Dallas Cowboys Archive

Irvin motivates 12 Cowboy hopefuls

By
Tim
Published: May 19, 2009Tags: ,

Michael Irvin reminded me why he’s my favorite athlete of all time during the series premiere of “4th and Long” on Spike last night. Nobody is more intense, nobody loves the Cowboys more, and nobody would be a better motivator for the 12 players hoping to make the Dallas roster.

“I’m seeing guys kneeling down when you’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime here,” he yelled at the players following a tough gunner drill. “I don’t wanna hear s@#% about you being tired. That means nothing. With what’s at stake for you guys, you should be begging to go again (cue intense music). Because you’ve got to have the desire to override your fatigue. You tell your body, ‘I’m not listening. I’ve got too much at stake to listen. Every time I’m given an opportunity to go, I’m going. Body, shutup! And mind, let’s work.’”

Following the drill, there were a couple players that puked. That’s when Irvin asked coaches Joe Avezzano and Bill Bates to have them run 110s – across the 110-yard field in 17 seconds or less. When they had reached 1,760 yards, Montrell Jones had to take a break to throw up.

“Let’s go. Throw it up and get the sickness out of you so you can get your ass back on the field and we can finish practice,” Irvin said.

They finished running at 1,980 yards. Then he wanted to see what their 40 time was. That would tell him how fast they’d be and what they could give the Cowboys in the fourth quarter. Jones recovered and finished the drill, although he did make the mistake of bending over in exhaustion.

“If I’m playing against you and I see you leaning on your knees, it gives me confidence that I’m gonna beat your ass. Stay up.”

Defensive back Stephen Andrews was the first cut made after he was run over and through in the gunner drills, while my blind winner pick Steve “Speedy” Gonzalez just missed the cut even though he couldn’t run the 40 because of a calf cramp. I’ll stick with him, but there were a couple others that caught my eye on the first episode, including Jones.

Optimistic Tim thinks that at best the show will produce some depth at whichever position the player that wins the show is at, and a good special teams player. I’m positive that Irvin is the best person to host the show. He loves the team too much to send a player to Dallas that’s not worthy.

4th and Long, Punt Team!

By
Tim
Published: May 14, 2009Tags:

OK Zuri, minor league football is pretty sweet, I’ll grant you that. But, say you want to fill the void until football season, but you’re unwilling to get off the recliner to do so (and I don’t blame you). Now what? Huh? Michael Irvin has the answer, as always. “4th and Long” starts Monday night at 7 p.m. on SPIKE!

Hey, if “The Ultimate Fighter” can work, so can this. Right? Or maybe I’m excited because it can only benefit my team. These guys are playing for a contract, but I’m watching for the love of the game, and because they apparently didn’t like my resume.

Judging from these bios from The Dallas Morning News, there’s a lot to be excited about. For example, seven of the 12 players (all receivers and corners) have bad-ass nicknames. If they thought a cool nickname was going to separate them from the pack, it did the exact opposite.

DEFENSIVE BACKS WITH NICKNAMES: There’s Eddie “Emo” Moten dammit we’re off to a bad start. I’m sure he had that nickname before the music evolved from body and mind numbing depression meds, but it’s still ruined.

Stephen “White Lightning” Andrews sounds pretty fast. But he also sounds un-athletic, and that worries me. He’s got a 4.35 40-time on the bright side, but tried out for a CFL team and didn’t make it. Hopefully the British Columbia Lions were stacked with DBs at the time.

Ahmaad “Silent Assassin” Smith has played some semi-pro ball (Did you go to high school with him, Zuri?) for the Mississippi Mudcats. He sounds dangerous.

At 6′0″ and only 164 lbs., Moses “Mowash” Washington better learn the art of the ankle tackle … and the art of coming up with nicknames.

DEFENSIVE BACKS WITHOUT: This group certainly has more to prove. First we’ve got Erick Johnson, who was part of the Texas Longhorns’ national championship team.

Donte Gamble really needs no nickname, and played semi-pro ball in the Patti LaBelle Football League. Seriously. I’m not lying. Although maybe the Morning News is lying ……. nope, google search confirms. He’s 30 years old, so even if he makes it he’ll be retired in three years. Screw this guy.

WIDE RECEIVERS WITH NICKNAMES: Steve “Speedy” Gonzalez (4.5 40-time) returned six straight kickoffs for touchdowns in the arena league. Seriously, that’s pretty impressive. It’s impossible to score in that league. I like this guy so far, and because he didn’t go to college there’s a logical explanation for why NFL teams didn’t pick the guy up. I don’t see his cousin “Slowpoke” Rodriguez on the list.

The youngest guy on the list is 22-year-old Andrew “Matchbox” Hawkins. Energy player? Pyro? This guy could be dangerous on the field or off, I’m not sure. He’s only 5′7″ and 175 lbs. but he played both ways at Toledo and ran a 4.34.

Jesse “Hollywood” Holley is 6′3″ and played basketball at North Carolina too. That’s promising. His nickname is used by 463 other NFL players though, and three people at my work.

WIDE RECEIVERS WITHOUT: Montrell Jones played in the CFL (good) but has his age listed as not available (bad?).

Preston McGann sounds rich, which makes me question how motivated he’ll be. You need the carrot in front of the donkey, not in its mouth. He could be a good athlete though. He’s listed at 6′3″ 203 lbs. and only played baseball in college.

If Luke Swan is related to Lynn Swann, I’m betting on this guy. He’s been cut by the Kansas City Chiefs twice, which tells me he’s close, but also that he may have already proven he can’t cut it.

Well there’s your list. If I was a betting man (and I would be if I had the money), I’d go with “Speedy” for the reasons listed above. Who do you got? Put it on record.

Tony Romo explains what leadership is

By
Tim
Published: February 9, 2009Tags: ,

Well, he did a better job of explaining what it isn’t – yelling at your teammates to get them motivated. Emmitt Smith was one of many that said the Cowboys lacked leadership, someone who would get in people’s faces when the times were rough. (Of course, if Terrell Owens does it, it wouldn’t be leadership). Romo disagreed that this is the only way to do it.

“You wanna know why Michael Jordan was a great leader? He won six NBA championships. Then, all of a sudden, when he gets in people’s faces, he’s a great leader.

“A great leader is someone who wins, and you figure out how to win. Some people, it’s getting in people’s faces. Some people, it’s being positive. Other people, it’s walking the line and doing it the right way. And that guy shows everybody else, because they see him doing it, and they figure out, ‘I’m going to walk in that line, too, and do it.’

“You know, there’s many different ways to do it. I think people who sit there and say they need to see leadership, well, they’re kidding themselves. Because if you need to see someone be a leader, they’re probably not a leader all the time.

“You can look back and say, ‘Oh, we should have done talking more.’ … I don’t know that … When somebody talks to me, it does nothing as far as, OK, thank you. Just leave me alone for a second. I need to think about what I need to do to improve on the next play. Or give me some technical aspect that you can use. ‘Listen, when the corner is sitting down doing this, you need to ….’ That stuff will help you the next time you’re out there.

“Saying, ‘C’mon! Let’s go! Get ready! C’mon! Do better!’ … OK, I will. (rolls eyes) It doesn’t solve anything.

“I mean, we’re not 18 or 17. We don’t need to be motivated to play harder in that regard. I think you take the wrong gap or you do the wrong thing, in that regard, that’s gonna hurt you. And it will look like you’re not playing as hard, but the reality is you just went the wrong way or you did the wrong thing or you threw the wrong pass, whatever.

“I think that execution, if there’s a way to execute better, then you need to lead in that regard. You need to figure out a way to help everybody execute better. But it’s silly to me to think that someone telling you in your face, ‘Do better next time’ is going to make you do better next time. Tell me why. Show somebody what they need to do to do better next time. That will go a lot farther, I think.”

Yeah, he’s going to get even more criticism for these comments, but I agree with him. Really, it’s all about the bottom line. Eli Manning’s leadership was questioned by some, and even laughed at by former teammate Tiki Barber, until he won the Super Bowl. Now, he’s a great leader. There are many different ways to lead – Bill Parcells and Jon Gruden as opposed to Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith. The one thing they have in common is success.

Romo doesn’t give the PC answers and a lot of people don’t like that, but I think he’s got things pretty well figured out. Now he just needs to figure out how to win.

Roy Williams calls Jason Garrett a retard

By
Tim
Published: February 4, 2009Tags: , , ,

OK, I’m putting words in his mouth. But the receiver did say that the Cowboys offense was the easiest to figure out in the entire league. Oh, and Ray Lewis said this before the Ravens beat them in the Texas Stadium finale, adding that he had no doubt they could shut them down. Trust me, Cowboys fans are more pissed at offensive coordinator Jason Garrett than anything else.

It’s amazing how he went from God/genius/future head coach last year to Satan/idiot/don’t hire him to mow your lawn this year. The creativity was definitely missing from the Cowboys offense this season. Williams knows how to fix it, if Garrett doesn’t.

“We can start with like a slant or something,” Williams said. “I feel like I’m a pretty good receiver. I can catch a slant and turn it into a 20-yard gain or something, but I didn’t run a slant this past season until the Philly game.”

“But, like I said, I’m a coachable wide receiver. I’ll run what I’m supposed to run. And I’ll continue to have the cornerbacks ask me, ‘Why do they got you running this same thing over and over again.’ “

Maybe the most disturbing thing he said was that his former team, the 0-16 Detroit Lions, practiced harder than his new team. I bet he didn’t see that coming! God I love my team!

Week 17 Rooting Interests

By
Zuri
Published: December 22, 2008Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Dallas Cowboys - First and foremost, let’s get America’s Team and God’s Team, which by no coincidence happen to be the same team, into the playoffs. If Arizona can make it, and either San Diego or Denver can make it, I feel like the Cowboys deserve to make it. And I deserve it. I’ve been good this year. If they don’t beat the Eagles, at least they’ll have ripped my heart out early this year and I can enjoy the playoffs.

Detroit Lions - To lose. It’s more accurate to say I’m rooting for the Lions to lose than I am for the Packers to win. I want to see the first 0-16 team; I couldn’t care less how many wins the Packers finish with. After Detroit completes the worst possible season, I’d like them to be in the playoffs next year, cause man that sucks. I’d also like to demand a trade for Calvin Johnson. If he’s not going to say it, I will. He might have been my most reliable fantasy player, and I can only wonder what he might’ve done on a real team.

San Diego Chargers - I hate the idea of an 8-8 team winning their division and going to the playoffs. The winner of the AFC West should be irrelevant to the playoffs. But since somebody has to “win” it, I’m going with the Chargers. They’re more talented and could do more damage in the postseason, and they’ve had a few unlucky breaks along the way coughEdHochulicough. Denver, meanwhile, started 3-0 and should’ve clinched the division midway through the season. There’s no way it should’ve come down to a week 17 winner-take-all. Screw em. They don’t deserve it.

Miami Dolphins - Again, any team that wants to give their playoff ticket away as badly as the Jets do, I want to let them. Seeing Chad Pennington keep Brett Favre and the Jets out of the playoffs while leading his team in will just be icing on the cake.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - I just think it’s funny every time a coach that Al Davis fires (or trades I guess) comes back to beat him and the Raiders. I’m praying they let Tom Cable go and he wins the Super Bowl with the Lions next year.

Minnesota Vikings – I just hate the Giants. God I hate them so much.

Pacman reinstated Part II

By
Zuri
Published: November 19, 2008Tags: , , , , ,

I keep telling everyone that Adam “Pacman” Jones is perfectly capable of behaving and not breaking laws. As long as it’s for short periods of time. Four games? Piece of cake. One season? That’s asking a bit much.

The NFL has decided to reinstate Pacman for the second time in four months after apparently completing some sort of alcohol abuse treatment. He’ll be able to play beginning December 7 against Pittsburgh, and I’d bet my entire savings account that he makes it through the rest of the season without an incident (I mostly use free checking).

As a Cowboys fan, I have mixed feelings about his return. On one hand, he’s a troublemaker, and if they’re to reach the levels of success they had in the ’90s, more players like Pacman are needed. I’d also like to see his playmaking skills on punt returns, instead of Patrick Crayton waving the ball around like Deion but not making any Deion plays. On the other hand, I love the way rookies Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick are playing at corner and don’t want to disrupt that.

I guess I’ll be cautiously optimistic (which could also mean cautiously pessimistic) that he’ll be able to help the Cowboys finish the season strong. There might not be a Part III to this story.

Comments you won’t hear from T.O.

By
Zuri
Published: November 3, 2008Tags: ,


For some reason, I think I get Terrell Owens. I probably think I understand a lot more about a lot of things that I don’t, but not T.O. I get this guy. What some people don’t seem to understand when they criticize him for wanting the ball more, is that it’s all about wins and losses.

If Dallas wins, he’s fine with not being the hero of the game. But if they lose, he wants the ball more so he can help his team. He’s criticized no matter what he says, but he made a comment after the loss to the Giants (36 receiving yards and a touchdown) that won’t make headlines anywhere:

“I think the thing is for us is, me getting in the end zone is helping us push toward a win,” Owens said. “But we didn’t get in there enough, so do I get any satisfaction out of that? No.”

Instead of creating controversy where there isn’t any, I just wish his critics would remember comments like this the next time he complains after a loss.

Mavs and Cowboys to co-host all-star game

By
Zuri
Published: October 30, 2008Tags: ,

From the Wire:

Associated Press — The NBA All-Star game is coming to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in 2010 and plenty of good seats are available — more than 100,000.

Living up to the old adage about doing things bigger in Texas, the Dallas Mavericks and Cowboys are collaborating on hosting next season’s showcase event. It will be among the first major events at the soon-to-be-completed, $1.1 billion facility in nearby Arlington.

And, if all goes according to plan, this event will set the record for the largest crowd ever to watch an NBA game, shattering the mark of 44,735 set at the 1989 All-Star Game, not-so-coincidentally held at another Texas-sized venue, the Houston Astrodome.

“It’s totally outrageous,” NBA commissioner David Stern said.

Just wait until he hears Mavs owner Mark Cuban’s idea about putting the record out of reach.

“If we can get people to sit on each other’s laps, it could be 200,000,” Cuban said, laughing.

The 2010 All-Star weekend is being hyped as a collaboration between teams and cities. Some events will be held at the Dallas Convention Center, with the Mavericks’ arena hosting the rookie game on Friday night and the Saturday night festivities, which include the 3-point and dunk contests.
The marquee game will be Sunday, with center court right at midfield of the football stadium.

“We’ve got complete flexibility with the configuration,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. “That’s what we spent a lot of money on, to adapt it to these kinds of events.”

The Cowboys also are trying to lure Final Fours. They’ve already landed the 2011 Super Bowl, as well as the Cotton Bowl, starting Jan. 1, 2010.

Begging for Bollinger

By
Zuri
Published: October 29, 2008Tags: , ,

LinkI don’t ever want to see Brad Johnson pick up another football and try to throw it as long as I live. He is not accurate, he is not mobile, he does not make good decisions and he can not throw past 10 yards.

He was a joke against the Rams, with three interceptions to only one touchdown (in garbage time), and led the Cowboys to 10 straight 3-and-outs stretching into the last game against Tampa Bay. Dallas won that game 13-9 thanks to their best defensive performance of the year, and in spite of Johnson’s pathetic 122 yards passing.

Without the help of a horsecollar penalty on 3rd-and-long that led to the only touchdown of the game, the Cowboys easily could have lost 9-6. That’s not getting it done. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m praying to God (several different ones just to be safe) that Brooks Bollinger is the starting quarterback on Sunday against the Giants. I’m not alone in my thinking. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case.

Normally, I’ll take a win any way I can get it, but Sunday’s win over the Bucs was the most depressing in recent memory. I can’t remember the offense looking this bad, and all I could think about was how badly the Giants would beat the Cowboys in week 9. Johnson gives the team absolutely no chance to win the game. Sure, Bollinger is terrible, but he raises their chances all the way to probably not gonna happen. I’ll take it.

Brad Johnson blows it

By
Zuri
Published: October 29, 2008Tags: ,

Has anyone ever seen Brad Johnson and Matt Cassel in the same room at the same time? Have their teams ever played a game in the same time slot? They’re remarkably similar in their ability to ruin a team’s Super Bowl chances.

Johnson and Cassel, in it together. How? Why? Alright, here we go, the answer’s right there, just gotta get some blood to the brain. Johnson and Cassel, Johnson and Cassel, Johnson and Cassel, Johnson and Cassel, Johnson and Cassel, Johnson and Cassel. Cassel, Johnson, Cassel, Cassel. That’s it, that’s it! Johnson is Cassel! Cassel is Johnson!

I guess I can’t blame the entire 34-14 loss to the Rams on Johnson, but almost. All I heard from the “experts” leading up to this game was that while he didn’t have a strong arm, he wouldn’t make mistakes and would make smart decisions. . . He had three interceptions (could’ve been more), and his one touchdown came in garbage time. So maybe he’s not that smart after all. If he can’t even be a “game manager,” the Cowboys are in trouble until Tony Romo comes back.

It’s almost time to fire Wade Phillips. The move to Jason Garrett seems inevitable, and doing it midseason will give him the chance to look good for turning the team around, or get a free pass to start fresh next season.

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