T.O. still no favorite of coaches; Pacman testifies

Sometimes it’s hard to shake your past reputation. Once a narrative sets in about your life’s story, getting people to believe otherwise can be a long and sometimes impossible task. Our very own Pod-person Terrell Owens has that problem. I’ve been writing about it and you’ve been commenting about it; T.O. is a changed player here in Dallas. Sure, he had run-ins with Bill Parcells and staff in the beginning, but nothing to the level of what happened in Philly. Since the arrival of Wade Phillips the Pod has been the consummate teammate and even emerged as somewhat of a leader on this team. With the recent contract extension he’ll likely retire as a Cowboy and has millions of reasons not to accidentally overdose on pain pills. In short, what was once considered a risky move by Jerry Jones has turned into a steal for the Cowboys. Having the best or second-best WR in the league on the roster with as good an attitude as you could hope for from a player has propelled the Cowboys offense to new heights.

But…the rest of the leagues coaches are still living in the past – circa 2005. 

Another question we asked NFL head coaches was which Pro Bowl-caliber player would they not want on their roster?

Of the 20 head coaches who responded, 14 voted for Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens, who was the runaway winner. Chad Johnson of the Cincinnati Bengals was a distant second with three votes.

That’s just peachy keen with me. For one, T.O. isn’t going to be playing for any other team so this is all just hypothetical anyway. Second, if other teams don’t want a guy who is as dominant as you can get from the WR position and has turned his ways around to the point of being a model-Pod in Dallas, so be it.

As much as I was worried about T.O. coming here a couple of years ago, I have no problems with the T.O. of today. Even super-skeptic Matt Mosley agrees.

Now, can we get the same good results from another Pro-Bowler with a dubious past?

And the most notorious man not officially in the league, Adam Jones, received one vote. I think the low turnout for Jones has a lot to do with most of the coaches not considering him a Pro Bowl-caliber player after sitting out an entire season.

We’ll see. Jones is working on cleaning up his past and that includes testifying yesterday before a grand jury about the notorious Las Vegas shooting incident. 

Meanwhile, some Titans’ fans are having a tinge of regret about letting Jones go so cheap.

If he can stay out of trouble, few doubt that the gifted first-round draft pick could soon find himself in a Pro Bowl and help lead his new team deep into the postseason. His burgeoning maturity is causing some Nashville-area fans to question whether the Titans' decision to dump him on April 23 was a bit hasty.

 Admittedly, there are a lot more Titans fans who were just glad to see the problem of Jones moved elsewhere.

DC.com profiles linebackers coach Reggie Herring.

Contrary to the opinion of JJT, this article thinks Jason Garrett may be a hot commodity for other teams again when the 2008 season is over.

Garrett, 42, a former backup to quarterback Troy Aikman, is one of the most exciting young offensive minds in the game. He was highly sought after by Baltimore and Atlanta for coaching gigs this past January, but he decided to stay with Dallas. Even though Jones pays Garrett like a head coach, Garrett probably will get an offer he can't refuse after this season.

I don’t know, at this point I don’t think Jerry Jones is going to let Garrett go anywhere. He’ll do whatever it takes to retain Garrett, including promoting him to the head coaching job.

Patrick Crayton interview below.