The Time to Begin Ownership Transition is Now

[Trouty]

I was an audience member. Before the show, the prep people would encourage the audience on how to react. If you want to be seen on television, you need smile and look interested. Well, I didn't want to be on television so I didn't smile.
But one of the guest was Leona Helmsley, the real estate magnate who was jailed for tax evasion. Well, her attorney was talking about how the government unfairly persecuted and prosecuted her. And while he was talking to her, I had a frown on my face because the studio lights were hot and shining in my eyes.
But the control room thought it was the perfect shot (because they needed a "mad" look as a reaction shot to what the laywer was saying), and they put me on television. The guy next to me nudged me and gleefully proclaimed, "You're on television, you're on television!"
I didn't want to be on television.

Fast forward several months later, I'm at a banquet and a little old white lady (I'm black and was fairly young at the time) walks up to me and says, "I saw you on the Sally Jessy Raphael show."

My claim to fame.

Couldn't get out of that one no matter how hard you tried!!

 

[LittleD]

It's not just New England though. I'd throw Tampa, Seattle, and a few others in there. It's helped some teams and it's hurt others, us being an other. When we could spend freely, we did, and it showed on the field.

Despite the cap, Detroit is fairly similar to how they were pre-cap(strong times then awful times), Chicago as well. Minnesota. Green Bay.

I wish we were more like Green Bay in the success dept. those years after Aikman were hard. Very hard. But when you can transfer from one franchise qb to another like in GB, it helps. They were horrendous before Favre came along.

After all this cap talk, I do still wonder how much having fewer draft rounds has hurt it overall.

You make good points as there were definite winners (adapters) and losers (laggards) to the new NFL parity party. Jerry wanted to be
the NY Yankees of the NFL and for a very few years he was able to pull it off. It took the FO several years to learn how to manage the cap and the loss of players due to the cap. If Jerry continues to rely on Stephen and McClay for the next 10 years, we just may make a giant comeback to NFL royalty.

 

[Risen Star]

Hmmmmm. What else happened around 1997? Oh yeah. The salary cap....

Before 97 but that had nothing to do with it.

Good cop out excuse though.

 

[robjay04]

There will never be any transition.

Jerry will be owner/GM until he dies. I expect Stephen to play a similar role afterwards. He could name a GM but I expect him to be as involved as his Dad is today.

 

[Trouty]

There will never be any transition.

Jerry will be owner/GM until he dies. I expect Stephen to play a similar role afterwards. He could name a GM but I expect him to be as involved as his Dad is today.

I really hope Stephen goes the route of Mark Davis and hires a real GM, Rob.

This nepotism and ownership meddling has to stop at some point. It's high time the owner is the owner of this franchise (like, oh, say Kraft) and he delegates authority to the GM, the Director of Player Personnel, and on downward -- like what most well-run franchises do.

 

[CIWhitefish]

The time to not bother with these Jerry must go posts starts now.

 

[cowboy_ron]

hmmm, I'm surprised this topic has never mentioned before.

 

[IrishAnto]

But then you look at New England, who kinda did the opposite(minus 1985?). Or Tampa Bay. Or Seattle even. The cap has changed everything.

Yes they went in the right direction and we took a wrong turn

 

[IrishAnto]

Stephen has probably learned something from every GM in the league.

I'm sure Jerry did too, but it didn't change the results on the field.
Sometimes you just have to accept you're not good enough ( not that I think he will)

 

[Doomsday101]

sorry but I don't see how playing the HOF game is putting the team at risk. Cowboys will not likely even play starters and the UDFA and rookies need the work.

However I am getting a kick out of how this is all Jerry but all things good are someone else. I get some hate Jerry but be a little consistent with you beef of him, not just find things you don't like and heap it on Jerry but avoid giving credit for very good moves by this team

 

[Smashin222]

Before 97 but that had nothing to do with it.

Good cop out excuse though.

Sorry? You don't think the reason the Cowboys have been less successful after 1997 has anything to do with the implementation of the salary cap? Were you around back then? Was pretty clear as soon as the salary cap happened that we had lost a huge advantage and it was a big part of our inability to retain talent after our Super Bowl years. Cap was implemented in 1994. We steadily lost talent over the next 2-3 years as the cap pressure built.

Frankly your opinion seems strange to me as someone who lived through that period.

Should we have a better record of playoff wins? Yes. Is a lot of that blame rightfully placed on Jerry. Yes. Is comparing a period where our team was constructed with no reference to a cap to a period without it a coherent metric. Absolutely not.

Risen, you're full of narratives about why our organization sucks. Stick to the meaningful ones.

 

[viman96]

They said that in 1974. The 1975 season was supposed to be the beginning of the struggle to rebuild. They went to the Super Bowl.

Landry invented half of what you see today on TV during a football game:

The 4-3 defense

Passing from the shotgun

Pre-snap motion

Tom Landry invented gameplanning. He invented the position of Quality Control Coach, whose job it was to evaluate opponents.

In 1989, Landry would have had Troy Aikman, the Cowboys long before Jerry made no secret of the fact he would be their guy. They already had Michael Irvin and Kelvin Martin. They had Herscell Walker and knew how to use him.

They had 60% of the starting offensive line of the 90's, Newton, Tuinei, and Kevin Gogan

They had Ken Norton, Jim Jeffcoat, Bill Bates on defense.

Landry would have turned them around. Football could never pass him by. He would have simply changed the game to his liking.

Regardless, he is the iconic coach that can't be fired, the kind that deserve to coach until he decides to step down, like Shula, Brown, and Lombardi. He earned that and much more. It is a travesty that the freakin' stadium isnt named after him.

Every other time before, he was doubted. Evety other time before, he shut those critic's mouths.

Never the less, I would have went with Jimmy and come up with a solution, the kind that supposedly made Jerry famous. I would have bribed the heck out of him, even given him a small piece of the team.

Jerry didn't even try, he called himself a Cowboy fan and was exposed the minute he opened his mouth. The public relations company he had to hire to advise him even admitted they screwed the entire thing up, but a real Cowboy fan could never do that to Coach Landry.

That is my point. Not that he shouldn't be the coach but that he deserved to be treated with far more respect. Jerry invoked the isssue of age at the time. Landry was 66. Jerry is now 75. "Too old" has reeked with hypocricy.

Then again, it cannot be said that the nuances of being a GM has now passed Jerry by. It never slowed down enough for him to hop on in the first place.

He could have possibly deserved the Hall of Fame on his merits as an owner. However, the handling of Tom Landry and his amateurish 15 years posing as a credible GM from 1996 to 2010 will always be dark blotches on his record of ownership, as well as the otherwise impressive history of the franchise.

I can only regard his induction as a form of payment for making his fellow owners richer, and their franchise's more valuable.

Firing Landry was part of the deal when Jones purchased the Cowboys. I love Tom as much as any longtime fan, but his time had passed.

 

[robjay04]

I really hope Stephen goes the route of Mark Davis and hires a real GM, Rob.

This nepotism and ownership meddling has to stop at some point. It's high time the owner is the owner of this franchise (like, oh, say Kraft) and he delegates authority to the GM, the Director of Player Personnel, and on downward -- like what most well-run franchises do.

I believe the process has already begun. Jerry seems to be more of a ceremonial GM at this point.

I doubt he has much impact on the bargain shopping free agency we have done the last few years. Player retention also seems to be out of Jerry's hand because he has always historically been quick to open his checkbook after a successful season.

Also, if you watch the war room cam...Jerry seems to be nothing more than the leader of the welcoming party. Stephen works the phones, McClay is the man with the draft board and the coordinators/position coaches have a big hand in the process as well. I believe we will have the committee approach for the foreseeable future. Even if we do eventually give the GM role to McClay, Stephen will still be more involved than a traditional owner.

 

[Trouty]

I believe the process has already begun. Jerry seems to be more of a ceremonial GM at this point.

I doubt he has much impact on the bargain shopping free agency we have done the last few years. Player retention also seems to be out of Jerry's hand because he has always historically been quick to open his checkbook after a successful season.

Also, if you watch the war room cam...Jerry seems to be nothing more than the leader of the welcoming party. Stephen works the phones, McClay is the man with the draft board and the coordinators/position coaches have a big hand in the process as well. I believe we will have the committee approach for the foreseeable future. Even if we do eventually give the GM role to McClay, Stephen will still be more involved than a traditional owner.

Which I don't like. I want Stephen to be a traditional owner. Traditional owners, in this day and age (around all of sports, not just the NFL), win championships.

 

[plasticman]

Firing Landry was part of the deal when Jones purchased the Cowboys. I love Tom as much as any longtime fan, but his time had passed.

I can't help it, you want to see a post the size of a college research paper, just treat Tom Landry like he was any other average NFL coach that sooner or later, runs out of time and ownership patience.

True, given that Bum Bright was in financial straights, he could not afford to say no.. However, it was Jerry Jones that made that stipulation. He fired a guy that earned the right to go out on his own terms, just like a short list of NFL and college coaches that reached the ultimate heights in achievement. The method they used to get rtid of Landry was an insult to his accomplishments, his contributions to the game and the fans that enjoyed an unprescedented twenty consecutive years of winning.

Tom Landry was seven years removed from an appearance in a conference championship game and three years removed from a winning season so his time had passed?

How long has it been for the current Cowboys under the "guidance' of their GM? More than three times as long as it was for Landry.....hypocrite!

Three consecutive losing seasons for Landry after twenty consecutive winning seasons and twenty consecutive drafts in which they picked in the bottom quarter.....
The first was a strike shortened 7-8. The second was 7-9. the third was 3-13 during a season in which he lost his starting quarterback, backup quarterback, 1st round draft pick WR, and many more. this was the season that "proved' he was done.

Name me another team that lost their starter and backup quarterback and still ended up with a winning season. The Cowboys last season? Dak would have beaten out Moore for the backup job, I think. other than that, I don't see it.

But again, I was not opposed to Landry stepping down, they should have been able to find a way to make that happen. And they should have made it public. That way if Landry refused nobody could have said that Jones was disrespectful to the guy most responsible for making the Cowboys a valuable asset. Jones is still making money off the legacy created by Landry.....absolute hypocrite!

that whole argument of "his time had passed", "He was too old", or "He didn't understand the modern player" was completely without proof. However, he took several teams that were pronounced DOA and didn't just win, the went deep into the playoffs.

For years the media experts had been predicting Landry's demise and for years he destroyed their credibility. When they finally had the opportunity to gloat they were not kind.

I realize you said you were a Landry fan also, Sorry, my frustration is not directed at you. I just needed to say, I will defend this man to my dying day. I won't allow other fans of other teams or their media to trivialize Landry's accomplishments and then delegate him to a lower tier of success in the eyes of all NFL fans. he was truly one of the giants.

 

[Risen Star]

Sorry? You don't think the reason the Cowboys have been less successful after 1997 has anything to do with the implementation of the salary cap?

No.

Were you around back then?

Yes.

Was pretty clear as soon as the salary cap happened that we had lost a huge advantage and it was a big part of our inability to retain talent after our Super Bowl years. Cap was implemented in 1994. We steadily lost talent over the next 2-3 years as the cap pressure built.

Frankly your opinion seems strange to me as someone who lived through that period.

Should we have a better record of playoff wins? Yes. Is a lot of that blame rightfully placed on Jerry. Yes. Is comparing a period where our team was constructed with no reference to a cap to a period without it a coherent metric. Absolutely not.

Risen, you're full of narratives about why our organization sucks. Stick to the meaningful ones.

What huge advantage did we lose? Tell me how that dynasty in the 90's was built on spending.

The last 20 years looks like it does because the Cowboys were mismanaged. They didn't have the personnel guru. They didn't have head coaches with authority. Blaming some salary cap that wouldn't have prevented that 90's team from being built is nonsense.

 

[Ranched]

I know I'm not alone in taking notice that it's been very obvious, JJ is on the back burner sort of speak as to team decisions. When I first noticed this was back when JJ wanted Johnny Football in the worse way. Somehow I feel confident Stephen talked his father out of that huge mistake. Wish I was the fly on the wall when Stephen told his Pop, "see that Dad, I told ya he was a bad egg".

 

[kazzd58]

let them do it the way they want to dot it y..

Because its going to b transitioned when its time to transition they doing good right now

who cares about name titles so much i

it is what it is jerry aint leaving untill hes ready

 

[CCBoy]

If you mess with our unique structure you lose all the distinct advantages that come with it. Advantages we've enjoyed for two decades now.

1977-1996: 22 postseason wins
1997-2016: 2 postseason wins

Don't fix what isn't broken.

Camp crowd this summer - Jerry!..... Jerry!...... Jerry!.....

Actually, to be honest and not cherry picking results...an owner/GM over NFL history, have been higher in their percentages, both at wins and post season...just to be truthful

 

[CCBoy]

Jerry didn't even try, he called himself a Cowboy fan and was exposed the minute he opened his mouth. The public relations company he had to hire to advise him even admitted they screwed the entire thing up, but a real Cowboy fan could never do that to Coach Landry.

Prove your point outside of a stereotyped lynching...and stay away from the obvious and routine name callings.