What was Jerrys biggest mistake?

[gimmesix]

Jimmy "left" because of tensions between him and Jerry.

No, Jimmy left because he wanted a new challenge. Johnson was never one to stay long anywhere. Some people are just like that.

Maybe Jerry could have kept Johnson around for another year, but he already had one foot out the door.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Jimmy left. But Jimmy found out that the pastures arent always greener elsewhere. Jimmy needed Jerry just as much has Jerry needed Jimmy.

I have seen you preach that people don't really understand the game of football so many times I cannot count.

Now you make this statement and completely underscore your lack of understanding of what transpired to win three Super Bowls.

And in all that it had nothing to do with Jerry but buying the team and letting Jimmy and his coaching staff do their thing.

The fundamentals of why Jimmy won was not any machinations of Jerry other than signing a check.

Jimmy had spent five years as a head coach scouting and recruiting the best players in the nation. He had almost an FBI dossier on every college recruit about to hit the pros. He had a staff that was sharp and focused like Jimmy, and they took advantage of the information THEY had. Not Jerry.

Then Jimmy decided to trade away Walker and Mike Lynn lifted his skirt and did the Saigon boom boom and gave Jimmy way too much.

Jimmy used those picks to position himself in the draft to select the exact players he needed to succeed.

Jerry had no hand in that other than to rubber stamp something the man in charge of player personnel decided.

Then Jerome Brown died. And if you don't think that didn't have a major influence on this team's success, then you really know zip about this game. That defensive front four terrorized the same line that won it all. Clyde Simmons wrecked Aikman's shoulder on a deliberate tackle, hammering him into the ground. And Nate Newton with help from Stepnoski couldn't handle Brown with a Swat team, Seal team six, and limited battlefield nuclear devices.

If you want to give Jerry some credit, then you may do so for the Haley trade. Because that is the sum total of his influence over writing his name on checks.

And that may be a lot. But Haley had six sacks the first year he was here. So his contribution can be viewed in a more subdued light rather than savior.

It was a perfect storm for Jimmy and his staff.

A. They had the intelligence to make good talent decisions.

B. Via the Walker trade they had the ammo to position themselves.

C. Jimmy was a real hard butt and disciplinarian who got the most out of teams because they feared him. (Something so many say isn't important, but is the crux of what this team needs.)

And in all that Jerry stood around and wanted credit for something he had so little influence on it is amazing.

He truly was in charge of the socks and jocks. Both of them laundry.

What happened in Miami was an over the hill quarterback that would not go along with Jimmy's plans and a team not built from the ground up with Jimmy's philosophy.

Apples and hazel nuts, Latin mind. Nothing more, you argument is.

 

[Red Dragon]

Thinking Jason Garrett could coach. Way to throw away the prime years of some of the best Cowboys ever.

Rather keep Wade Phillips?

 

[Alexander]

As for Jerry the GM he's had his ups and downs. But what I do love about him is he is never scared to gamble, or spend money. I like that.

I would agree with you if Jerry Jones could evaluate talent. Being a risk taker with a rational brain behind it can be golden in this league. Sadly, he does not know what makes a successful player. He misses on the intangibles badly. He also lacks balance between loving athleticism and flash, but appreciating what a good football player is. It is the same thing that cursed Al Davis near the end.

 

[gimmesix]

IMO not drafting Randy Moss. He wouldve prolonged the careers of Irvin, Aikman, and Emmitt. When they announced Ellis' name i was devistated.

The Herschel Walker trade. Gave up a great back and got nothing out of it.

 

[Alexander]

No, Jimmy left because he wanted a new challenge. Johnson was never one to stay long anywhere. Some people are just like that.

Maybe Jerry could have kept Johnson around for another year, but he already had one foot out the door.

There is no real denying the fact Jimmy Johnson wanted out. Jones had threatened him and his ego repeatedly. Instead of getting out of the way, he interjected himself because he was insecure.

But let's play make-believe and look at things now. Imagine Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick. Imagine Bob Kraft suddenly demanding that Belichick make him look important in the draft room. Imagine if Kraft became furious that Belichick announced a trade that did not allow him to take credit when he had nothing to do with it? Would he want to leave? I can assure you he would.

 

[Aven8]

I would agree with you if Jerry Jones could evaluate talent. Being a risk taker with a rational brain behind it can be golden in this league. Sadly, he does not know what makes a successful player. He misses on the intangibles badly. He also lacks balance between loving athleticism and flash, but appreciating what a good football player is. It is the same thing that cursed Al Davis near the end.

That's very true. But don't act like these "stand on the table" scouts, or coaches aren't selling Jerry on a lot of these guys as well. Jason Williams was a Wade pick remember? Do we really believe Jerry watches film? Really? My point is I want my Owner/GM to gamble and spend. AJ Smith, and Pioli were once thought of as brillant GM's and now where are they? Everybody screws up. Everybody. Jerry just has 20 years on paper going.

Btw, what I really would like to know is/I would actually kill to know, is this Jerry not wanting Oline help the past few years, or is JG selling Jerry that he and now Cally can coach them up? I don't buy that Jerry hates lineman. He has 108 million reasons to protect his investment afterall.

 

[Tabascocat]

No, Jimmy left because he wanted a new challenge. Johnson was never one to stay long anywhere. Some people are just like that.

Maybe Jerry could have kept Johnson around for another year, but he already had one foot out the door.

You don't think there is a chance that Jimmy would have stayed a few more years if JJ just sat back and not intervened? I think he would have, or at least a good chance at that scenario.

 

[Risen Star]

That's very true. But don't act like these "stand on the table" scouts, or coaches aren't selling Jerry on a lot of these guys as well. Jason Williams was a Wade pick remember? Do we really believe Jerry watches film? Really? My point is I want my Owner/GM to gamble and spend. AJ Smith, and Pioli were once thought of as brillant GM's and now where are they? Everybody screws up. Everybody. Jerry just has 20 years on paper going.

Btw, what I really would like to know is/I would actually kill to know, is this Jerry not wanting Oline help the past few years, or is JG selling Jerry that he and now Cally can coach them up? I don't buy that Jerry hates lineman. He has 108 million reasons to protect his investment afterall.

If your GM can't evaluate talent and has to be pointed in the right direction by scouts, Dallas...you got a problem.

Honestly, the answer is allowing his ego to get in the way of the success of the team. There is no other answer that comes close to that. Without that mistake, this franchise's last 17 years would look much different.

 

[Risen Star]

You don't think there is a chance that Jimmy would have stayed a few more years if JJ just sat back and not intervened? I think he would have, or at least a good chance at that scenario.

Of course he would. He wasn't going to miss a chance to three-peat and make history. He just could no longer tolerate the lunatic who owned the team.

 

[Idgit]

Jimmy's said publicly many times that he was the reason for his own departure from Dallas.

“I’d done my deal and needed to move on,” Johnson said during Wednesday’s PwC-SMU Athletic Forum luncheon. “Jerry Jones catches more abuse -- he doesn’t deserve abuse. I was going to south Florida.”

Johnson described leaving Dallas as the most difficult decision of his career. He is adamant, however, that it was his decision to walk away after the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVIII.

“It’s something I had to do,” Johnson said, adding that he was consumed with coaching and essentially an absentee father for his five years in Dallas. “I knew I was going to do it, but I had to do it. Sometimes you’ve got things you’ve got to do.

“It had nothing to do with anybody or anything. It was just me. I had done my job. For five years, I lived (at the facility). I didn’t have a life.”

My own opinion is that both grown adults acted like children in this particular breakup. They're both responsible, and they both handled it badly. But to pretend the issue was solely Jerry's ego is an unhealthy fantasy.

 

[LatinMind]

The Herschel Walker trade. Gave up a great back and got nothing out of it.

that is my favorite moment as a cowboys fan. Hated it at the moment because walker was the reason i started watching the cowboys.

 

[Alexander]

That's very true. But don't act like these "stand on the table" scouts, or coaches aren't selling Jerry on a lot of these guys as well. Jason Williams was a Wade pick remember? Do we really believe Jerry watches film? Really?

Of course not. That is why there needs to be a real general manager.

The final decision maker needs to have the ability to judge talent independently and sift through the noise.

Jerry Jones is a CEO who plays GM one day a year and we are subject to who screams the loudest in his ear. He is no innocent "listening victim" either, as he will exercise control and overrule the scouts, as he did with Carter.

There are other times he defers far too much to the coaches, which you alluded to. That is the issue, he has to defer because he lacks the ability.

 

[TwoDeep3]

"Any one of five-hundred coaches could have won with that team," Jerry Jones.

Basic psychology should suggest to any interested party that Jerry has been trying to justify his role on the team and in the league ever since Jimmy left.

His being adamant that he will always be in charge is a testament to his ego and him holding out hope for one more Championship to solidify his role as architect.

Every press conference, draft day war room scene with Jerry holding a phone, walking the sidelines of practice indicate he believes his input is invaluable.

And without Romo, a player he did not find at all, he would be a 4-12 perennial loser.

Because he is the one who built this city. And regardless if the scouts have his ear or the coaches or whomever, he scuttles his own ship by being both the GM and the President and allowing people to circumvent the chain-of-command.

Any one of 500 GMs could have turned in a 500 ball club with Romo.

 

[CoCo]

“I’d done my deal and needed to move on,” Johnson said during Wednesday’s PwC-SMU Athletic Forum luncheon. “Jerry Jones catches more abuse -- he doesn’t deserve abuse. I was going to south Florida.”

Johnson described leaving Dallas as the most difficult decision of his career. He is adamant, however, that it was his decision to walk away after the Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVIII.

“It’s something I had to do,” Johnson said, adding that he was consumed with coaching and essentially an absentee father for his five years in Dallas. “I knew I was going to do it, but I had to do it. Sometimes you’ve got things you’ve got to do.

“It had nothing to do with anybody or anything. It was just me. I had done my job. For five years, I lived (at the facility). I didn’t have a life.”

I am always stunned at the number of people who are unaware of the above or totally ignore or dismiss it. To me, that screams agenda and I'm therefore pretty quick to dismiss what they have to say.

 

[Floatyworm]

Romo -6 year....108mil

Everything else will pale in comparison in a few years

People just don't know it yet

 

[burmafrd]

Romo -6 year....108mil

Everything else will pale in comparison in a few years

People just don't know it yet

I needed a good laugh

 

[Apollo Creed]

I used to say passing on Randy Moss but I think it was the Roy Williams trade.

Giving away half your draft for a guy you probably could've gotten in the offseason or for merely a first - and killing your team with an epically bad 'special teams' draft cripples the teams ability to surround its franchise QB with a roster to contend. Instead it put the onus squarely on his shoulders.

It's okay to have a bad offseason or draft, but to go 0-12 with the majority of those guys outside of Jason Williams no longer in the league - means everyone dropped the ball, no they didn't just drop it they let it bounce off their head over the fence ala Canseco.

 

[Jarv]

Signing D. Sanders and starting the undermining of all of his coaches from that point on. Dieon did not have to work out or even be in the defensive huddle, the strength coach Mike W. quit because of that and since then every player could go over the coaches head and see the owner if they were not happy.

No coach has had the slightest chance since that happened. Its the atmosphere he created.

 

[Vanilla2]

Roy Williams trade.