When We Have Needed It, Inexperienced Guys Have Cowboyed Up

[Hostile]

If you look up the definition of Cowboy Up you'll find several versions of it. Most of them have a common theme. It basically means to quit whining and get to work.

Jason Garrett is demanding this and doing things the Cowboy Way. That means something different to each one of us. For this team what we need it to mean is with pride. Pride in the uniform you wear, in the star you defend, and in the team around you.

In the very recent past we have had inexperienced guys called to action and they have Cowboyed up. Let's look at some of them.

Tony Romo. Who here can forget the last straw with Drew Bledsoe? The Tony Romo era didn't exactly get off to an award winning start. If I am not mistaken his very first pass was picked off. But he won his first start. He led the team down the stretch when we needed it. He earned Pro Bowl honors and is now one of the most hotly debated QBs in the NFL.

Miles Austin. When TO got cut, he was the guy being talked about as the replacement. Then it didn't happen. Here came the boo birds with the bust cards. By the providence of holy gratuitous fortune one of our WRs suffered and injury, forcing Austin into a starting role. There has been no stopping him since.

Doug Free. Last year when Flo was waived, many in NFL media circles didn't even know his name. That despite the fact he had filled in for Marc Colombo the year before. He was only considered the most coveted OT in Free Agency this last year. Not bad for a kid out of a small school who had to step into one of the hardest positions in the NFL, protecting the QBs blindside.

Three examples of this principle lead the Dallas Cowboys Offense. Who better to mentor Tyron Smith, Bill Nagy, and Phil Costa? Please note, of the players named in this thread so far, only Tyron Smith is a high draft pick. The rest of these kids are low round or undrafted. Luckily we also have some guys like Kosier, Ratliff, and James to speak to the youth on this team.

How do you Cowboy Up? You want it. You want it as bad as you want to breathe. You crave it, fixate on it, and then you go get it. Everything we have read about these 3 youngsters says their attitudes are right. They understand the Cowboy Way. The door is wide open for them to have similar stories as Romo, Austin, and Free. Same can be said for Dez, Sean Lee, and even some of the other young players who will be backups for now like Arkin, Carter, Murray, or AOA.

When opportunity knocks, you better be ready. There are going to be some buck offs. But if these kids can ride this bucking monster we have a chance to at least be in the running for a paycheck. The biggest key to this season is going to be desire. You have that, you can play with fire. You might get burned, but you might burn the other team too.

Kick the tires and light the fires. One more fake game before the real ones get wound up.

 

[Hagman]

Nice post. I hope that before the year is too old that people start drawing parallels to 1975, when 12 rookies made the team and jumpstarted another set of Super Bowl runs.

It would be nice to see some more people "cowboy up" on the defensive side of the ball......................

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Mickey Spagnola talked about the same thing this morning. When the radio jocks on the Fan tried to get him to say Dallas was rebuilding, he referred to it as transitioning. He then proceeded to talk about Romo, Austin, and Free and how they stepped up when needed.

I know a lot of posters feel Mickey is a shill but I think he's pretty observant. I call what the Cowboys are doing reloading.

 

[Stautner]

If you look up the definition of Cowboy Up you'll find several versions of it. Most of them have a common theme. It basically means to quit whining and get to work.

Jason Garrett is demanding this and doing things the Cowboy Way. That means something different to each one of us. For this team what we need it to mean is with pride. Pride in the uniform you wear, in the star you defend, and in the team around you.

In the very recent past we have had inexperienced guys called to action and they have Cowboyed up. Let's look at some of them.

Tony Romo. Who here can forget the last straw with Drew Bledsoe? The Tony Romo era didn't exactly get off to an award winning start. If I am not mistaken his very first pass was picked off. But he won his first start. He led the team down the stretch when we needed it. He earned Pro Bowl honors and is now one of the most hotly debated QBs in the NFL.

Miles Austin. When TO got cut, he was the guy being talked about as the replacement. Then it didn't happen. Here came the boo birds with the bust cards. By the providence of holy gratuitous fortune one of our WRs suffered and injury, forcing Austin into a starting role. There has been no stopping him since.

Doug Free. Last year when Flo was waived, many in NFL media circles didn't even know his name. That despite the fact he had filled in for Marc Colombo the year before. He was only considered the most coveted OT in Free Agency this last year. Not bad for a kid out of a small school who had to step into one of the hardest positions in the NFL, protecting the QBs blindside.

Three examples of this principle lead the Dallas Cowboys Offense. Who better to mentor Tyron Smith, Bill Nagy, and Phil Costa? Please note, of the players named in this thread so far, only Tyron Smith is a high draft pick. The rest of these kids are low round or undrafted. Luckily we also have some guys like Kosier, Ratliff, and James to speak to the youth on this team.

How do you Cowboy Up? You want it. You want it as bad as you want to breathe. You crave it, fixate on it, and then you go get it. Everything we have read about these 3 youngsters says their attitudes are right. They understand the Cowboy Way. The door is wide open for them to have similar stories as Romo, Austin, and Free. Same can be said for Dez, Sean Lee, and even some of the other young players who will be backups for now like Arkin, Carter, Murray, or AOA.

When opportunity knocks, you better be ready. There are going to be some buck offs. But if these kids can ride this bucking monster we have a chance to at least be in the running for a paycheck. The biggest key to this season is going to be desire. You have that, you can play with fire. You might get burned, but you might burn the other team too.

Kick the tires and light the fires. One more fake game before the real ones get wound up.

The difference is all the guys listed here were in the league for 3+ years before they were thrust into full time duty. They got to play a little here and there and went through 3-4 training camps and played a 3-4 years of preseason football, and had 3-4 years to watch and learn from teammates, coaches, opponents etc. Our O-linemen crop is just a few steps out of college.

 

[Stash]

Mickey Spagnola talked about the same thing this morning. When the radio jocks on the Fan tried to get him to say Dallas was rebuilding, he referred to it as transitioning. He then proceeded to talk about Romo, Austin, and Free and how they stepped up when needed.

I know a lot of posters feel Mickey is a shill but I think he's pretty observant. I call what the Cowboys are doing reloading.

Mickey is a shill, but I think he's got a good point here.

The Cowboys aren't 'rebuilding' any more than the Eagles are.

I think reloading is a good description.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Alan Ball... Rob Petitti...

 

[Stash]

I like the sentiment Hos, and in many ways I agree.

But as my mind often does, I worry about having so many changes at one time.

I love the fact that we've got young, motivated players eager to play hard and learn as much as they can.

I think that's a breath of fresh air from what I felt were several 'fat cats' who got complacent and comfortable not having anyone to push them or threaten their spot.

I've gone on record many times complaining about what I had perceived to be a lack of competition on this team and I welcome a change in that thinking.

But, again, my worries come from having so many changes at once.

I hope the young guys can handle it.

 

[CATCH17]

Mickey is a shill, but I think he's got a good point here.

The Cowboys aren't 'rebuilding' any more than the Eagles are.

I think reloading is a good description.

It's only rebuilding if we have a bad year so the JG fan boys have an excuse.

 

[Stautner]

I like the sentiment Hos, and in many ways I agree.

But as my mind often does, I worry about having so many changes at one time.

I love the fact that we've got young, motivated players eager to play hard and learn as much as they can.

I think that's a breath of fresh air from what I felt were several 'fat cats' who got complacent and comfortable not having anyone to push them or threaten their spot.

I've gone on record many times complaining about what I had perceived to be a lack of competition on this team and I welcome a change in that thinking.

But, again, my worries come from having so many changes at once.

I hope the young guys can handle it.

DITTO.

 

[TNCowboy]

True, it has more often than not been the experienced veterans who have crashed and burned, the last 5 or so years.

 

[TNCowboy]

It's only rebuilding if we have a bad year so the JG fan boys have an excuse.

That sentiment has been picking up steam the last few days.

But in spite of not being Garrett's biggest fan, most of the blame won't be his. He didn't let the roster get in this state, especially the OL and on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[Stautner]

True, it has more often than not been the experienced veterans who have crashed and burned, the last 5 or so years.

Really? You mean we really did have a great 2009 draft and I missed all the big contributions from those guys?

Sure some veterans have started failing - it happens. But overall the fresh out of college guys have seldom been ready to step right in and replace them, and a large number never get to that point.

 

[BourbonBalz]

The difference is all the guys listed here were in the league for 3+ years before they were thrust into full time duty. They got to play a little here and there and went through 3-4 training camps and played a 3-4 years of preseason football, and had 3-4 years to watch and learn from teammates, coaches, opponents etc. Our O-linemen crop is just a few steps out of college.

These statments cannot be debated. A lot of young players step up on every team, but rookies rarely do. That having been said, I hope ours do just that this year.

 

[preacher238]

It's only rebuilding if we have a bad year so the JG fan boys have an excuse.

Seriously....you don't think JG can do it. We get it....

:bang2:

 

[preacher238]

Alan Ball... Rob Petitti...

Debbie Downer=Chocolate Lab...

 

[realtick]

If you look up the definition of Cowboy Up you'll find several versions of it. Most of them have a common theme. It basically means to quit whining and get to work.

Jason Garrett is demanding this and doing things the Cowboy Way. That means something different to each one of us. For this team what we need it to mean is with pride. Pride in the uniform you wear, in the star you defend, and in the team around you.

In the very recent past we have had inexperienced guys called to action and they have Cowboyed up. Let's look at some of them.

Tony Romo. Who here can forget the last straw with Drew Bledsoe? The Tony Romo era didn't exactly get off to an award winning start. If I am not mistaken his very first pass was picked off. But he won his first start. He led the team down the stretch when we needed it. He earned Pro Bowl honors and is now one of the most hotly debated QBs in the NFL.

Miles Austin. When TO got cut, he was the guy being talked about as the replacement. Then it didn't happen. Here came the boo birds with the bust cards. By the providence of holy gratuitous fortune one of our WRs suffered and injury, forcing Austin into a starting role. There has been no stopping him since.

Doug Free. Last year when Flo was waived, many in NFL media circles didn't even know his name. That despite the fact he had filled in for Marc Colombo the year before. He was only considered the most coveted OT in Free Agency this last year. Not bad for a kid out of a small school who had to step into one of the hardest positions in the NFL, protecting the QBs blindside.

Three examples of this principle lead the Dallas Cowboys Offense. Who better to mentor Tyron Smith, Bill Nagy, and Phil Costa? Please note, of the players named in this thread so far, only Tyron Smith is a high draft pick. The rest of these kids are low round or undrafted. Luckily we also have some guys like Kosier, Ratliff, and James to speak to the youth on this team.

How do you Cowboy Up? You want it. You want it as bad as you want to breathe. You crave it, fixate on it, and then you go get it. Everything we have read about these 3 youngsters says their attitudes are right. They understand the Cowboy Way. The door is wide open for them to have similar stories as Romo, Austin, and Free. Same can be said for Dez, Sean Lee, and even some of the other young players who will be backups for now like Arkin, Carter, Murray, or AOA.

When opportunity knocks, you better be ready. There are going to be some buck offs. But if these kids can ride this bucking monster we have a chance to at least be in the running for a paycheck. The biggest key to this season is going to be desire. You have that, you can play with fire. You might get burned, but you might burn the other team too.

Kick the tires and light the fires. One more fake game before the real ones get wound up.

I see what you're driven at, but all of the named players had years of experience and practice in the NFL before they were asked to perform on the big stage.

We have a lot of rookies who had no OTAs, minicamps, offseason training and an abbreviated training camp, and are asking them to make a big leap early.

 

[CoCo]

Davis & Columbo was a sinking ship danergously close to capsizing completely in 2011. I'm fine with that jettison, especially with Tyron available.

The OG vacancy is going to the winner of open competition. Granted, the competition was suspect. But still, glancing back at Davis, I'm ok. Preseason footage suggests there is some talent between Nagy & Arkin albeit NFL green.

Re Gurode, this is likely the riskiest of the 3 moves. But I'm ok all things considered with making that move as well, trusting the coaches and early snippets in preseason.

So I'm all in on these 3 moves even given the risks.

But these moves have very little in common with the transitions of Free, Romo & Austin. The closest is Pettiti being a rookie 7th rounder.

 

[TNCowboy]

Really? You mean we really did have a great 2009 draft and I missed all the big contributions from those guys?

Sure some veterans have started failing - it happens. But overall the fresh out of college guys have seldom been ready to step right in and replace them, and a large number never get to that point.

Where were the '09 guys put in a position to truly contribute, but let us down? Most of them aren't even on the roster. And even if they were, they'd just now be getting to the point where the average NFL player is ready to make a contribution.

Where did any of those guys really fit in to the topic of the thread? How many of them were thrust into key roles? You can't really tie the failure of the team to any of those guys not coming through. They'll leave a huge hole in the roster over the next few years, but past failures have little to do with that draft, and more to do with failures by our vets.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Costa, Kowlaski, and Nagy are all better at Center NOW than Gurode is.... and in a pinch, probably Arkin too.


So there are atleast three "would be" Centers currently that will make the final cut.

 

[adbutcher]

Great post Hos. Football is a game of opportunities. The old makes way for the young all the time.

What's funny is how the media criticized our OL last year by saying that it was too old. Now they are saying that they are too young. No matter what we do, the media won't be satisfied, good thing we are not trying to satisfy them.