The Example of Randy Galloway - The Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones, The Media & Sobriety

Well, the Dallas Cowboys are winners for the first time in this 2014 season! And the spirits are already flowing!

We've got the Cowboys Defense talking as if they're the second coming of Doomsday I & II, as well as Jimmy Johnson's top-ranked version of the 90's, all in one unit.

Then you've got the media, including all the so called professionals who should know better, leading the charge, practically agreeing with everything the Cowboys players are saying. Objective, unbiased reporting and analysis anyone?

Well, I say the media is leading the charge. Actually, that's not quite the case. The media is really following the inebriating trail of Jerry Jones. His 200 proof, vintage, smooth sipping Koolaid, aged all of 24 hours, has found a comfortable home among this close-knit group known as Jerryholics Anonymous. They trail Jones like the faithful all-in-one Bartender-Brewery Magnet he has become, afraid that too many hours without Jerry's special brew will lead them into the vast world of sanity most others experience on a daily basis. God Forbid!

Before we proceed any further, let's perform a Public Service Identification for all forced to suffer their personal space invaded by such second hand dribble this contingent of snared drunkards conspire to peddle as inspired journalism. We start with that bastion of Cowboys' informational integrity from Dallascowboys.com led by ole timer Mickey Spagnola. At one time a professional sports journalist beyond reproach among the likes of Randy Galloway, Frank Luksa and Blackie Sherrod, he now spends his time supporting all things Jerry & the Cowboys by offering the most incredible litany of excuses worthy of the most hardened Jerryholic, then accepting payment from Jerry's ever increasing vault of cash. Journalistic objectivity? Not that would be noticed!

After that comes the DallasCowboys.com underlings such as Nick Eatman, Bryan Broaddus, Rowan Kavner, David Helman, Derek Eagleton, Ed Cahill and Shannon Gross. They are simply paid patsy's of Jerry's and slovenly regurgitate the official utterances from the distillery at Valley Ranch, acting as human breathalyzers for the public to determine the specific level of inebriation being offered for consumption. Accurate reporting? About as much as you could expect from staff drunkards!

Next up are the local Newspaper Journalists, Columnists and Cowboys beat writers. They include, Rick Gosselin, Tim Cowlishaw, David Moore, Kevin Sherington, Jerry Fraley, Barry Horn, Gil LeBreton, Mac Engel, Clarence Hill Jr., Charean Williams and Drew Davison. This group includes some notable personalities known for their NFL expertise as well as concise reporting and analysis. But it seems that tenure has seen many imbibing for so long that Cirrhosis of the Reporter has set in. Too much of Jerry's Brew for too long has seen their Journalistic Liver unable to adequately process the impurities of Jerry's World. This condition finds them tender and unwilling to take in anything not offered through journalistic feeding tubes. Consistent Substance? Nah. Just public pablum!

Next up are the Local and National Television Network Affiliate anchors and analysts along with Local and National Radio Talk Show hosts. This highly visible and audible group may be the most hardened members of JA simply because they employ the most widely consumed broadcast mediums which, not only provide broad avenues for the high ratings Jerry covets, but also instant inebriation for the masses. Jerry readily admits that he monitors the media more than anyone else. What good Brewmaster wouldn't keep tabs on the public response, as well as the entire spectrum of transportation options available to directly deliver that special Brew the public craves. And deliver Jerry Brew they do!

This group is too numerous to mention them all, so I will limit this list to the Television and Cable Networks. ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, ESPN, ESPN1, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, CNN, FOX SPORTS1, NFL NETWORK, CBS SPORTS NETWORK, NBC SPORTS NETWORK, etc.

All of the above tend to form a very loyal, cohesive group, and at best, exist as incestuous parasites, living off of each other with Jerry's Boot Leg Brew providing the common sustenance while inbreeding genetically ingrained cohorts for Jerry's Recovery group. While a few abide on the fringes, offering opinion and analysis that borders on viable, the overall tendency is to remain true to the brand of Brew Jerry provides while offering an obtuse viewpoint for entertainment purposes only. The entertainment drama Jerry readily provides generally trumps hard cold facts, especially if those facts disagree with Jerry's official viewpoint in any way.

Such is the state of stupor the Jerryholic Media currently finds itself in. One Cowboys win has them staggering over each other to report the return of Jerry's 'Boys and their vaunted Defense. One mediocre win and the Cowboys are Super Bowl bound!

Of course, I must mention the one personality to escape this fellowship of Jerry's. Yes, Randy Galloway is the only one able to grab his cigars, nag betting lines, bottle of Jose Cuervo and find the nearest retirement exit. Battered and scarred from Jerry's repeated attempts to convert him to his select group of Brew Master assistants, Randy has faithfully executed his duties without succumbing to the enticements of perpetual inebriation. Randy has performed the journalistic equivalent of Drinking Responsibly by ending a long career as a faithful soldier should, finishing the battle, but on his terms, not Jerry's.

And what do we attribute as the key to Randy's success and survival? Was he just too smart? C'mon, Randy would be the first to nix that idea. Good looking? I think Randy has spoken many time over the years about that issue!  Was he too tough for Jerry? Nah! He's not the combative type!

Randy Galloway has been one thing that Jerry Jones has not consistently been over the years. The word is "sober."

And sobriety, devoid of any of Jerry's flowing spirits, resides in reality, which is where the Cowboys and the rest of the media need to return to as quickly as possible!

Here's to sobriety!

The Dallas Cowboys of 2013 - A Return to Glory?

With the extended drought of Super Bowl appearances by our beloved 'Pokes now nearing 20 years, it's almost become a necessity for fans to return to yesteryear's glory to provide comfort and relive old and fond memories. Sad but true.

Fortunately, Dallas Cowboys' history is full of such moments, so a stroll down memory lane can be leisurely taken. The glory received and the struggles to obtain it provide an ample amount of personal and shared narratives to recount.

And that's one of the good things about history. It can provide a balm for the immediate and sometimes the long-term pains associated with........................well, losing.

At the same time, there's always the future. There's nothing quite like the anticipation of looking ahead. Hopes, dreams, plans, expectations, excitement, eagerness and all other emotional states contrived by looking to the unknown and potentially experiencing the highest success help to propel us forward into fulfilling the void of what might be.

For Cowboys fans, tonight's game against the Giants is just the beginning of what is to be hopefully providing a future for today's young fans to one day look back to with the same enjoyment we find in reliving a rich gridiron history that began more than fifty years ago.

Go Cowboys!

Hatin' Tony Romo - The Captain Speaks!

For all you Romo Haters, listen to the words of Captain America, +Roger Staubach. He just might know a thing or two about playing the game of Football in the NFL at the highest level.

You might want to listen to his latest thoughts in this video.

Dallas Cowboys Blowout Loss To Seattle Not Indicative Of Direction Of Team

by Ryan Bush

Let’s be proactive about all this and agree that the Dallas Cowboys were mentally deficient in nearly every conceivable category Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.  Blocked punts, dropped passes, ill-timed penalties, and a gutless front-seven at crunch time… Those are all earmarks of any local junior high squad and provide the classic example of why so many refuse to consider the Cowboys as professional material.  Too often, they fail to resemble it.

Blocked Punt

So the big ‘Boys from Big D’ had their heads in the clouds after a statement win over the Giants, is that it?  Well, there are worse reasons to lose a football game.  Like, say, having your head served up on a platter.  Which was not the reality of Sunday’s 27-7 loss.

As many opportunities as Dallas made the most of during the opener in East Rutherford, they threw just as many away eleven days later. It was ugly in the extreme, as has been noted by the media since then, but in no way is an indication that this team is just another head-case that maximizes its potential by merely flirting with a postseason berth.

To compare this debacle to last season’s 34-7 loss at Philadelphia is doing Andy Reid and the Eagles a great injustice.  The Eagles team of a year ago was simply better than the Cowboys, no room for argument allowed. 

Such was not the case Sunday, even though the Cowboys’ superiority was never allowed to be evident.  It’s only fair to give Seattle credit for the victory, but there are a boatload of Cowboys that are deserving of a wholehearted assist.

1 of 4 Dropped Passes by Jason Witten

 When has Jason Witten ever dropped one pass in a game, let alone four?  And why couldn’t Dan Connor block the man right in front of him?  And why can’t Felix Jones hold onto the ball?  Dez Bryant let one pass from Tony Romo slip through his hands, as did Miles Austin.

Leave it to Cow-lovers to ignore the long list of football offenders above and fault the defense completely for this loss.  This is a classic example of why the majority of Cowboy fans are considered eccentric nerds.

It’s easy to blame Rob Ryan for a conservative game plan that failed to apply consistent pressure on rookie quarterback Russell Wilson.  But lack of a pass rush wasn’t the primary reason Dallas failed to produce a turnover.  The scoreboard, in fact, was.

By falling behind 10-0 and never recovering, the Cowboys never forced Seattle to divert from their run-first game plan they started the game with.  With at least one leg up on the competition from the game’s outset, the Seahawks head coach was able to ride the legs of Marshawn Lynch until the Dallas defense finally flopped down dead in the final quarter.

Arms weren't enough to tackle Lynch

Part of that can be attributed to fatigue, an understandable factor when considering Seattle controlled the ball for more that 20 minutes in the second half.  Yet a more perplexing problem was a lack of discipline by multiple players that allowed Lynch to gain extra yardage on several occasions.

The Dallas defense was playing without Pro Bowl nose tackle Jay Ratliff in the middle, and it’s a credit to Garrett and Ryan for not overblowing his absence as an excuse.  Lynch’s 100-yard outburst in the second-half had little, if nothing, to do with any inadequacies of replacement Josh Brent. The Cowboys were either out of position defensively, or simply failed to wrap the ball-carrier up.  There were too many attempted arm-tackles and inconsequential big hits, two notorious no-no’s against a powerful runner such as Lynch.

No, it wasn’t the ideal performance against an inferior opponent on the road, but it wasn’t nearly as ground-shaking as it appeared to some.  The Cowboys can play fundamentally sound football.  We all saw that against the Giants.  

There will be a come-back-to-fundamentals cry from Camp Cowboy this week, and with the humiliation of Sunday’s loss haunting them every step of the way, it’s safe to say next week’s game against Tampa Bay will introduce a refocused Cowboys team to their host of distraught admirers.

Self-Destructive Mistakes Cost Dallas Cowboys Big In 27-7 Loss

  by Ryan Bush

The self-destructive impulses of the Dallas Cowboys were out in full force Sunday afternoon at Seattle’s sunny sea of green and blue.  As has been the case of late, Felix Jones was the leader of a pack of clowns that contained more than just the usual suspects.

It was Jones’ fumble of the opening kickoff that set the tone for Jason Garrett’s squad, from which started a 27-7 west coast avalanche that promised no cover for any Cowboys player or coach this week.

There are no scapegoats from this debacle. From Jerry the Wipemaster himself, to Garrett the head coach, all the way down to the team laundry boy.  They’re all guilty…excepting quarterback Tony Romo.

The Cowboys had an unusual eleven-day gap between their season-opening victory at the Meadowlands and Sunday’s game against the Seahawks.  And all they could show for the extra time was a rotten egg that smelled far worse than Seattle’s latest chicken-fried version of a home jersey.

There were an inordinate amount of dropped passes, too many special teams gaffes, and an over-abundance of alligator-arm tackles of Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch in the second-half.  All in all, it was just the kind of performance that the officials union so desperately needed.  Not even the questionable calls of the replacement referees could affect the outcome of this one.

From the very outset, the Cowboys were bound and determined to go down the toilet, and just as anxious to prove they needed no help from the second-team zebras sharing the field.  In that vein, an otherwise forgettable afternoon in balmy Seattle can be considered a success.  Better hang that on the wall, because that’s the only trophy of achievement Dallas walked away with from this showing.

Any advantage Seattle held in the defense and special teams departments were supposed to be nullified by Dallas’ edge at the quarterback position.  Even on the road in a loud stadium, the Cowboys were the logical favorites to take this one. 

Nothing nullifies a home-field advantage quite like a rookie quarterback.  They miss blitz assignments, throw into coverage, or anything that gives the defense an opportunity to turn the tide of the game.

As it turns out, both quarterbacks had little to do with the outcome.  The rookie Russell Wilson admittedly played composed for only his second NFL start, completing 15 of 20 passes for 151 yards.  It also should be noted that Rob Ryan’s defense applied minimal pressure on him.

Rookie QB Russell Wilson was Steady

On the other sideline, Romo did have one blemish on his stat-sheet, a first-quarter interception deep in Seattle territory.  But a failing support system around him rendered his mistake inconsequential.  Romo was good when his teammates allowed him to be, which, unfortunately, wasn’t very often.

Kevin Ogletree makes the tackle after a Romo Interception

 Felix Jones’ fumble on the opening kickoff set up a quick Seattle field goal of 21 yards.  That was followed by a Chris Jones blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown, giving the home team a 10-0 advantage with less than five minutes gone.

Felix Jones Fumble

 When Romo connected with Miles Austin for a 26-yard scoring play in the second quarter to draw within three, it appeared the Cowboys were about to seize control of the game.  But a gutless defense and a myriad of drops from an unlikely source helped stall the comeback.

Miles Austin TD

 Perennial Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten is still not one-hundred percent recovered from a preseason spleen injury, as his career-worst four drops attest to.  Two of his drops were especially costly.  One came on third-down that set up a punting situation and another occurred after he got behind the defense in the first-half and had a good chance of scoring.

Jason Witten - 4 dropped passes

 Equally as mind-boggling was the performance of a new-look no-gut defense.  A week after manning-up against a notoriously tough Giants team, the Dallas defense laid down like a beaten dog in the second-half, allowing Wilson to control the game with handoffs and short, underneath passes.  Two consecutive second-half drives by the Seattle offense spanned 20 plays, totaling 178 yards, and turned a 13-7 score into a 27-7 rout.

Any hopes of a miracle comeback were then thwarted by personal foul and substitution penalties on the same drive, which allowed the Seahawks to virtually run the clock out.

It will be a long week at Valley Ranch, as players long to get the taste of this tail-whipping out of their swollen and bloodied mouths.

The Dallas Cowboys are Picked to Lose to the Seattle Seahawks?

 

Someone please tell me why the consensus around the Country is that the Cowboys are going to lose to the lowly Seahawks? It makes no sense whatsoever.

Head Coach Pete Carroll

You definitely can't point to the powerhouse program Pete Carroll has assembled in the Great Northwest. They definitely have a strong defensive unit. But that's supposed to be enough to derail the focused offense of Tony Romo & Co.? Remember, they just dispatched the reigning Super Bowl Champions?

Tony Romo & Co

The Seattle Offense, no more than average, is being led by a Rookie? And that's supposed to be enough to stop the revamped Cowboys Secondary who just prevented Eli Manning from working his 4th quarter magic? And Demarcus Ware? And the inside linebacker duo of Carter and Lee?

Dallas Defense Led by Demarcu Ware

There are times where the pundits seem to have their heads in the clouds. Maybe it's just insider information overload. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, hoping Romo experiences another disaster moment in his return visit the home of the slippery ball.

Whatever it is, the Cowboys should win this game. The one thing that they've exhibited under Head Coach Jason Garrett is focus while playing on the road. I expect them to do the same today! Now, if we could just get Jerry to focus properly!

Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Affecting Team Chemistry With Tony Romo Contract Talks

Jerry Jones is at it again!

by Ryan Bush

Just when the Valley Ranch soldiers were beginning to look like a disciplined unit…Poof!

It’s always something around here.  Or, in this case, a certain someone.

Why is it that some people simply can’t leave well enough alone?

Here’s the skinny: All was well at the little Ranch on the prairie…Valley Ranch, that is. And then the General Manager showed up with his checkbook.

Yes, that General Manager.

The Owner himself.

Some other time, Jerry.  Please.  Don’t mess with the team chemistry this time around.

Gotta hand it to Jason Garrett.  His 2012 Dallas Cowboys have looked focused and been all business from the time they convened for training camp out in the California wine country.  And after a yeoman-like win over New York, the ‘Boys went back home to prepare for another road battle, this time against Seattle.  No pomp.  No circumstance.  Just business.  That’s the way it should be.

 

Give credit to Garrett for this positive development.  In a league where a team often takes on the personality of their head coach, it should be a comfort for fans to have someone like Garrett leading America’s Team at this point in time.  Garrett has been on Super Bowl teams before, and knows how to handle success.  More importantly for a first-time head coach employed with the task of cleaning up from Wade Phillips’ headfirst dive into the NFL furnace, he was there firsthand when the Dallas dynasty of the ‘90s fell apart from the top down.  He knows the trademarks of a puppet, Barry Switzer, when faced with one, and was determined not be the next in a long line of Jerry’s Puppets that earned an inauspicious exit down the Valley Ranch garbage shoot.

The media tires of his straightforward press conferences laced with what are perceived to be worn-out cliché’s.  But at least his steady demeanor is rubbing off on the right people. By each and every early indication, this year’s Cowboys appeared to be taking on some of that personality.  That’s big news after so many seasons of emotionally-charged collapses.

 

And then the rumor began swirling this week that Jerry Jones was negotiating with Tony Romo’s agent about a contract extension. Why now, Jerry?  Why not wait till later, huh?  After all, it isn’t like Romo’s contract expires at the end of this season.  This isn’t the fabled “contract year” Romo’s laboring under.

 

Ah, it’s been a good seven, eight, nine days (however long it has been since Dallas last played a football game) for the Cowboys genial owner.  His $2.1 billion empire goes into New York with an underpaid, underweight offensive line and takes down the mighty Giants by the strong arm of Romo.  Brilliant!

Then, a few days later, the invention of JerryWipes hits the market, Jones’ new pet eyeglass cleaner that can also be used to wipe clean so many other things not worth mentioning.  Believe me, the appearance of Jones’ personal portfolio has been greatly improved with this stroke of genius.  Brilliant again!

But what’s a perfect week without a little splurge?  What better way to let the world know that the Cowboys are “back” than by throwing a few wads of cash around the parking lot?  Especially at your big-name, big-smile quarterback.

So goes the thought process of Jerry Jones.  As much as he likes to say it, winning isn’t happiness to him.  If it was, the almighty dollar wouldn’t get mixed up in the equation so often.

And he would have known better than to broach the wormy subject of contract extension with the captain and savior of his franchise.  Nothing is more of a distraction for a player or a team than to have a contract hanging over the franchise quarterback.

Garrett has worked eighteen long months to rid the locker room of any, and all, distractions.  Bespeaking of his character, Garrett loathes distractions.  That’s why Marion Barber and Leonard Davis are gone, and why he’s given the Mike Jenkins and Felix Jones situations such kid glove treatment.  That’s why he is a one-day-at-a-time-while-going-forward type of guy.

 

The Cowboys were only beginning to reap the rewards of Garrett’s philosophy when Jones walked around the corner wearing newly-shined eyeglasses and waving cash under Romo’s nose. It’s the last thing the doctor would have ordered for the second week of this season.  This isn’t time for handouts.  It’s time to prepare to go on the road to one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL.  It’s time to try to win back-to-back road games for the first time in nearly three years.  It’s time to try and get a leg-up within the NFC East, not to mention the entire conference.

Yes, Jerry, Romo is a special player, but his bank account isn’t really suffering at the current date. Remember, it wasn’t even five years ago you gave him that $67 million deal.  The only thing Romo needs concern himself with for the next five months is reading blitzes, throwing touchdown passes, and the welfare of wife Candice and baby boy at home.  That’s it.

 

Romo is confident with this offensive cast, he’s happy at home.  No need to mess that all up with worries of financial security when his playing days are done.  Because, let’s face it, in all probability this will be Romo’s final contract as an NFL player.

Garrett and the Cowboys don’t need Romo preoccupied with a full season in front of him, nor do they need him, even subconsciously, resting on his laurels with his future set in stone.  Should Romo relax, then it’s safe to say it’s only a matter of games before the evidence starts to reveal that the rest of the locker room has followed his example.  This is too important a season for everyone involved for that to happen. 

So, Jerry, shall we wait on the compensation act?  The probabilities of it turning out for the good are next to none, if even that good.

Worry Over Dallas Cowboys Running Back Depth Uncalled For

by Ryan Bush

Demarco Murray

Eleven days in between games is just too much time.  Not for the Dallas Cowboys, but for the whole circus around them.  Especially after a victory, when magicians start chanting and dreamers start dreaming, and a token sample of reality is tossed into the fray as a comical source of combustion.  And what a combustible moment it was this time around, when fans peered into the backfield behind local hero 1A, Demarco Murray, and saw….........

Yeah, that’s what they saw.  Ghosts of emptiness.  No sight sets more teeth on edge nor as many brains on a hysterical path of concern that spills its way onto Internet webpages.

It was a frightening moment for some careworn fans when they realized the ramifications for America’s Team should Demarco Murray happen to go down with an injury during the course of this season.  Uh, yes, it wouldn’t be good, that much is known, and has been known since Murray’s last ailment cropped up last December.

So will Murray last?

He’d better, so the operative reply has been going.  For Jason Garrett’s longevity.

Come to find out, it’s Garrett that everybody’s busy pointing fingers at right now.  A shared backfield is the chic thing in the NFL nowadays, and it’s Garrett’s fault for not providing the Cowboys with one.

 So everyone wants two running backs.  As if that’s the way it’s always been.

When Bill Parcells drafted Marion Barber III in the 2005 draft, only twelve months after selecting Notre Dame’s Julius Jones, it was considered a stroke of innovational genius.  A two-back system!  What a thought!

Nobody around the Ranch had even considered such a formula before, chiefly, because there was no reason to.  Besides the fact that Jerry Jones never took the responsibility of filling the position very seriously, the reason Emmitt Smith never enjoyed the benefits of a capable backup in his thirteen years on the beat, excepting, maybe, Chris Warren, was that he didn’t need one.  It wasn’t the star-like qualities of Sherman Williams that convinced the Cowboys to give the Alabama running back a shot in the second round of the 1995 draft.  It was his lack thereof.  Williams wasn’t good enough to be a starter.  That’s why Dallas drafted him, as sad as it sounds.

 

To Jones, Emmitt was too good to have somebody nipping at his heels begging for playing time.

Nobody seemed concerned about his health, or the consequences of a fly-by-night injury.

But, you say, Emmitt never got hurt!

That’s exactly the point, and one small coincidence that makes the Cowboys’ success in the ‘90’s so amazing, and this rant about Garrett’s supposed slipshod methods to piecing together a roster so ridiculous.

Murray has no one reliable behind him because the head coach hasn’t had enough time to find someone to put there.  

 

Has one victory blinded so many to the fact that, yes, Garrett, in year two, is still cleaning this roster out from the Wade Phillips era?

Upset Victory Over New York Giants Carried Extra Meaning For Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones

 by Ryan Bush

Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones - Happy once again!

Forgive Jerry Jones for being his usual gushing self in a victorious Dallas Cowboys locker room the other night.  Because nearly seventeen years after his last Super Bowl championship, he may have actually had a legitimate reason to wave his indomitable silver and blue pom-pom like a schoolgirl in front of her graduating class.

You see, Wednesday’s 24-17 victory over the defending champion Giants was more than about just the upset and the glory of winning a division game on the road, a recent novelty around the Ranch.  For Jones, it was a definitive in-your-face gesture toward the New York front-office.  Exactly the kind of moment that Jones enjoys best.

Jones’ off-season was marred when the NFL came down hard on the Cowboys for overreaching their financial bounds in doling out huge payments to Miles Austin, Demarcus Ware, and a handful of others, during the uncapped 2010 season.  The league docked the team according to how much they calculated Dallas went over the “cap,” which was determined to be $10 million.  So Dallas was operating with $10 million less in their 2012 salary pool than they expected.  Now, compare that number to Washington’s $36 million reduction, and things don’t look quite so bad.  But $10 million is still a good chunk of change to play with in free-agency.

Jones vowed to appeal the ruling, claiming that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was delving into a legally compromising position of semantics and double-talk.  Jones wanted to know how a team could be penalized for violating an unwritten gentleman’s agreement by signing contracts that the league office had stamped their approval upon.

Giants Owner - John Mara

It was then that Giants owner John Mara smugly acknowledged that the Cowboys had gotten off lightly, and should be grateful for this reprieve from Goodell’s cabinet.  It could have been much worse for those poor little extravagant ‘Boys from Dallas, Mara assured the world.

Mara, it was later reported, was the leading figure who brought the infractions before the league office, and patiently waited for its results to swamp the coasts of his division rivals.  Now that the verdict had been officially declared, Mara was simply basking in the moment of personal triumph and smearing it in the face of Jones.

For undisclosed reasons, Jones eventually decided to drop the appeal and play the season shorthanded, though it greatly upset his off-season plans.  $10 million out of pocket, Jones and the Cowboys were unable to re-sign wide receiver Laurent Robinson, who tallied eleven touchdown receptions last season, forcing them to enter the 2012 campaign with a group of unknowns behind Miles Austin and Dez Bryant on the depth chart.

It was especially satisfying for Jones to witness not only his Cowboys take it to the Giants on the scoreboard, but little-known Kevin Ogletree step into Robinson’s former position and fill up the stat sheet with two scoring grabs of his own.  Realizing that the Giants had fallen from champs to division cellar-dwellers I’m sure didn’t cause him to lose any sleep, either.

Kevin Ogletree’s Sudden Emergence For Dallas Cowboys A Matter Of Opportunity

by Ryan Bush

The uneducated perception holds that a receiver who doesn’t catch a prescribed amount of passes is underachieving, or simply isn’t very good.  The common concurrence being that those who do are totally worthwhile.

Which is completely ludicrous.

Consider:  Roy Williams had 25+ catch seasons in each of his last two years with the Cowboys.  It didn’t mean he was a good player.  Tony Romo didn’t trust him.  Never did.  Romo couldn’t even get on the same page with Williams.

The knock on Kevin Ogletree has always been about his lack of productivity.  After catching only 14 passes last season, his third in the league, his spot on the team entering training camp was tenuous at best.

Which might be slightly unfair when taking all things into consideration.

Let’s remember the teams that Ogletree has been a part of and the talent surrounding him.  Dez Bryant.  Jason Witten.  Laurent Robinson.  Miles Austin.  Even Felix Jones. Ogletree didn’t catch many passes because there weren’t that many for him to catch.  Bottom-line.

Without dismissing the potential for vast improvement, last season wasn’t any indication of a lack of talent on Ogletree’s part, or the final straw for head coach Jason Garrett.  In fact, the reality of the situation was that the Cowboys were waiting on him to fill the void left when Laurent Robinson signed with Jacksonville this past off-season. So Ogletree hit the weights to improve his upper-body strength and trained harder to improve his physical conditioning.

A few months later, on the first Wednesday night game in the NFL’s modern era, Ogletree and the Dallas Cowboys reaped the benefits of it, as Ogletree tallied 114 yards receiving and two touchdowns on eight receptions – more than half of the previous year’s total – in an upset win at the New York Giants.

       

 

Some players are overrated, while others are overhyped.  And some, like Ogletree, simply need a chance to stick their foot in the door.