy Johnson. How many years are we going to live off those 3 SB's?

Jimmy pretty much fired himself. He was ready to move on. See "A Football life: Jimmy Johnson".

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

Jimmy pretty much fired himself. He was ready to move on. See "A Football life: Jimmy Johnson".

I saw it. He was also pushed out faster than he would have I think. If the NFL had passed Landry by then what does it say about Jones? The only difference is that he's here to stay.

 

[Plankton]

I can't believe you did it either.
And partner you really should have left that last paragraph bouncing around in your brain.

I take nothing back about what I wrote, and feel entirely comfortable with it.

Tom Landry was a great man, and a great football coach, but he chose to hold a grudge and hold it until he passed away. His family apparently holds the same grudge. They are absolutely entitled, but it isn't a Christian thing to do. I don't think that can be denied.

Landry, at the end, was not entitled to the job for life. Jones, after buying the team, had every right to make a coaching change. What should have been done was to try and have Landry retire gracefully, but I don't think Landry was going to let that happen - he wanted to coach until HE said he was done. It was handled horribly, no question. Schramm and Bright deserve as much, if not more blame, for how it turned out. Jones did reach out to the Landry family on many occasions to have Tom be a part of some celebrations, and was largely rebuffed.

The Jim Dent book King Of The Cowboys: The Life and Times of Jerry Jones is a fascinating read about Jones' rise, and there is a good amount of time dedicated to how Jones acquired the Cowboys, and the changes he made. When he bought the team, they were losing $1 million per month. He redid the whole ticket scheme (PSLs and recalling season tickets from players and long time ticket holders), fired a number of Schramm loyalists and making a lot of changes to the luxury suites. He was ruthless with a lot of the changes, and many of them were not implemented in the best manner, but he turned the team into a money making monster.

 

[Plankton]

Long time Cowboy fan here. Tom Landry is one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in NFL history. Tom Landry is the reason why the Cowboys became America's Team and so many of you here today are Cowboy fans (although you may not know it). To speak about him or remember him as anything different is blasphemous to Cowboy History...period!

I agree with Landry's place in history, and the Cowboys certainly would not have been the Cowboys without him.

I also don't think anyone indicated that he should be remembered any differently than that.

 

[Zordon]

here's two posts I took from another site regarding the same topic. it's amazing how many have abandoned ship b/c of their disdain for jerry.

The day Jones fired Landry I quit following the Cowboys. Haven't watched them play since then.

For me, the day Jimmy Johnson left, I stopped caring about this team. I said then as I do today, as long as Jerry Jones remains as owner, the Cowboys will always be "average". His ego and inability to accept who he is will always get in the way. With Jimmy, he didn't have a choice to accept his role because he "needed to win". Once Jimmy delivered, Jones couldn't help himself anymore.

 

[Miller]

The Landry family aren't Jerry Jones fans....

http://********.com/tom-landrys-widow-says-tom-landry-died-a-giants-fan-1456827767

Alicia Landry also claims that Jones took away the Landry family's suite at since-demolished Texas Stadium and barred Landry's son, Tom Jr., without explanation from continuing to buy Cowboys season tickets.

Jones' behavior prompted Tom Landry to renew his love of the Giants — where he had served as defensive coordinator from 1954 until taking over the expansion Cowboys in 1960 — until his death in 2000.

Landry's widow said she still cheers on the Cowboys' NFC East rivals to this day.

 

[DallasCowboysRule!]

That Hank Hill gif in the ******** comments is the best reply possible to this story

 

[Dodger12]

People romanticize Tom Landry since he was such an icon. I was angry at the time mainly because it is a shock when someone that significant is simply and ungracefully swept aside.

But Landry needed to go. We were no longer the smartest team in the NFL. We were getting brutalized when we started playing the NFL's powerhouses like the Bears and 49ers. The talent level in particular had really dwindled. There needed to be change.

While I did not hold it against Jones personally as bad as a lot of people, it certainly could have been handled better.

There is one fact people always overlook and that is Coach Landry himself. He felt entitled to stay in a way and mentioned he wanted to continue coaching into the 1990s unless he was fired. Jones even offered him a million dollars to stay on in the organization in another capacity and Landry never gave him an answer.

We had to move on and if he became a "Giants fan" after that, oh well.

Spot on. Landry will always be an icon or at least he should be. But his time had run it's course. I remember thinking back then that we'd just restock in the draft, move on and be back on top in no time. That's how confident I was that we could do it. That is, until I saw us roll out Hogenboom and Pelluer. I knew we were toast and a change had to be made.

But the one thing I believe is the story about the Landry family seats/box at the stadium. I truly believe Jerry wanted to get out of Landry's shadow and had no real appreciation for the history of the franchise. Me, I would have let the family have their seats and done so for free, at least until Landry passed on.

 

[Miller]

I agree with many on here who say he needed to be fired but the way it was done was the issue. Landry was still running the Flex. The game had passed him by. He got to a point where he was stubborn to a fault. I, for one, was glad he was fired and excited for a new beginning. I thought Jones just handled it badly and it looked classless. You can't keep people around just because of sentimental value. He is a legend and and will always be a legend for the Cowboy. It was time though. Not surprised his family feels this way though.

 

[Rockport]

This is interesting. I think it helps to read the whole article. It makes it sound like Tom was fairly indifferent to rooting for football teams after his retirement, which is not that surprising. As I recall, Landry said some good things about the way the 90s cowboys played, or am I mis-remembering.

Also, in my experience, difficult experiences, like the firing in this case, are often harder on the spoue than the individual it happens to, i.e. it is hard for Alicia Landry to let go of these things, because of the pain that the firing of her husband caused her. My guess is that Landry had no great relationship with Jones, but also probably bore no ill will.

Women, in particular, are very bitter and vindictive.

 

[Red Dragon]

Long time Cowboy fan here. Tom Landry is one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in NFL history. Tom Landry is the reason why the Cowboys became America's Team and so many of you here today are Cowboy fans (although you may not know it). To speak about him or remember him as anything different is blasphemous to Cowboy History...period!

He was a great coach, no doubt. But the time had come for him for him to leave.


The Cowboys probably don't win those 3 championships in the 1990s if Landry were coaching.

 

[Carolina Cowboy]

That just sticks in my craw.

 

[Ratmatt]

I can't believe that I am doing this, but I am actually going to defend Jerry Jones here.

Yes, he completed handled Landry's firing in a ham-handed, amateurish manner.

However, he was led astray somewhat by both Bum Bright and Tex Schramm, who should have handled Landry's dismissal, but didn't. The press conference that night was also a train wreck, and Jones has never recovered from it.

As to the seat and luxury suite situation, Jones did the same thing with a number of former Cowboys, and they were not pleased either. He did this when he basically introduced the first PSL since Clint Murchison built Texas Stadium - his company called ProSeat. I think that it is bad form, but I doubt that he told Tom Jr. that he could never buy tickets again - what businessman would turn down money from someone who wants to buy tickets?

And, considering that Tom Jr. participated in the commissioning of the statue that was at Texas Stadium (and now at AT&T Stadium), and also participated in the ceremony for the closing of Texas Stadium, this all rings a little hollow.

For as Christian as Tom Landry and his family were and are, they have not necessarily been the most Christian like when it comes to forgiveness.

Bum Bright told Jerry Jones he would handle the Landry situation,and Jerry told him no he would take care of it.

 

[Ratmatt]

Are people upset because Landry was fired or for the way it was handled? First he needed to go because he was starting to forget players names and you can't have that out of your coach, secondly maybe people felt like Jerry overstepped his bounds and left it to someone else. I for one have never had a problem with Jerry doing it since he didn't hide behind personnel and did it f2f like a man knowing the backlash that would come, i do get a kick however at the people who hate the Landry firing but celebrated the 3 SB wins.

Landry should have been fired.Jimmy Johnson was one of the best things that ever happened to this team.Taking away the Landry family suite,and barring Tom Jr. from buying season tickets is a little too much.

 

[SportsGuru80]

The worst thing also fired Jimmy Johnson. How many years are we going to live off those 3 SB's?

Exactly!

 

[fgoodwin]

For full disclosure, the article's author and tweeter work for the NY Post. But the book certainly sounds interesting.

Bart Hubbuch used to be a DMN reporter. I believe he was in Dallas when Jerry bought the team.

 

[fgoodwin]

With all due respect to Alicia Landry, I am skeptical of this claim.

Everyone knows she is fiercely loyal to her "Tommy" and that she is no friend of Jones. But blocking Tom Jr. from buying season tickets? Does that make any sense to you? If the suite was free, I can maybe see that, but the rest sounds like sour grapes.

I just started reading the book, so I will reserve judgement until I finish it.

 

[fgoodwin]

The Jim Dent book King Of The Cowboys: The Life and Times of Jerry Jones is a fascinating read about Jones' rise, and there is a good amount of time dedicated to how Jones acquired the Cowboys, and the changes he made. When he bought the team, they were losing $1 million per month. He redid the whole ticket scheme (PSLs and recalling season tickets from players and long time ticket holders), fired a number of Schramm loyalists and making a lot of changes to the luxury suites. He was ruthless with a lot of the changes, and many of them were not implemented in the best manner, but he turned the team into a money making monster.

No question as owner and GM one of the most important things Jerry did was actually run the Cowboys like a business!

That was one of Schramm's failings. Because he was spending someone else's money, he never felt like he had to be accountable for it. Of course the one area of expenses where Schramm was famously tight-fisted was player salaries.

Ironically, that doesn't seem to be a problem for the current GM.

 

[T-RO]

I take nothing back about what I wrote, and feel entirely comfortable with it.

Tom Landry was a great man, and a great football coach, but he chose to hold a grudge and hold it until he passed away. His family apparently holds the same grudge. They are absolutely entitled, but it isn't a Christian thing to do. I don't think that can be denied.

Rooting for one team or another has zero to do with morality, spirituality or ethics. Just stop w/the nonsense.

If anything you could make the argument that strong morals would put you in a position where you must oppose Jerry Jones. He is...let's be honest...more than a little sleazy.