Ware doesn't necessarily agree with Hatcher about the Cowboys not having leaders

[Midswat]

ByBrandon George / Reporter
bgeorge@dallasnews.com | Bio

11:52 AM on Mon., Feb. 20, 2012 | Permalink

ARLINGTON -- Outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware said the Cowboys don't have any leadership issues because they have more than one leader on their team.

On Friday, Cowboys defensive end Jason Hatcher had an interesting answer to a question during a radio interview on KESN-FM 103.3 when he was asked, "Who are the leaders on the Dallas Cowboys?"

"Uh, dude, I got to be honest with you. That's a good question. That's a good question," Hatcher said. "I really don't know."

Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders, who was co-hosting the show, cut in and said, "That's a heck of an answer."

Then Hatcher continued.

"Yeah, I really don't know. That's another thing we really need," Hatcher said. "We need like a Ray Lewis. We don't have that. We have talent and everything we need, but if we get like a Ray Lewis, everybody buys into him. When Ray Lewis speaks everybody listens to him, a guy like that. You really don't got that. I think we definitely need somebody like that."

Ware, speaking Saturday night while representing Red Bull at the Supercross event at Cowboys Stadium, said the Cowboys are just fine in the leadership department.

"The thing is on our team, there's not a guy who is just a straight up, solitary leader. I think it comes as a whole," Ware said. "You got to look at it as we have [Tony] Romo, we have [Jason] Witten, you have me, Bradie James, Sean Lee. Everybody has their role and they take on that leadership role when it's needed. Every team doesn't need just a one-time guy who is like the leader of that team. If everybody is checking everybody, that's all you need. There comes a time to step up when it's time to step up and get the job done."

The Cowboys finished 8-8 last season despite playing one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. Hatcher said Friday that the Cowboys would be more accountable if they had an outspoken leader such as Lewis.

"You have to have somebody who will hold you accountable and with a leader like that, everybody is held accountable, guys aren't doing their own thing here or there. Everybody is going in one direction," Hatcher said. "Once you have that, you'll be good. We're still looking for it."

 

[Theebs]

again.

Hatcher the role player who barely got a contract here calling out inadvertently ware, witten and romo is nuts.

all three should put him in his place privately.

This is one of the reasons people think we have no leaders.

when mike vanderjagt called out peyton manning, manning immediately put him in his place and for what its worth so did eli when tiki called him out.

ware, witten and romo should be doing the same when a backup player who doesnt and hasnt performed all that well in 5 seasons here says dumb stuff like he said.

and yes I understand we do not have the one guy who controls the room. I think the organizational structure has repeatedly stopped that from happening the natural way it should..but...thats a different conversation i guess.

 

[UVAwahoos]

The Cowboys finished 8-8 last season despite playing one of the easiest schedules in the NFL.

It was actually one the hardest schedules in the whole league. The Giants or Pats would have finished 2-14 with the same schedule

-Dbair

 

[Hoofbite]

again.

Hatcher the role player who barely got a contract here calling out inadvertently ware, witten and romo is nuts.

all three should put him in his place privately.

This is one of the reasons people think we have no leaders.

when mike vanderjagt called out peyton manning, manning immediately put him in his place and for what its worth so did eli when tiki called him out.

ware, witten and romo should be doing the same when a backup player who doesnt and hasnt performed all that well in 5 seasons here says dumb stuff like he said.

and yes I understand we do not have the one guy who controls the room. I think the organizational structure has repeatedly stopped that from happening the natural way it should..but...thats a different conversation i guess.

I don't think he was intentionally trying to throw anyone under the bus but him admitting what you said right here shouldn't be any reason to trash the guy.

It's painfully obvious this team doesn't have a guy who will take command. I think each guy has done it at one time or another but there isn't a guy who all others look at and follow. Maybe one week it's Ware, the next it's Witten, then Romo.

I don't see any reason to bash Hatcher for it. Doubtful he's alone in feeling the team has no leaders.

Ware pretty much summed it up himself. Himself, James and Lee.

Those are the leaders? If you have "leaders" you don't really have a "leader".

I really wish Dallas would have gotten Keith Brooking about 5-6 years earlier than they did.

 

[Theebs]

I don't think he was intentionally trying to throw anyone under the bus but him admitting what you said right here shouldn't be any reason to trash the guy.

It's painfully obvious this team doesn't have a guy who will take command. I think each guy has done it at one time or another but there isn't a guy who all others look at and follow. Maybe one week it's Ware, the next it's Witten, then Romo.

I don't see any reason to bash Hatcher for it. Doubtful he's alone in feeling the team has no leaders.

Ware pretty much summed it up himself. Himself, James and Lee.

Those are the leaders? If you have "leaders" you don't really have a "leader".

I really wish Dallas would have gotten Keith Brooking about 5-6 years earlier than they did.

I have always liked hatcher but he deserves ridicule for an out of the blue appearance with the local station that hates the team, while having Deion as a guest that day. It was like he shut his brain off.

There is absolutely no reason to go on that station and say the things he said. There is absolutely nothing good that can come of it...true or not.

And like I said it wasn't intentional but he basically shot arrows at ware, witten and romo.

And here is another thing, one of the qualities of leaders is that they stand up after a loss and talk to the media. I can tell u that losses here witten and romo talk and hatcher does not. Hatcher like spears and bradie James are always smiling and mugging it up after wins but after losses the interviews are always mcbriar, a rookie, Jerry and witten.

I have asked Steve Dennis about this repeatedly and he always responds tha t it is one of the problems.

So for hatcher to be one of the guys who is invisible after losses and then to go bag inadvertently on ware, witten and romo is really sorry...let alone doing it on 103.3 where he and everyone else know they will make a huge deal out of it.

Tremendously dumb to have said what he did.

 

[superpunk]

Woulda been funny if Ware had said if that's the way Jason wants it I'll be on his ass all camp long until he's on my level. If that's what he needs to improve as a player, I got his back.

Win-win.

 

[marionbarberthe4th]

It's disturbing bc we know we have a few leader tough guy types.

It's like a cry for help. The only way we can succeed is with the ultimate leader.

Maybe just maybe things are far too cozy in Dallas

 

[Theebs]

It's disturbing bc we know we have a few leader tough guy types.

It's like a cry for help. The only way we can succeed is with the ultimate leader.

Maybe just maybe things are far too cozy in Dallas

Clearly they are and have been.

The fact that a player whines there is no leader is really sad stat of affairs.

 

[Hoofbite]

I have always liked hatcher but he deserves ridicule for an out of the blue appearance with the local station that hates the team, while having Deion as a guest that day. It was like he shut his brain off.

There is absolutely no reason to go on that station and say the things he said. There is absolutely nothing good that can come of it...true or not.

And like I said it wasn't intentional but he basically shot arrows at ware, witten and romo.

And here is another thing, one of the qualities of leaders is that they stand up after a loss and talk to the media. I can tell u that losses here witten and romo talk and hatcher does not. Hatcher like spears and bradie James are always smiling and mugging it up after wins but after losses the interviews are always mcbriar, a rookie, Jerry and witten.

I have asked Steve Dennis about this repeatedly and he always responds tha t it is one of the problems.

So for hatcher to be one of the guys who is invisible after losses and then to go bag inadvertently on ware, witten and romo is really sorry...let alone doing it on 103.3 where he and everyone else know they will make a huge deal out of it.

Tremendously dumb to have said what he did.

I agree he probably shouldn't have said it because it sounds bad but it gets a real problem. If you think he's the only guy in the locker room who would respond that way if they knew their statements wouldn't get out, I think you are mistaken.

This is the type of shit that rumbles through the locker room and someone only feels comfortable saying it if they have said it enough amongst friends, otherwise they risk looking like the lone idiot who thinks something that is totally ridiculous.

As to those who speak after losses, I don't know if that automatically puts someone into a leadership role inside the clubhouse.

We see Ware as a leader because he's the best player on the team. We see Witten as a leader because he's one of the best players on the team and has been for a long time. We see Romo as a leader because he's the QB.

How do team members view them? Obviously we know how Hatcher does but what about others. Sure, lets write off Hatcher a possible malcontent who should be gone but what about the rest of the players who feel that way? I really hope that nobody thinks Hatcher is alone on this issue. There are others, what's their story? Furthermore, how did it get here? Ray Lewis would probably knife a teammate if he heard someone doubt his command under their breath, you can only imagine what he'd do if someone did it publicly. I'm not saying this team needs a Ray Lewis (fuck it would be nice though) but they need SOMEONE who will hound their asses into submission and get relative no-names and slackers to step up.

I don't put much stock into pregame huddle routines but here's something that might be of note. Of the guys you see leading those cheerleader chants, how many of them are doing so having played less than a full season on that team? What week was it in 2009 when Brooking took over the huddle? I'm almost positive he had the job by midseason, shit he may have taken in it training camp.

Seriously, you think someone is going to walk on to the Ravens and just take that job from Lewis without having played a season?

Not fucking happening.

This team is full of guys who say the right things, likely do the right things but there isn't a single person on this franchise who busts their asses when they do the wrong things.

You can mold a guy into hard working player who does all the right things but if you don't eliminate the fuck ups and piss poor things, you've only sprayed some Glade on smelly turd.

Why do you think Alan Ball still hasn't figured out how to look for the ball half the time?

Why doesn't Ogletree know the fucking playbook in the 3rd game of his 3rd year?

Why do even our best players have so many stupid fucking penalties?

I'll tell you why, because this team has a bad habit of showering players in praise for all the good they do and turning a blind eye to all the fuck ups and mistakes. If you're kicking ass, we're not gonna ask any more of you.

"Oh David Buehler, you're such a stud muffin and look so damn good trotting around the practice field. Forget that you can't kick, you can flex a large pulsating vein in your boner so we don't care that you suck as a kicker"

It's the exact same mentality that stroked Roy Williams (SS) ego so much that he basically devolved into a shell of his former self. Instead of asking him to pick his shit up and work on his weaknesses the team simply said, "we'll find a way to make him work" because he was still productive in certain aspects.

Anyone wonder why Parcells told Witten he wouldn't amount to shit before he left?

“I went in there expecting some kind of sad farewell, but his message to me was that I sucked. He gave me about 15 things I needed to improve on and told me if I didn’t do them I’d always be average. I didn’t know if there’d be a hug or anything, but I didn’t see it going down like that.”

What was the quote, theebs? "In three years you'll never know I was here".........something like that?

That's why he did it. He knew damn well that Witten had the chance to become great and the only thing that would stop him would be a complacent-ass attitude, the type of attitude fostered at JerryWorld.

Just last year, the ultimate enabler Wade Phillips turned Jerry on his word in a matter of weeks. Why, because Wade is an 8-halves full type of guy. Couldn't find a single negative in getting kidnapped, taken to TJ and sold into prostitution at an all-male penitentiary.

This team lacks true discipline. They only appease the requests of their superiors because they know they can avoid all forms of criticism and accountability by looking the part of a good soldier.

Almost the complete opposite of Parcells who got results by grinding a guy so hard mentally that he only performed to put a stop to the constant harassment. I don't think it's a shocker that the best record this team has produced came in a year where they were transitioning from the ultimate disciplinarian to the ultimate enabler. They had both the mindset of avoiding punishment and felt the actual praises of their good performance.

This team is in dire need of a guy who will hound them until they submit or correct their mistakes. I don't see that player on the team.

 

[Theebs]

Hb I agree with pretty much everything u said.

There s something here that keeps a normal structure from forming and we all know what that is. We are screwed till that is corrected.


And bottom line for me, no reason to be saying this stuff in public. We all know there is not a Randy white, Michael Irvin type on this team. Telling espn 103.3 about it is only going to make matters worse. There s not a single reason why a backup player who has his own issues is on the radio out of the blue telling them we have no leaders.

He is causing problems for his teammates and basically declaring himself not a proud enough player to handle his own self.

And again, he siged a contract here. And he is invisible after losses. None of this makes any sense.

It's as dumb as tashard choice getting Vicks autograph after losing to him....at least get Vicks autograph after you kicked his ass in the playoffs...at least.......if hatcher has this much of an issue with the leadership, hold court the week of the first workouts and make it a team issue.

Not with retards Ben n skin and asshole Deion sanders. But that is probably why he went on the air because Deion was there.

So yes, I agree the team lacks the one main guy, but in no way is it ok that a role player who under performs and doesn't talk after losses is the buy who is saying this in feb on rspn radio.

It's dumb and it's what this group has always done. Nothing has changed. Until the structure is cleared up it will stay like this....even if ray Lewis was here, you think DEz bryant wouldn't run to Jerry with his problem of the moment...? Of course he would. Jerrys pet players are always the problem here and that is a key component of the leadership problems here.