Category: Cowboys (Page 1 of 51)

Almost two years to the day after Netflix announced they had paid the Dallas Cowboys $50-million to produce a multi-episode documentary on Jerry Jones and his historic “transformation” of the Cowboys, we’ve got a title, a release date, and a two-minute trailer. They’re calling it “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys.” It will run for ten episodes. And it premiers on August 19. Here’s the trailer, which features Jimmy’s “asthma field” rant, Michael Irvin’s cocaine arrest, President George W. Bush’s explanation for the hole in the roof at Texas Stadium, and Jerry saying he likes to do things “our way.”

Netflix has continually promoted this documentary as the story of how Jerry “transformed” the Cowboys and how Jerry “established” the Cowboys legacy.

First, Jerry didn’t establish anything. The Cowboys had already played in a dozen NFC Championship Games and five Super Bowls when Jones bought the team. They had already been dubbed “America’s Team” by the NFL and were the most popular football team on the planet. That wasn’t Jerry.

Secondly, Jerry did transform the Cowboys, but not in the way his Netflix special is going to suggest. Jerry has successfully transformed the Cowboys from perennial contenders and Super Bowl champs to irrelevant also-rans. In the franchise’s first 29-years under the leadership of Clint-Tex-Tom, the Cowboys went to twelve conference title games and five Super Bowls, winning two. In the past 29 years under the leadership of Jones-Jones-Jones, the Cowboys have not won a single divisional playoff game and have the NFC’s longest championship game appearance drought by a whopping 14 years!

Thank you, Jerry. Great job. You’re right, there should be a documentary. True crime.

The thing that eats me the most is the documentary’s title: “The Gambler and HIS Cowboys.” That title perfectly captures the core of what’s wrong with the Cowboys and the heart of my hatred for the whole scene. Jerry Wayne sees the Cowboys as his, not ours. He never understood that the Cowboys belonged to all of us, collectively. They represented us, stood for us, embodied us. He only sees the Cowboys as his, to do with whatever he likes, to exploit for his own personal gain, to use as an “in” to whatever monetary windfall or celebrity access or boy’s club membership he desires. He shamefully betrayed a public trust. And he brazenly and unapologetically continues that betrayal every day.

It galls me that the very thing that has led to the Cowboys’ demise is being used as the celebratory centerpiece of this puff-doc. Yes, Jerry gambled and, yes, he won and he keeps on winning at the thing he cares about the most: his money, his status, his celebrity, his power. And Cowboys fans keep losing the thing they desire the most: a divisional playoff win, relevance, on the field respect, a championship.

I’m going to watch this show for a number of reasons–I won’t miss an episode. But I’m most curious as to how they’re going to trumpet Jerry’s accomplishments, his innovations, his successes, his genius, while acknowledging at the same time his team’s 29-year divisional playoff win drought.

They probably won’t. They won’t even mention it. Right? We know this. This will be a ten-episode flashback to the glory days of Jimmy and the Triplets and they’ll act like it happened five years ago. That’s another thing that so perfectly captures what Jerry’s Cowboys are all about: pretending like this historic drought isn’t really a thing.

Peace,

Allan

During the NFL meetings in March 1994, Jerry Wayne famously said, “Any of 500 coaches could win a Super Bowl with the Cowboys.” Then he parted ways with his back-to-back Super Bowl champion coach, Jimmy Johnson, and hired Barry Switzer off his couch in Norman. When Switzer won Super Bowl XXX with Jimmy’s roster and assistants two seasons later, the owner saw it as vindication of his hubris. But, 29 seasons later, the Cowboys still haven’t even won a single divisional playoff game.

Jerry has now hired his 8th coach since he made that memorable late night / early morning quote to reporters in that Orlando hotel bar. The king of optimizing maximum media attention allowed the news to become official at 9:00 on Friday night, giving us all a clue as to how he himself feels about the hire.

Brian Schottenheimer is a career assistant, spending 24 years in the NFL, mostly as an offensive coordinator. He was brought to Dallas as a consultant in 2022, but Mike McCarthy made him the offensive coordinator the following season when Kellen Moore left for Philly. He never called the plays–that was McCarthy’s job–but he reportedly was key to the team’s record-setting offensive numbers in 2023.

Still, nobody’s ever offered a head coaching job to Schottenheimer. He’s never even interviewed for one. My understanding is that he was only contacted one time in his whole career for a head coaching job, by the Bills in 2010, while he was assisting Rex Ryan with the Jets. Schottenheimer declined the request. That was 15 years ago. Nobody’s looked his way since. And, as we all know, that’s how Jerry works. He only hires head coaches nobody else wants. He’s never been in a bidding war for a head coach. Nobody’s ever lining up to interview the guys Jerry eventually hires. Jerry only hires assistants from within or former head coaches who are currently out of work.

Of course, I have lots of questions. If Schottenheimer is going to run the same offense for Dak’s sake, why didn’t Jerry just stay with McCarthy? Jerry only offered McCarthy a one-year extension, but Schottenheimer is reportedly signing a four-year contract. Is it about money? Jerry is certainly no fan of paying big money for coaches. Was McCarthy becoming a bit too popular in the locker room? Does Jerry believe Schottenheimer is better than McCarthy? Are Cowboys fans to believe that Schottenheimer is going to provide something new? Is he going to be better than McCarthy at game management and clock management in his first year ever as a head coach? Are we to suppose that Schottenheimer has had new and innovative schemes to get the Cowboys over the top, but McCarthy just refused to use them?

I have even more questions about the search process. Evidently Jerry went into the last week of the lost season with no plan. He completely missed the bye week window to interview the two hottest coaching commodities, Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson. And he wouldn’t wait three more days to interview them after the conference championship games tomorrow? He never talked to Mike Vrabel. He didn’t interview Kliff Kingsbury. Jerry and McCarthy parted ways four days after the owner refused to let the Bears interview him. It seems to me the whole search process was a sham. The Cowboys only talked to five candidates, while the other teams on the hunt spoke to nearly twenty each! Conor Orr has written an excellent piece for Sports Illustrated about what the Schottenheimer hire, and the interview process, says to Cowboys fans. I highly recommend it.

There’s chatter out there that Jason Witten might be joining Schottenheimer’s staff as an assistant coach. That also feels like a very Jerry thing to do, like hiring Jason Garrett to work under Wade Phillips, grooming him as the easy hire if things go south.

With the Washington Deadskins playing in tomorrow’s NFC Championship Game, the Cowboys now own the longest active drought of NFC title game appearances. It’s been 29 years since Dallas won a divisional playoff game. The Bears have the second-longest streak at 14 years–a huge 15 year gap between worst and next-to-worst.

Cowboys fans keep telling me that they’re in the same category as the 49ers and Packers and Eagles. Ha! Since the Cowboys last won a divisional playoff game, 29 years ago, the 49ers and the Packers have each been to eight championship games and three Super Bowls. The Eagles have played in nine championship games in the past 29 years and might be heading to their fourth Super Bowl. Shoot, even the Giants have been to three Super Bowls during this time frame and won two of them! In fact, since that ’95 season, every NFC team but Washington and Dallas has appeared in multiple championship games. Multiple! At least two! Even the Carolina Panthers have been twice! And by the looks of things, the Washington team is going to get there again before Dallas does.

Someone tweeted last night that finding out the Cowboys have hired Brian Schottenheimer is like getting socks for Christmas. Yeah, maybe. But I’d add that it’s like getting socks from the disconnected aunt who always gives you socks. Every time. Always a disappointment, but never a surprise.

Jerry famously said any of 500 coaches could win a Super Bowl with the Cowboys. The truth is that as long as Jerry is in charge, none of them can even win a divisional playoff game.

Peace,

Allan

Dan Snyder owned the Washington Redskins / Commanders for 25 seasons, from 1999-2023. And they were horrible. Washington recorded only six winning seasons during that quarter of a century and did not win a single divisional playoff game in that time. They changed owners this past offseason. The NFL basically forced Snyder to sell his team after a long track record of club mismanagement and personal misconduct. Josh Harris bought the team over the summer. In this first season of Harris’ ownership, Washington drastically improved from 4-13 to 12-5, plus two playoff wins and a spot in this Sunday’s NFC Championship Game.

They changed owners.

And, in one season, they are now playing in their first conference title game in 33 years.

Just sayin’.

Peace,

Allan