tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/19 2009-11-20T06:21:44Z Smart takes from players, coaches, and sports reporters on NFL news. Join the discussion at The League. Movable Type 4.2-en tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15539 2009-11-20T15:41:26Z 2009-11-20T16:15:14Z

Most fans loathe the Cowboys, and will do anything they can to bad-mouth them. Is it fair? Not really.

Sean Moroney Cowboys. What do both Romo and Phillips have in common? Well to the national public, they either stink, are overrated, and and/or are choke-artists. Like the New York Yankees, the Cowboys are judged under an intense microscope every single day, and to most fans are very easy to hate. Actually, hate is not even a strong enough word, most fans loathe the Cowboys, and will do anything they can to bad-mouth them. Is it fair? Not really. Romo is one of the premier quarterbacks in the league. Unfortunately, Romo has had a long streak of bad-luck, including the botched snap from a playoff loss to Seattle, a failed last-ditched effort against the Giants during the next playoffs, and missing 3 costly games due to injury (1-2 w/ back-ups) last year to miss the playoffs. However, people forget to realize, sometimes even the best players and teams just need a few bounces to go their way. Tom Brady's career might have never taken off if not for the "Tuck Game". It even took Peyton Manning 6 years to win a playoff game, and he didn't win a Super Bowl until his ninth year (in which Peyton finally got some bounces his way during their AFC Championship comeback win over New England). Wade Phillips is another great example. He has improved Bill Parcells' Cowboys team since he took over. However, his playoff resume is filled with unlucky breaks, such as "The Music City Miracle," while coaching the Bills (Buffalo hasn't made the playoffs since Wade left)- which to this day, still looks like an illegal forward lateral to me. But as we saw with the Yankees, and specifically Alex Rodriguez, things can change very quickly. A-Rod went from a career choke artist to a clutch World-Series winner just this last year. Dallas seems due for some good fortune, right? Of course, dating and dumping Jessica Simpson (Romo), or sometimes looking lost on the sidelines (Phillips) doesn't help the Cowboys case either. For the haters- it just adds more fuel to the fire. ]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15538 2009-11-20T15:59:36Z 2009-11-20T16:29:57Z

Everything is bigger in Texas, except the Cowboys trophy over the last 13 years.

Dan Levy Jerry Jones who owns and runs the franchise -- it's all arrogance. It's amazing that guys like Troy Aikman and Daryl Johnston came out of that franchise as well adjusted as they seem. It's no wonder that Emmitt Smith acted the way he did with his terrible stint on ESPN -- act like you're the best...it's the Cowboy way. I'm not old enough to really remember most of the Tom Landry era. He seemed like a classy fella, with the suit and the hat and the stoicism. But since then it's been a giant 'look at me' party in Dallas. And it's hard not to look. Even the stupid scoreboard got more attention this year than any new stadium has gotten in two decades. Just the scoreboard! Let alone the leather-trimmed luxury boxes and weird neon lounge the players have to walk through to get to the field that somehow translates into those people being better than the rest of us. And if everything is bigger in Texas, it's clearly not the Super Bowl rings in the last 13 years, as nine different teams -- including three multiple times -- have won Super Bowls since Dallas' last trip. Yet somehow the world stops every time Tony Romo takes a snap. Football's just that doggone more important when the Cowboys are playing. Look, give them credit for the fact that the ratings show they are a huge draw. People love to watch them, so the networks love to put them in spots where the most people can watch them. In my NFL weekend preview for The Sporting Blog today, I talked about Bob Costas getting snubbed by Jay Cutler and even I managed to get in a reference to the Cowboys: It's not like Costas really asks any tough questions anyway. Remember, earlier in the season he asked Tony Romo: "Hey if you're a young, single guy, and the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys - if you're not going to enjoy that, what will you ever enjoy?" Yeah ... I can totally see how Costas would grill the Bears after questions like that in his repertoire. Are they America's team? I guess they are because you either love them or hate them or love them because everyone else hates them or hate them because so many people love them. One thing's for certain, most people feel something about them. And that probably makes Jerry Jones very happy. We're just adding to his arrogance. ]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15537 2009-11-20T16:51:19Z 2009-11-20T17:31:17Z

We used to rule the world, but these days it's just as easy to pity the Cowboys as it is to hate us.

Gene Wang Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys have won five Super Bowls, made eight appearances in our country's biggest game and have the most playoff wins of any team in league history. Dallas haters point to the arrogance stemming from that virtually unmatched level of success as to why so many football fans love seeing the Cowboys lose. In Philadelphia, New York and Washington, you'd probably find as many fans who relish a Dallas loss just as much if not more than a victory by their team. That's probably the case in most NFL cities other than Dallas-Fort Worth and its surroundings. Ill will toward America's Team starts with the players. As much as Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, Daryl Johnston and Emmitt Smith exemplified ideals the NFL seeks to promote, many other Dallas greats were known as much for their off-field indiscretions as their fine play on it. Only in Dallas would a player be known as Hollywood. But Thomas Henderson isn't alone when it comes to player hubris. Michael Irvin was nicknamed The Playmaker, not just for making clutch receptions in the most important games but for letting you know when he did. And of course there was Prime Time. Deion Sanders may be the greatest cover cornerback in NFL history, but he's probably one of the league's most reviled players too. Then there were the coaches. Many mistook Tom Landry's stoicism for arrogance, and former Redskins coach George Allen fueled the rivalry by using that as motivation. The Redskins embraced the persona of the lunch-pail Over-the-Hill Gang and the Hogs, while the Cowboys were automatons, void of emotion or compassion. Jimmy Johnson was brash from the moment he took over for Landry. Remember he was the coach who called a Fort Worth radio station in 1994 to guarantee a victory over San Francisco in the the NFC championship game. Dallas won, 38-21, en route to their fourth Super Bowl title. Then came Barry Switzer, who won three national championships at Oklahoma and gained many critics for what some perceived as an outlaw program. The Cowboys were a traveling rock band under Switzer, and their escapades are well documented. Drugs and women were in heavy supply then, but Dallas still won despite those distractions. Finally there's Jerry Jones, the owner who turned around the franchise when it had fallen into disrepair in the late 1980s. He's been accused of meddling in football operations, namely hiring and firing coaches with impunity and trading draft picks with little regard for the consequences. Now he's built the largest stadium in the league. The old saying is: "Everything's bigger in Texas." That's true of the Cowboys on just about every level. That includes the outsized personality of the players, coaches and owner to the size of the stadium to the inflated egos of the Dallas fan base. The sense of entitlement surrounding the Cowboys makes them easy to hate. Last season with a roster full of Pro Bowl players, they failed to make the playoffs. The Cowboys went into many games as if they expected the opponent to wilt simply because of the star on the side of the Dallas helmets. The era of opponents fearing the Cowboys, who have not won a playoff game since 1996, is long over. Dallas instead has become the butt of jokes for organizational mismanagement, poor coaching and underachieving players. These days it's just as easy to pity the Cowboys as it is to hate them.]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15536 2009-11-20T14:22:52Z 2009-11-20T15:09:16Z

The legions of soulless, bandwagon Cowboys fans, scattered across America, make Dallas that much more repugnant.

Jason Brewer Cowboys but, in my opinion, the biggest is that guy wearing the Cowboys jacket in your office. Or that guy wearing the Aikman jersey in your local bar. Or that guy driving around with a Cowboys bumper sticker. Wherever you are in this country, you know the guy I'm talking about. He's the same guy in every state, in every town that decided to jump on the Cowboys bandwagon despite having no connection whatsoever to the city of Dallas or the state of Texas. Despite our rivalry, I have no problem with real Dallas fans. Those people that go to the stadium every week and live in the area are just regular football fans supporting their home team. I'll never understand the bandwagoners though. What fun is it to sit alone in your house with no friends hoping that the Cowboys aren't playing at the same time as the local team in the hopes that you'll actually get to watch them? If they win, you have no friends to celebrate with. When the Eagles win, I get to celebrate with 60,000 other fans at the Linc or with a few hundred other fans at a local bar. My friends, family, and the people I grew up with are all Eagles fans and we enjoy football together. I get to pick up my morning paper and read all about my team, I get tune in to the local radio stations who all talk about my team. I get to savor my team's success in a way these bandwagon Dallas fans never will.That aspect of community is what makes football so great. It's what makes sports great and it's something the bandwagon fans will sadly never experience. They'll certainly act like it though. That lone guy wearing the Cowboys jersey in your local bar will always be quick to tell you about all the Super Bowls his team won, but of course he won't be able to tell you about any of the parades he went to... In the end, this picture I took on my way home one day will illustrate why everyone hates the Cowboys better than anything I could ever write. They're soulless. ]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15527 2009-11-20T11:13:24Z 2009-11-20T06:23:50Z

Why are the Dallas Cowboys the most hated franchise in sports? Weigh in here...

Reader Poll Dallas Cowboys the most hated franchise in sports? Weigh in here... ]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15526 2009-11-20T11:52:35Z 2009-11-20T16:18:47Z

My hatred of the Cowboys is less about the team and more about having to deal with the obnoxious fan base.

Edward Valentine Dallas Cowboys so much? There are a million reasons, including that whole "America's Team" nonsense. The arrogance of the owner certainly doesn't help. Pardon me while I not only root for a punter to hit the 'JerryTron' during a game, but for somebody to knock the darn thing down and have it smash into smithereens right on the field. Yet, as a Yankee fan I can't really complain about the deep pockets, or arrogance, of an owner. Instead, my hatred of the Cowboys comes more from having to deal with the obnoxious fan base. Cowboys fans will tell you that their team is the best, the absolute best, every single year. No one is ever better, and it's always someone else's fault that things never quite seem to work out for the Cowboys. Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since 1996. Ask any Cowboys fan though, and he will tell you his team was the best in the league each and every one of those seasons. Everybody else just got lucky. In the eyes of Cowboys fans, the team has not yet been created that deserves the privilege of stepping on the same field with Dallas. Yeah, I know Yankee fans aren't exactly know for being polite -- or realistic. At least when we brag, though, we actually have some accomplishments to point to. What do Cowboys fans have to brag about? Oh, wait, nothing. But, they are still bragging. That's why I hate the Cowboys. ]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15524 2009-11-20T11:57:33Z 2009-11-20T06:23:11Z

I don't have a problem with Cowboys fans from Texas, it's the locals -- the ones who want nothing more than to spoil the home team's party.

Dave Goldberg Cowboys, I think of "Dallas,'' the prime-time soap opera of a generation or so ago. Too rich, too ostentatious, too ... Everything. That's not the only reason "America's Team'' is also America's most hated sports franchise. But when the stereotype fits -- as in a new $1 billion-plus pleasure palace for the Cowboys' games -- you savor it. Was there anyone outside the Cowboys' considerable fan base who didn't enjoy watching Jerry Jones watch his team lose in the final seconds to the Giants in the first real game his team played there? Nobody I know. A confession. I liked Texas E. "Tex'' Schramm, the California-born president of the Cowboys for their first 29 years, the founder of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and the man who created "America's Team.'' I love Gil Brandt, who put together those teams -- he's still a friend. I like Jerry, who can talk to reporters for hours without saying a thing. I liked Tom Landry and I like Jimmy Johnson and Roger Staubach andTroy Aikman and Michael Irvin and Tony Romo and a lot of Cowboys and ex-Cowboys, especially a very sharp former defensive end named Jim Jeffcoat who's now an assistant coach at the University of Houston. I even like a lot of things about Texas, especially its homegrown brand of music. Now comes the "but'' part. What I don't like is the image that goes back to Larry Hagman as J.R. and the rest of big, rich, and ostentatious show that the new stadium represents. Nor am I alone. If the feeling is strongest in Washington, Philadelphia, New York and both ends of New Jersey, which have to deal with the Cowboys twice every football season, it exists also in places like Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Chicago and points west. We're a bipolar country -- a lot of us want to be big, rich and ostentatious but we don't like it in others, especially if they come from Texas. Actually, I don't have a problem with Cowboys fans from Texas. Or from Arkansas, Oklahoma or New Mexico. Nor do most fans around the country. At least I don't think so. It's the others -- the locals. The ones who want nothing more than to spoil the home team's party. Yes, other NFL teams have subway alumni -- Pittsburgh and Green Bay to name two. But think Steel City and think Cheesehead. It doesn't raise the hackles like Dallas does. ]]> tag:views.washingtonpost.com,2009:/theleague/panelists//51.15518 2009-11-20T11:43:06Z 2009-11-20T06:25:27Z

Why do Redskins fans hate the Cowboys? Let us count the ways.

Leonard Shapiro Cowboys? Let us count the ways. It began in earnest in the George Allen era (1971-77), when Allen knew the Pokes were the team to beat to gain supremacy in the NFC East. A master at whipping his teams into a frenzy, Allen had some Redskins believing that head coach Tom Landry had been a serial killer in a previous life and general manager Tex Schramm was evil incarnate. Allen went out of his way to bait choir-boy quarterback Roger Staubach, getting his veteran players to taunt him any chance they got. Defensive tackle Diron Talbert once insisted that the Cowboys employed the shotgun offense because Staubach couldn't read defenses and was usually the most vocal Redskin during Dallas Week, with Allen providing him the script. Schramm hardly endeared himself to Redskins fans when, during pre-game warm-ups, he walked over to where kicker Mark Moseley was practicing field goals, the better to eyeball his kicking shoe. Schramm was convinced Moseley, one of the last of the straight-on kickers, literally had a lead-foot, an illegal insert in the toe to make the ball go longer. The worst kick in the gut to the Redskins and their fans came in a 1974 Thanksgiving Day game in Dallas, when young quarterback Clint Longley came off the bench to fill in for an injured Staubach and promptly threw a game-winning 50-yard touchdown pass to receiver Drew Pearson in the final minute. If you didn't hate the Cowboys after that, you surely never bled burgundy and gold. The enmity continued during the Joe Gibbs years, and there are legions of Cowboy haters all around the country, especially after NFL Films labeled them "America's Team" in the club's 1978 highlight film. "They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars," the film began. "They are America's Team." Oh really? The swagger and outlaw nature of some of the players on those three Super Bowl teams early in the Jerry Jones era hardly enamored the Cowboys to a new generation of Cowboy hating fans. How could anyone not cringe when Jimmy Johnson bellowed "how 'bout those Cowboys" in one particularly raucous postgame locker room scene also captured by NFL Films? It was epitome of high flying, cocky Cowboy hubris, and a true turnoff to football fans far and wide. ]]>