Roy Williams and Tony Romo interviews

that the HCs responsibility to hold players accountable. The starting qb doesn’t determine who plays, who gets benched, who gets fined, the HC does.

A qb calling out a player means nothing and has no teeth unless the HC does the same thing and takes action.

Its not about being a cheerleader, not word for word, but thats essentially the point he made. There are no players in the NFL that could keep complete control of their teammates. These guys (NFL players in general) are typically there, playing for themselves, and playing for money. What he said was correct.

Romo argues that what a leader needs to say is techniques for improving, details on what was wrong on the play instead.

That is what a leader can really do for the team. Help people improve on the field.

Even if they don’t want to say it, they need someone like Ray Lewis to jump on them and tell them what’s right from wrong. Sadly, most of these players are not mature enough to learn by example. They need to be told what to do.

injuries and foolish loyalty to bad players, Proctor, the safeties and Brad Johnson. And at times I bluntly thought Jason Garrett was being uncreative.

Really glad he did, at least he’s not a punk like Clemens or Bonds.

Today’s the day. Maybe, it would only be the second story on Sportscenter. (Not that I watch anymore anyway)

Straight on the head. One of the best posts I’ve seen.

Deions and Haley’s only work when you already have an organizational culture that is disciplined.

I had never thought about that, but it is so true. It’s also the reason that Barry Switzer couldn’t screw things up.

T.O. is a hard worker and a good guy, but he is not a “team player.” Doesn’t mean he is a bad person, but he can’t function well with a group. Take the “rat in the locker room” situation for example. Did someone wrong T.O.? Probably. Did he need to go off accusing everyone under the sun as being a rat (i.e. Todd Haley and Witten)? Definitely not.

What T.O. is adept at doing is forming a clique around him that disrupts team chemistry.

The reason why the Cowboys are a dysfunctional team is because Jerry Jones undermines the authority of his HC, its that simple.

The Cowboys are the only team in the league where players don’t really answer to their HC, but to their GM and owner. This is really the root of the problem with the chemistry of the team. It wouldn’t matter how many strong leaders the team had as players, until the players know they will be accountable to their HC instead of their owner, the current culture and chemistry of the team will not change.

For the Cowboys to succeed, they need a strong willed HC who will hold players accountable like Johnson or Parcells, guys like Phillips who are “yes” men to Jones just won’t cut it because of the reasons just stated.

I’ll get to the deficiencies of your post as regards T.O. in a second, but first things first:

Jason Witten — shut up. Stop freaking talking about T.O., as it is virtually certain that you did at the Pro Bowl to Jason Cole of Yahoo that Clarence Hill mentioned in a recent blog post.

The more Witten keeps trying to get T.O. bounced off of the team, the more convinced I am that he was the ‘rat’ and ‘coward’ that T-New and others have discussed. And, unfortunately, he’s also starting to look like a liar because Witten told Randy Galloway, I believe, that no one on the team said to him that he was the rat or whatever. According to the report(s) about the team meeting that occurred after the Ed Werder story broke before the Giants game, both Gurode and Roy Williams 2 called Witten out. Someone’s lying, and with the almost certainty that Witten is one of Cole’s sources here and that he’s pushing the “T.O. has got to go” storyline my bet is on Witten as the liar. I’ve lost a huge amount of respect for Witten this year, and I really believe the Romo/Witten/Garrett axis has become detrimental to the team. That doesn’t mean that they are individually bad for the team, but Romo has to get his head out of his rear end, Witten needs to shut his mouth and Garrett needs to also shut his mouth and work on overcoming his sophomore slump. Basically, less Cabo and buying the celeb QB hype and more hard work is needed here. Stop worrying about T.O. and do your own jobs, practice better, etc. Anyone who thinks that getting rid of T.O. is going to solve these issues is in fantasy land.

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Now, back to Tim’s points on T.O., and how they are incorrect.

As I just mentioned, the two guys who supposedly stood up against Witten (and for T.O.) at the team meeting were Gurode and Williams. Both offensive players. That is, guys who could, conceivably, be in film sessions/offensive meetings with T.O. A guy that’s cutting T.O. down is Roy Williams 1, a defensive guy. That’s hole #1 in the assertions that Tim is making.

A further hole: The guys who T.O. hangs with the most seem to be Barber, Crayton and Williams. Two receivers, one running back. All on offense. Guys who would, according to Tim’s thoughts, know all about T.O.’s sloppiness and supposed tuning out of people in huddles and such.

What we have, then, is basically the exact opposite of Tim’s theory: The guys who spend the most time with T.O. in training and film study — receivers, especially — are the guys who choose to hang out with and defend him the most. Pretty simple and easy refutation of the Tim Hypothesis.

As Jamie Dukes points out in his blog about T.O., the people who seem to not be able to handle T.O. are the people who tell the truth. Was Garrett’s offense stale? You bet is was. Ask the Ravens. Did Garcia suck at throwing deep balls in SF? Yes, he did. Was McNabb a spoiled baby company guy in Philly? Absolutely.

Now, does this mean T.O. is blameless? No, it doesn’t. T.O. is extremely sensitive and confrontational. He’s a pain in the ass sometimes, no doubt about it. I blame what happened in SF on him, all the way.

However, T.O. is also the only sure-fire Hall of Fame player on the roster currently and he was the best playmaker on the team last year, and one of the only people to show up in the last Philly game (over 100 yards). While people like Romo fell apart at the seams, T.O. did what he could do. Does he drop too many balls? Yes. Is Roy Williams ready to be a #1 based on one year in Detroit? I don’t know. Will the team be worse off, offensively, without T.O.? Yes, especially considering you will still be paying for him if he’s gone (actually, paying more).

If Tony Romo or Jason Witten can’t handle T.O. as a teammate, that betrays, to me, their own weakness. Romo is mentally weak, his head isn’t where it needs to be to be an elite QB. Stop worrying about T.O., and I mean that sincerely. Stop trying to force him throws. Just play your own game and tune him out. That’s what Aikman would have done. You can do it, too.

As I said above, T.O. I blame for what happened in SF. I do not blame him for Philly and I don’t blame him for what has happened here. I’m not saying he’s blameless, but he does not deserve all of the blame he is getting and is only being made a convenient scapegoat. And that’s bullsh*t. I don’t care about the fat sack of dung that is Peter King, or Mike Wilbon or any of the rest of the haters. Or Jen Floyd Engel or Galloway. All of these people have an agenda and that is to vilify T.O.

Stephen A. Smith, who covered McNabb before and after Owens went to Philly, will tell you that what happened in Philly was more McNabb’s fault than it was Owens’ fault. I agree with that. Apparently, what happened in Philly is that McNabb came hard at T.O. from the early going, trying to be “Alpha Dog” guy. Well, guess what? If you do that with a guy like T.O., he’s going to respond. Particularly if you are a choking dog who throws up in the Super Bowl and who is also seen by players as a company man who thinks he’s better than the rest of the team. Did T.O. go to a bad place once the feud started? Yes, he did. Did McNabb start the ball rolling on the feud? Yes, it seems he did. Did the Philly organization totally take McNabb’s side, because he was ‘their guy?’ Yes, they did.

The whining you have heard from McNabb this offseason and as the playoffs wore down about his contract is because Donny knows he is no longer the ‘favored son’ by the Philly organization. Now, he’s like many of the players who sided with T.O. during that period of time. In other words, he’s starting to understand how the rest of the world lives when they’re not The Golden Child. And that’s why you’re hearing Donny moan about wanting to retire in Philly and how he doesn’t want to hear questions about his contract next year, yada yada. Remember McNabb pointing at his jersey with his thumbs in the Dallas game? Hmm, that seemed a lot like Owens, don’t you think? Amazing how McNabb seems to be becoming more like T.O. now as his run in Philly may be coming closer to an end. McNabb is a punk, a spoiled baby who is incredibly mentally fragile. T.O. is mentally fragile, too, but the difference between the two men is one performs well in the clutch (SF playoff game vs GB, Super Bowl) and one doesn’t. I want the guy who performs well in the clutch on my team.

As far as T.O. here in Dallas, again I go to the ‘coward’ and Not Ready for Prime Time, Cabo Guy Romo as the culprits. T.O. has been very calm in Dallas, relatively speaking. Should he have bitched to Deion about plays? No. That’s when the team was sucking, Romo was out and they were like 5-4. Once things started to get in gear there wasn’t much of anything. Until Werder Gate and cowardly leaks. That’s when we were trying to get to the playoffs. Different situations. I’m not excusing what T.O. did, but giving it context.

The Philly game and the awful, early INT by Romo showed me, definitively, that Romo is not ready for the next step. He is the gating item on the team, or one of them. Witten didn’t even turn around for the pass that was an INT in Pittsburgh at the end of that game. Are they cancers? Do they need to go for the team to be ok? Because it seems that at least as many guys support T.O. as do them. Think about that.

For a guy who works as hard as T.O. does, and no one works harder, Romo supposedly screwing up in practice is going to grate on your nerves. Again, T.O. is going to the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so. He worked his tail off for it. He’s near the end, and knows that he’s only going to get a ring if Romo is on board all the way. T.O. saw that wasn’t the case, and said that after Werder Gate broke. AFTER. After the coward and others came out against him. But I believe him, I’ve seen how Romo plays and others have reinforced what Owens said about Romo’s practice habits. Aikman and others have called out Romo, too. Romo seems to be learning. Good. So, it’s time to back off on T.O. as the sole issue here. He’s not, and, again, he was the top playmaker on the team last year.

Again, to another of Tim’s points: T.O. and constructive criticism. Is T.O. fragile? Yes. Is what Werder and McNabb did ‘constructive criticism?’ No, it’s isn’t. It’s called punking you out. I don’t blame T.O. for reacting as he did. Media and people like Witten and Romo may be shocked that much of the team backs Owens. I’m not shocked, nor am I shocked with the new spin about ‘charismatic’ T.O., like he’s some Mephistopheles in tight pants and shoulder pads. The guy works his tail off, is the most accomplished player on the team and calls it like he sees it, straight-up, without going to Ed Werder on the sly. Guys like that, like how hard he works. He’s not perfect, but you know what you’re getting. And he produces.

In summary: The guys who seem to like T.O. the best are the guys who play the same position as he does, unlike what Tim said about T.O. and defensive players. Other offensive players have come to his defense and took a stand, apparently, against purported ‘coward’ leaker Jason Witten. Defensive players like Roy Williams 1 are speaking out against T.O., as seen in the post here. What The Coward and McNabb did with T.O. is not ‘constructive criticism.’ If guys like Haley call out T.O., good. Haley got into it with Boldin, too, and the Cards made the Super Bowl. In other words, this stuff happens with all teams, you just don’t hear about is so much except when Cowards leak it out like it was an A-Rod steroids test, and teams can still make it all the way. T.O. is not the main problem in Dallas, and the team will be worse off if he is released during this offseason. Jerry Jones is not a perfect owner, but he is right in trying to reconcile things with T.O. and those who need to be convinced, whoever they are (and we know who some of them are). Guys like Peter King know that with Wade calling the D and with people like Felix Jones implemented in a hopefully-upgraded Garrett scheme, Dallas could be very good next year. They do not want T.O. to enjoy that success, or contribute to it. It’s very, very simple.

Do not fall into the lemming trap that people want to make you believe. T.O. has baggage, he has things to work on (like routes and drops), but he is not the main or sole problem here, and the team will be worse off without him. Other people on the team and in the organization need to focus on their own weaknesses, button their lips and work on making less predictable gameplans.

T.O. is a drama queen. He is not the only such person on the Dallas Cowboys, nor should he be scapegoated for others’ failings and dysfunctionalities. When Witten has as many TD’s or yards as T.O., then talk — on the record, not with BS to an adversarial source. I have no confidence Williams is ready to be a #1, and I’m also not comfortable with people like Peter King becoming the Cowboys GM. If there are issues to be worked out, work them out. Sounds like that is what Jerry is doing. Good.

Will never be anything because he’s spending too much time being a frat boy!

…..is that better? haha

Romo is extremely driven with a burning desire to win…I think thats obvious, don’t let his philosophical comments fool you.

cause I know were are all.

He needs to quit that sulking appearance on the sideline after INT’s, or other bad plays. He needs to appear calm on the outside even with turmoil on the inside, like Capt. Sully described himself during the emergency plane landing in the Hudson River.

in the head coach. Something that bothered me besides Wades’ looks of indifference though. How many times did you see Romo and JG looking at pre-snap pics of defensive alignments, or even talking at all? Every other game I saw last year that didn’t involve the Cowboys I could swear I was seeing this same scenario.
I think there is an inherent dysfunction between our 2 head coaches and it bled out all over the team last year.

I couldn’t have said it any better, and I’ve tried many times. We’re all Tony Romo fans, we want him to be what we know he is capable of being. If he doesn’t get the mental part you described, it will never happen. BTW, I also agree with CowboysRnumba1, Garrett isn’t helping him.

coaching staff for their failures, I might take your post more seriously. I must have watched a different interview, since I missed the pouting and since it sounded to me like Romo repeatedly said that he and everyone else on the team has to practice harder, play better, be more intense. I suppose he could put on a hair shirt and whip himself bloody to please some of the so-called fans, but then they’d complain that he didn’t scourge himself hard enough.