By Mac Engel
tengel@star-telegram.com
engel Jason Garrett, you have a problem.
According to your boss, personnel isn't an issue, in his mind, relative to having a good season. You can bet that the Dallas Cowboys don't have a GM problem, so where could there possibly be a rub?
If it's not the GM, and it's not the talent, that means...
Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Ala., concludes today, and our Top Scout was there to evaluate and break down the NFL's incoming draft class to help fill the many holes that exist on his roster.
Over the past two weeks, we have all heard what an idiot this man is. Jerry Jones is not an idiot.
But it is his greatest strength in life that continues to be his biggest flaw in football.
There may not be a more optimistic man in this area than Jerry Jones. Optimism, enthusiasm and energy are vital ingredients to accomplishment. No one who sets out to achieve anything starts by saying, "No way. No how. Forget it."
Optimism, enthusiasm and hope are admirable, and enviable, qualities. These traits allow Jerry to win over nearly every single room he walks into, often disguising the bleak realities.
Yet, here we sit in 2012, and 10 years later the Dallas Cowboys have come full circle.
Don't remember 2002? That was the first time the Cowboys appeared on the HBO/NFL Films series Hard Knocks.
Watching Cowboys cheerleading choreographer Judy Trammell rip into her group remains the most entertaining aspect of the show. It was Trammell who said to a pack of professional cheerleaders, "I'm being real honest with y'all -- you've got to lose some weight in your stomach."
Not even Jerry, with all of his wealth, could say this without the Secret Service standing directly in front of him.
Aside from that gem, I rewatched every episode this week and found several winners from Jerry to suggest that, despite all this elapsed time, optimism remains a problem.
When speaking to then head coach Dave Campo on the executive bus, Jones said, "Candidly, we're in the best shape we've been in the offensive line in several years."
This was an offensive line that included Solomon Page, Tyson Walter, Ross Tucker, Kelvin Garmon and Javier Collins.
In fairness to Jerry, it also included then-rookie Andre Gurode, Larry Allen and Flozell Adams.
The most damning, however, were these comments to a group of reporters: "We have given ourselves as a franchise a heck of a chance to come out of this with a Pro Bowl quarterback. Maybe two Pro Bowl quarterbacks, but that would be dreaming."
Jerry was speaking of Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson.
Jerry said of Hutch, "He's a man among boys."
Jerry said of The Q, "He's a Libra. I'm a Libra. He was born Oct. 13. We know sitting here Quincy Carter can make plays under pressure. And we know he cannot make bad plays under pressure."
Jerry believed this was as much a reality as the sunrise.
The show's narrator said after the first episode, "There is a growing optimism about the Dallas Cowboys. Everybody seems to feel it."
They did because Jerry radiates and sells optimism and hope during every single off-season like few other figures ever have in sports. If you spend two minutes with the man, it is nearly impossible not to be infected by his Tony Robbins-like buoyancy.
In the final minutes of the episode, Jones was addressing the team at the practice facility: "You are giving us an opportunity to win a world championship. This is about us.... Yesterday is as dead as Napoleon. That's what five minutes ago is, men; it's dead. All that counts is what's going to happen in the next five minutes, in the next hour and the days ahead."
By the end of this speech, you can see why, despite mountains of evidence and well-deserved skepticism, even the most ardent critic and despondent cynic may say, "Yeeeeah, maybe they can do it."
Those Cowboys rewarded Jerry's hope and optimism with a third consecutive 5-11 record, after which Campo was fired and Bill Parcells was hired.
Here we are in the off-season of 2012 and, really, how much has changed?
According to Jerry, personnel isn't an issue.
So if it's not the players, and it's certainly not the GM, then what can it be?
Jason Garrett, you have a problem.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/27/3694047/hope-floats-for-jerry-jones-which.html#storylink=cpy
tengel@star-telegram.com
engel Jason Garrett, you have a problem.
According to your boss, personnel isn't an issue, in his mind, relative to having a good season. You can bet that the Dallas Cowboys don't have a GM problem, so where could there possibly be a rub?
If it's not the GM, and it's not the talent, that means...
Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Ala., concludes today, and our Top Scout was there to evaluate and break down the NFL's incoming draft class to help fill the many holes that exist on his roster.
Over the past two weeks, we have all heard what an idiot this man is. Jerry Jones is not an idiot.
But it is his greatest strength in life that continues to be his biggest flaw in football.
There may not be a more optimistic man in this area than Jerry Jones. Optimism, enthusiasm and energy are vital ingredients to accomplishment. No one who sets out to achieve anything starts by saying, "No way. No how. Forget it."
Optimism, enthusiasm and hope are admirable, and enviable, qualities. These traits allow Jerry to win over nearly every single room he walks into, often disguising the bleak realities.
Yet, here we sit in 2012, and 10 years later the Dallas Cowboys have come full circle.
Don't remember 2002? That was the first time the Cowboys appeared on the HBO/NFL Films series Hard Knocks.
Watching Cowboys cheerleading choreographer Judy Trammell rip into her group remains the most entertaining aspect of the show. It was Trammell who said to a pack of professional cheerleaders, "I'm being real honest with y'all -- you've got to lose some weight in your stomach."
Not even Jerry, with all of his wealth, could say this without the Secret Service standing directly in front of him.
Aside from that gem, I rewatched every episode this week and found several winners from Jerry to suggest that, despite all this elapsed time, optimism remains a problem.
When speaking to then head coach Dave Campo on the executive bus, Jones said, "Candidly, we're in the best shape we've been in the offensive line in several years."
This was an offensive line that included Solomon Page, Tyson Walter, Ross Tucker, Kelvin Garmon and Javier Collins.
In fairness to Jerry, it also included then-rookie Andre Gurode, Larry Allen and Flozell Adams.
The most damning, however, were these comments to a group of reporters: "We have given ourselves as a franchise a heck of a chance to come out of this with a Pro Bowl quarterback. Maybe two Pro Bowl quarterbacks, but that would be dreaming."
Jerry was speaking of Quincy Carter and Chad Hutchinson.
Jerry said of Hutch, "He's a man among boys."
Jerry said of The Q, "He's a Libra. I'm a Libra. He was born Oct. 13. We know sitting here Quincy Carter can make plays under pressure. And we know he cannot make bad plays under pressure."
Jerry believed this was as much a reality as the sunrise.
The show's narrator said after the first episode, "There is a growing optimism about the Dallas Cowboys. Everybody seems to feel it."
They did because Jerry radiates and sells optimism and hope during every single off-season like few other figures ever have in sports. If you spend two minutes with the man, it is nearly impossible not to be infected by his Tony Robbins-like buoyancy.
In the final minutes of the episode, Jones was addressing the team at the practice facility: "You are giving us an opportunity to win a world championship. This is about us.... Yesterday is as dead as Napoleon. That's what five minutes ago is, men; it's dead. All that counts is what's going to happen in the next five minutes, in the next hour and the days ahead."
By the end of this speech, you can see why, despite mountains of evidence and well-deserved skepticism, even the most ardent critic and despondent cynic may say, "Yeeeeah, maybe they can do it."
Those Cowboys rewarded Jerry's hope and optimism with a third consecutive 5-11 record, after which Campo was fired and Bill Parcells was hired.
Here we are in the off-season of 2012 and, really, how much has changed?
According to Jerry, personnel isn't an issue.
So if it's not the players, and it's certainly not the GM, then what can it be?
Jason Garrett, you have a problem.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/01/27/3694047/hope-floats-for-jerry-jones-which.html#storylink=cpy
