Cowboys: Wake me when they are playing meaningful games
By Ben Davila
Maybe it’s simply because the Dallas Cowboys started camp a week early, but the usual drone from Oxnard is already tedious.
Look, I get it. Football is so close we can taste it. Better yet, Dallas Cowboys’ football is nigh. Haters hate us because they can’t be us. The actual fans are as rabid and loyal as any in sports. Come the proverbial rain or shine, we still come out in droves to support our Silver and Blue. The team gets the rock star treatment wherever they go. It’s simply “the way it is”, and it has been that way my entire life.
Yet maybe this is why the litany of suspensions or comically botched releases is tiresome. It is to me at least, especially in regards to the Lucky Whitehead saga. It would have been funny as a one-off, but his story and subsequent firing are so quintessentially “Cowboys”. All it did was further reinforce the power structure in place since Jimmy Johnson left. Once again, head coach Jason Garrett got castrated in front of the media for all to see.
Sure, he could have said something different during the press conference the day after Whitehead was let go. He instead repeated himself like a robot, further enfeebling his status as “head coach”. And if truth be told, I don’t even blame him. What is supposed to do? Fly off the handle and go off script? It would come across as even more disingenuous. The media would have a field day, not to mention the reaction it might incur from his owner and general manager.
Full disclosure: I’m a Garrett defender. The next time his team quits on him will be the first. The same couldn’t be said for his predecessor. I’m certain the android we get in front of the press is the act. Behind closed doors, I see a player’s coach. Sure, he was a career backup, but he played in the show for years. That’s got to lend an air of credibility in his words to his team. They play hard for him. That shouldn’t be lost on anyone.
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So we get the same old song and dance from the head coach. We encounter the same exasperated disappointment from a team that can’t keep themselves off the suspension list. My entire stance is based around the notion of getting through five ridiculous preseason games with a relative level of good health. Make no mistake, this thing is a lengthy Dak Prescott injury away from a 2015 repeat. All the good vibes from last year can come crashing to a halt pretty quickly. Attrition is the great equalizer in the NFL. Amazing potential can disappear in a matter of seconds.
I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to further disclose another tidbit. Football and I have a somewhat rocky relationship over the past few years.
The rhetoric about pretending to care about player safety coupled with some of the miscreants that are allowed to suit up on a weekly basis have caused this strain. As I’ve gotten older, the game just doesn’t capture my imagination like it once did. I still follow along, obviously. There’s a train wreck quality about the Cowboys in particular that makes looking away nearly impossible.
Where I once madly rooted for Tony Romo to get over that hump, I’m now intrigued by this new guard that just seems so talented. Of course, it’s mainly on the offensive side of the ball. But hopefully the defense will start catching up this year. A few more sacks and a forced turnover here and there will go a long way towards establishing a bona fide championship contender. The defense doesn’t have to be great. Simply “above average” should do them just fine.
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Someone much wiser than me once said, “Don’t tell me about the pain. Show me the baby.” As I transform into a curmudgeonly old man, I agree with this mindset more and more. The inherent minutiae of a training camp only entertains me for so long. I’m old and you should get off my lawn. In the meantime, try not to get anyone hurt. Sunday after Labor Day can’t get here quickly enough.