Dallas-Mavs.com Forums - View Single Post

MFFL · 07-05-2001, 04:38 PM

posted link-free for flying tigger!
------------------------------------------------------------------
Big D, as in decay - PART 1
By Paul Attner
The Sporting News

It has been a great ride. Three Super Bowls and the Triplets and dominant television ratings and a consuming love-hate relationship with football fans everywhere. But now the journey's over. Jerry's Boys have tumbled, and they won't be back.

Want proof? I give you Quincy Carter.

If you draft someone like Carter, in the wrong round in the wrong year, and then say, as the Cowboys do, that he not only can ease the loss of Troy Aikman but also speed up their ability to become champions again, you can draw only one conclusion.

The king has lost his grasp on reality. He's out of the Super Bowl business, on life support, and he can't -- and won't -- get up again, not for years to come.

He just can't admit it's finished.

I sit across from Jerry Jones, the once-brilliant mastermind who lifted the Cowboys from ineptness to supremacy in the 1990s, and bring up rebuilding. He hesitates. He won't say the word. Just can't. No way, no how. It's as if allowing the word to cross his lips would be an admission of weakness, of blatant failure. He is in such a deep state of denial that, amid a quagmire of mediocrity, he barely acknowledges this is a transition time for his franchise.

No wonder he predicts this team in turmoil will be 10-6 in the fall. "I just can't write us off," he says. The future is dismal, but don't expect him to copy the 49ers, another salary-cap challenged mega-team from the 1990s. A couple of years ago, the 49ers proclaimed their intent to rip things up and methodically reconstruct a contender. Jones looks at Emmitt Smith, Larry Allen, two talented receivers and safety Darren Woodson and sees victories, not rebuilding. Others are amazed.

"If the Cowboys finish above .500," says GM Charley Casserly of the expansion Texans, "Dave Campo should be coach of the year."

This is a franchise that, over the past four years, has finished 6-10, 10-6, 8-8 and 5-11; hasn't won a playoff game since the 1996 season; hasn't won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season; has featured three coaches since 1997; has drafted only one Pro Bowl player, linebacker Dexter Coakley, since 1995; and is in such a pathetic salary-cap situation, one-third of its cap money will go to players no longer on the team. But rebuild? Hell, no.

If, for the next five years or so, Jones would drop the general manager duties from his owner/general manager title, the Cowboys' future might be different. To become champions in the 1990s, they needed every bit of his daring, his willingness to step outside the loop, his incredible ability to pound away at success and expand it. But not anymore.

Now, they need someone different: a patient leader who doesn't have to prove at every turn he is an independent thinker and innovator of the first order. The Cowboys now need a methodical approach, not a shocking one. They require a deft draft expert, a top personnel man, a leader with a well-conceived game plan to restore the glory.

"What game plan?" says former Cowboys offensive lineman Brian Baldinger, now an analyst with Sporting News Radio and Fox. "If they win five games, it will be a miracle. And you just wonder where the improvement is coming from. You don't see any philosophy behind what they are doing. They are just doing stuff without any rhyme or reason."

Jones isn't going anywhere, and neither are the Cowboys. This is a franchise whose unrelenting bravado and risk-taking continue to lead it down a perilous path, right to the likes of Quincy Carter.

On the first day of this April's draft, Jones did not have a first-round pick. It had been traded the previous year to Seattle for Joey Galloway, a deal that continues to kick the Cowboys in the rear. In the second round, Jones had a choice. He could select a lineman to help bolster a woefully inadequate defense that finished 19th overall and last against the run last season. "A safe move," he says with a bit of disgust. It also would have been the best decision to begin revitalizing his franchise.

But in pre-draft research, he had become smitten with Carter, the former Georgia quarterback. Carter was an underachiever in college with lots of off-field questions. Still, he is a workout whiz, an amazingly gifted athlete with a pleasing personality and unquestioned natural talents. He also is scouting quicksand, the kind of player who lures you into rating him too high, only to find out later you were trapped by false hopes.

So it was the Cowboys' turn in the second round, and Jones made the call. Quincy Carter. This would be his man, the quarterback who could eventually make them forget about Aikman, who could win Super Bowls and accelerate their improvement and allow Jones to laugh at rebuilding. That some clubs didn't have Carter on their draft boards, that others projected him as a fourth-rounder, no better, meant nothing. Carter was a gift; how could you pass him up with the 53rd overall selection?

On a team with holes everywhere and woefully few building blocks, the selection was questionable, at best, and incredibly flawed, at worst. But within the world of the Cowboys, it was considered a winner.

If you are thinking all this sounds bizarre, you're right. And there's more. How about the current quarterback of this supposed 10-6 team? Tony Banks, the same Tony Banks who was run out of St. Louis; the same Tony Banks who was benched last season in Baltimore and replaced by Trent Dilfer, who then led the Ravens to the Super Bowl.

And that defense that was so pathetic last season? It has a new scheme based on the concepts developed by the Buccaneers. The 2001 undersized Cowboys will be a moving, shifting bunch that relies on speed and aggressiveness. Of course, Tampa Bay succeeds in great part because its line is anchored by dominant tackle Warren Sapp. Dallas has no quality tackles -- Leon Lett is in Denver, Chad Hennings has retired -- much less anyone close to Sapp's ability. And no cornerbacks. And an injury-prone middle linebacker. Just as telling, offseason retirements and free-agent defections have weakened this defense even more.

"That's why the Carter pick was confusing to me," says ESPN analyst Joe Theismann. "If you are drafting a guy at the 53rd spot, you almost must have a player who can come in and play for you right now, particularly when you are in a transition period and there are so many pieces of the puzzle that need to be filled. And that is particularly true on defense. But one thing I love about Jerry is his decisiveness. He knows if the pick doesn't work out, he will hear about it."

07-05-2001, 04:38 PM	#1
MFFL Guru Join Date: May 2001 Location: Arlington, TX Posts: 13,149	posted link-free for flying tigger! ------------------------------------------------------------------ Big D, as in decay - PART 1 By Paul Attner The Sporting News It has been a great ride. Three Super Bowls and the Triplets and dominant television ratings and a consuming love-hate relationship with football fans everywhere. But now the journey's over. Jerry's Boys have tumbled, and they won't be back. Want proof? I give you Quincy Carter. If you draft someone like Carter, in the wrong round in the wrong year, and then say, as the Cowboys do, that he not only can ease the loss of Troy Aikman but also speed up their ability to become champions again, you can draw only one conclusion. The king has lost his grasp on reality. He's out of the Super Bowl business, on life support, and he can't -- and won't -- get up again, not for years to come. He just can't admit it's finished. I sit across from Jerry Jones, the once-brilliant mastermind who lifted the Cowboys from ineptness to supremacy in the 1990s, and bring up rebuilding. He hesitates. He won't say the word. Just can't. No way, no how. It's as if allowing the word to cross his lips would be an admission of weakness, of blatant failure. He is in such a deep state of denial that, amid a quagmire of mediocrity, he barely acknowledges this is a transition time for his franchise. No wonder he predicts this team in turmoil will be 10-6 in the fall. "I just can't write us off," he says. The future is dismal, but don't expect him to copy the 49ers, another salary-cap challenged mega-team from the 1990s. A couple of years ago, the 49ers proclaimed their intent to rip things up and methodically reconstruct a contender. Jones looks at Emmitt Smith, Larry Allen, two talented receivers and safety Darren Woodson and sees victories, not rebuilding. Others are amazed. "If the Cowboys finish above .500," says GM Charley Casserly of the expansion Texans, "Dave Campo should be coach of the year." This is a franchise that, over the past four years, has finished 6-10, 10-6, 8-8 and 5-11; hasn't won a playoff game since the 1996 season; hasn't won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season; has featured three coaches since 1997; has drafted only one Pro Bowl player, linebacker Dexter Coakley, since 1995; and is in such a pathetic salary-cap situation, one-third of its cap money will go to players no longer on the team. But rebuild? Hell, no. If, for the next five years or so, Jones would drop the general manager duties from his owner/general manager title, the Cowboys' future might be different. To become champions in the 1990s, they needed every bit of his daring, his willingness to step outside the loop, his incredible ability to pound away at success and expand it. But not anymore. Now, they need someone different: a patient leader who doesn't have to prove at every turn he is an independent thinker and innovator of the first order. The Cowboys now need a methodical approach, not a shocking one. They require a deft draft expert, a top personnel man, a leader with a well-conceived game plan to restore the glory. "What game plan?" says former Cowboys offensive lineman Brian Baldinger, now an analyst with Sporting News Radio and Fox. "If they win five games, it will be a miracle. And you just wonder where the improvement is coming from. You don't see any philosophy behind what they are doing. They are just doing stuff without any rhyme or reason." Jones isn't going anywhere, and neither are the Cowboys. This is a franchise whose unrelenting bravado and risk-taking continue to lead it down a perilous path, right to the likes of Quincy Carter. On the first day of this April's draft, Jones did not have a first-round pick. It had been traded the previous year to Seattle for Joey Galloway, a deal that continues to kick the Cowboys in the rear. In the second round, Jones had a choice. He could select a lineman to help bolster a woefully inadequate defense that finished 19th overall and last against the run last season. "A safe move," he says with a bit of disgust. It also would have been the best decision to begin revitalizing his franchise. But in pre-draft research, he had become smitten with Carter, the former Georgia quarterback. Carter was an underachiever in college with lots of off-field questions. Still, he is a workout whiz, an amazingly gifted athlete with a pleasing personality and unquestioned natural talents. He also is scouting quicksand, the kind of player who lures you into rating him too high, only to find out later you were trapped by false hopes. So it was the Cowboys' turn in the second round, and Jones made the call. Quincy Carter. This would be his man, the quarterback who could eventually make them forget about Aikman, who could win Super Bowls and accelerate their improvement and allow Jones to laugh at rebuilding. That some clubs didn't have Carter on their draft boards, that others projected him as a fourth-rounder, no better, meant nothing. Carter was a gift; how could you pass him up with the 53rd overall selection? On a team with holes everywhere and woefully few building blocks, the selection was questionable, at best, and incredibly flawed, at worst. But within the world of the Cowboys, it was considered a winner. If you are thinking all this sounds bizarre, you're right. And there's more. How about the current quarterback of this supposed 10-6 team? Tony Banks, the same Tony Banks who was run out of St. Louis; the same Tony Banks who was benched last season in Baltimore and replaced by Trent Dilfer, who then led the Ravens to the Super Bowl. And that defense that was so pathetic last season? It has a new scheme based on the concepts developed by the Buccaneers. The 2001 undersized Cowboys will be a moving, shifting bunch that relies on speed and aggressiveness. Of course, Tampa Bay succeeds in great part because its line is anchored by dominant tackle Warren Sapp. Dallas has no quality tackles -- Leon Lett is in Denver, Chad Hennings has retired -- much less anyone close to Sapp's ability. And no cornerbacks. And an injury-prone middle linebacker. Just as telling, offseason retirements and free-agent defections have weakened this defense even more. "That's why the Carter pick was confusing to me," says ESPN analyst Joe Theismann. "If you are drafting a guy at the 53rd spot, you almost must have a player who can come in and play for you right now, particularly when you are in a transition period and there are so many pieces of the puzzle that need to be filled. And that is particularly true on defense. But one thing I love about Jerry is his decisiveness. He knows if the pick doesn't work out, he will hear about it."