FanPost

Strength and Honor

Are we not entertained?

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Some of my most liked fan posts were the posts that included movie references. The Braveheart fan post I did with Rob Ryan was a huge success and I have been wanting to do another one for a while but couldn't find the right movie to use. After watching my friends flag football game last night, I got home pretty late and watched my favorite show on television right now, Sons of Anarchy. When I go to bed I usually throw a movie on, for some reason it helps me sleep. So while flipping through the Cinemax on demand, Gladiator caught my eye. Gladiator is easily one of my favorite movies of all time. The acting is phenomenal and Ridley Scott absolutely killed that movie. Ridley Scott is also one of my favorite directors.

One thing the Cowboys have not lacked this year is entertainment. Fans of opposing teams love watching us struggle and lose. Fans of this team have been entertained in our wins because they have been down right epic this year. The losses have felt like a sword through the heart, but they have been entertaining to say the least. For whatever reason this team is just downright movie epic. Maybe it's because of the glow of the star or the personalities on this team, but for whatever reason the Cowboys year in and year out are one of the most epic teams in sports.

The next few weeks will truly show us what this team is made of. Will they step up to the challenge and rise as gladiators? Honestly I couldn't tell you right now what will happen, but I can tell you what my opinion is. This team is far too talented to just fold and become a 6-10 team. The Cowboys are better than that and I honestly believe that. Yes this team is far too inconsistent for my liking, but they have way more heart and desire than the 2010 Wade Phillips Cowboys. What we need to see is somebody step up and be this teams Maximus, we need a leader to come forward with his play to send a message to this team.

Strength and Honor

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Off the field we need a leader too. Maximus in my opinion is the best leader in the history of the cinema. Maximus was a leader on and off the field. On the field Maximus fought with his men and was a general that the men could gravitate towards. In the opening sequence of the movie, Maximus is shown embracing his soldiers before they took battle to wipe out their enemy which I believe were the Gaul's. The movie is historically inaccurate but that doesn't matter, it's just a great movie. Maximus isn't a general who stays to the back and watches the action, he is a part of it. Maximus fights and bleeds with his soldiers and this is one of the reasons Maximus was loved so much by the Roman army. He not only displayed courageous leadership on the field, but he showed it off the field as well.

Once Maximus becomes a slave and eventually a gladiator, he embraces his role as a leader to the other men. He still maintains his general like status, but acts like he is just one of the guys. He found a perfect balance of being one of the guys and a leader at the same time. Maximus was loved by the people because he was just a great guy all around. He was a general, a solider, a father, a husband and a hero.

What we need is one of our big names to step up and be our modern day Maximus. Obviously we are not looking for a guy who can work miracles, but we need someone to step up and display the qualities that made Maximus such a great general and gladiator.

There are two men that can do this and both are extremely talented.

Tony Romo and DeMarcus Ware have to step up and be our Maximus. The reason I chose these two players is because they are obviously our two most important players on the team. Tony Romo is the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and that is no easy task. Romo is constantly under the microscope and lives in a fishbowl for the world to analyze his every move. I am such a hard critic of Romo because of how good I truly think he is and can be. Romo is a top ten quarterback in this league and there aren't too many quarterbacks I would take over him. But I am so hard on him because he can be so much better. He could be a truly great quarterback if he could stop the mistakes. He is the quarterback of this team and that is the most important position in sports.

Guys on the team look to the quarterback and Romo needs to keep his guys motivated and hungry. I think he has done a decent job at that and really has grown into the leadership role this year. The problem for Romo is that it's hard for guys to listen and follow you when your making some of the plays Romo has made this year. His teammates see the same mistakes being made for the last five seasons and that is disheartening. There comes a point where these guys are going to get fed up with Tony telling them to block and not make penalties when he is committing costly turnovers himself. It hasn't come to that point yet, but we all hear the rumors and the media constantly puts it out there that not all of his teammates are in love with him.

Regardless of the past, the present and future are at stake here. It's time to move on and just keep moving forward because the past cannot be changed. If Romo can lead this team with his play, then his teammates will respond to that. When Tony Romo is on, he is a marksman quarterback that shreds defenses. I know that I find myself getting pumped up when Romo makes a huge play and that has to be motivating for the rest of the team. Romo has done a great job of the off the field leadership deeper into his career. The only thing I think he can improve on is his on the field leadership. Romo is truly a remarkable talent that has a troublesome offensive line. If this line can improve its pass protection and give Romo adequate time, Romo will lead this team to great things.

It all starts with the quarterback, that's just how it is and it will always be that way. Romo is just one man, a mortal man. But the it all starts with him, we go as far as he goes. I may critique him and may be a very hard critic of Romo but it's because of how good I think he can be. Romo can be our Maximus, he possesses a lot of the same attributes Maximus had. I have been down on Romo this year for the first time in his career. For years I have defended this man and have encountered countless battles about how Romo sucks. It isn't the best of times right now but I am going to buy into Tony Romo, he can do this. It's going out on a limb, but I see Romo stepping up to the challenge and leading this team back to where it needs to be.

On the defensive side of the ball I am going to say DeMarcus Ware needs to be the Maximus of the defense. Ware is the best player on this team and is arguably the best defensive player in the NFL. His leadership has been questioned by countless media personalities this year. What these media types don't do is tell the whole story. Ware has been a great leader for the Cowboys the last few years. The media doesn't tell the whole story here, like when Ware is working after practice with rookie offensive lineman or working with the outside linebackers. Ware is exactly like Maximus in that aspect. On and off the field Ware is one of the guys but is a general at the same time.

Ware is on pace for a truly historic season and could shatter the NFL sacks record. Personally I don't care if he breaks the record because I know how remarkable this man is. Ware needs to step up and be more vocal because like Romo, his opinion and stances matter. When Romo and Ware talk, teammates listen. The best players on your football team need to be your Maximus. I truly believe that these two men can bring more to the table than just their play on the field.

The next few weeks will show the world what the Dallas Cowboys are as a football team. They face a favorable schedule that allows them a chance to turn this season around. Will they be lions or will they be lambs? That is yet to be decided, but I am buying into this team at it's worst point. The Cowboys have hit the wall, they have hit their low point. If it goes any lower it could get ugly in the locker room and we could have a 2008 situation occur all over again. But you know what? That is not going to happen. This team is going to step up, the gladiators on this team will rise to the occasion.

STRENGTH AND HONOR.......STRENGTH AND HONOR........STRENGTH AND HONOR........STRENGTH AND HONOR

"What we do in life echoes in eternity."-Maximus

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