NFC East: Tex Schramm
One of our Canadian readers, Anton, has a question regarding the Cowboys' defensive line: Hey Matt, I just had a thought about the Cowboys: Since they have at least four quality defensive ends (Olshansky, Spears, Hatcher and Bowen) but have little depth behind Jay Ratliff at nose tackle, why don't they move one of those players to defensive tackle?
Mosley: Anton, it takes a unique player to fill the nose tackle spot in the Wade Phillips 3-4. Jay Ratliff has such a high motor that he rarely comes off the field. In some of the sub-packages, Bowen and Hatcher can move inside. But I agree that the Cowboys could use more depth at the position. Be interesting to see what happens if Penn State defensive tackle Jared Odrick makes it to No. 27 in the first round. Pretty versatile player and the Cowboys certainly like him.
Hunter in Anchorage has a Skins trade proposal: I'm surprised that the Redskins haven't talked to the Bills about a trade scenario that includes Jason Campbell for Marshawn Lynch. Wouldn't he be a lot better option for RB than the Skins most recent pickups of Larry Johnson and Willie Parker?
Mosley: Lynch is younger and more talented than Johnson and Parker, but he also carries some baggage. I think Mike Shanahan really has to watch who he brings into this locker room. I still wonder if bringing the petulant Johnson into the fold was the right move. If a trade's completed with the Bills for Campbell, I think it will involve a draft pick. Watch what happens at No. 9 for the Bills. If they take Jimmy Clausen, we'll have our answer. That would eliminate a potential landing spot for Campbell. I still think the Panthers would be wise to trade for Campbell, but apparently they're going to ride this out with Matt Moore.
Constantine from London wonders if the Giants might be interested in Albert Haynesworth: Big BIG fan of the blog, read it EVERYDAY! Huge Giants fan from the UK and would like your opinion on something. Reportedly the Redskins want a second-round pick for Haynesworth now that they've paid his bonus. With the Giants being interested in him during free agency last year, would they spend a second on him? I think they should. We'll cover our most pressing need (MLB) in the first round, and since getting Rolle and Grant in free agency, we need a big defensive tackle -- especially as Jay Alford is coming off a torn ACL. Your thoughts?
Mosley: First of all, love your use of the CAPS button. Second, I'm afraid the Donovan McNabb trade has skewed the way we look at everything in the Beast. Now it seems possible that a team might trade a former All-Pro defensive tackle to a division rival for a second-round pick. And by the way, I have not seen a report with anything as specific as what you're suggesting. I've written that I think the Redskins might settle for a second-rounder for Haynesworth, but that's more of a gut feeling. And despite Mike Shanahan's apparent disgust with Haynesworth, I don't think he wants him playing for the Giants. I think he would immediately make the Giants better on the defensive line. If you're Giants general manager Jerry Reese, you make that deal in a heartbeat.
Robert in Austin has the final word on our "owners gone wild" segment: Really, the owner of an NFL team seen mocking a former NFL head coaching legend? As a child, the Cowboys were seen as one of the classiest organizations in the NFL. Great ownership (Clint Murchison), management (Tex Schramm) and coaching (Tom Landry). Oh no more, as Jerry Jones in his short stint as owner has made the Cowboys a laughingstock from an ownership and management standpoint. The tone at the top for the Cowboys is horrible. An owner who drove out one coach because he could find "500 coaches to coach this team to a Super Bowl," and now mocking one of the great NFL coaches in the league who resurrected the football team? This incident makes me envious of the Steelers, a truly class organization.
Mosley: Hmm... It's an interesting time for a Cowboys fan to be envious of the Steelers. I didn't get the feeling that Art Rooney II felt particularly proud while delivering that public rebuke of Ben Roethlisberger on Thursday. And by the way, Jones has owned the Cowboys for 22 years now. That's not exactly a "short stint." I've been highly critical of him over the years, but I don't see this whole video incident as that big a deal. Jones likes Bill Parcells and I didn't hear anything in that video to make me think otherwise. He's made some awful moves over the past two decades (Roy Williams, Joey Galloway come to mind), but to say he's turned the organization into a "laughingstock" seems a bit harsh. OK, I'm getting tired of defending the man. Let's put this story to bed.
Patrick from Arkansas has an Eagles question: Hey, with the draft picks the Eagles have gotten in recent trades, do you think it's possible that they trade up to get someone like Eric Berry? They have already worked him out. Your thoughts?
Mosley: Berry's a rare talent at safety. The Eagles would have to sacrifice much of their draft to move up that far. In fact, I'm not sure the No. 24 and No. 37 would get you close enough to Berry. (I'm scrambling for my trade chart as we speak.) It's much more likely the Eagles stay right there at No. 24 and select a cornerback such as Boise State's Kyle Wilson. I also think USC's Taylor Mays will be available, but there are a lot of concerns about his ability to make plays on the ball. OK, let's do this again soon. You guys have been on fire lately.
Greatest Cowboys of the first 50 years
Here's the breakdown of the top 10:
1. Tom Landry
2. Roger Staubach
3. Emmitt Smith
4. Bob Lilly
5. Troy Aikman
6. Tony Dorsett
7. Randy White
8. Michael Irvin
9. Mel Renfro
10. Tex Schramm
Owner/general manager Jerry Jones checks in at No. 17, one spot ahead of safety Cliff Harris. Jason Witten is the highest-ranked current Cowboys player at No. 29 -- and I have no problem with that. He's been one of the top tight ends in the league since his 2003 rookie season.
DeMarcus Ware is No. 36, but he'll probably end up much higher -- when the DMN does its 75-year list. Quarterback Tony Romo checks in at No. 47 and left tackle Flozell Adams rounds out the list at 50. I like the fact that Danny White cracked the top 30. He took a lot of abuse, but if he wins one of those three NFC title games, his legacy is completely different. His reputation also took a hit during the strike, but that doesn't change what he accomplished on the field.
I think Charles Haley ended up at No. 31 because he was only with the Cowboys from '92-'96, but the fact that he was a big part of three Super Bowl titles should've put him higher on the list. His behavior off the field is well-documented, but he was a brilliant pass-rusher who deserves to be about five spots higher.
I also think Cornell Green's too low at No. 25. I've had a lot of former players tell me that Green was one of the best defensive backs in league history. He got his hands on everything, but he dropped a lot of potential interceptions. I'm shocked that the late Mark Tuinei, the left tackle on those 90s Super Bowl teams, didn't receive a single vote. That makes no sense to me. Kicker Rafael Septien received a few votes, but a man who played 15 seasons at offensive tackle was shut out?
The selection panel came up with only a single vote for the great defensive coordinator, Ernie Stautner. Linebacker Ken Norton and defensive tackle Leon Lett didn't show up on the list, but both are worthy. Some people will argue that Terrell Owens should've been on the list. I'm not buying that one because he was only with the Cowboys for three seasons and the team didn't win a playoff game during that time.
It's pretty remarkable that two Hall of Famers -- Bob Hayes and Rayfield Wright -- didn't even crack the DMN's top 10. The only thing I'd change about the top 10 is that I'd probably put Bob Lilly in front of Emmitt Smith. I know that sounds crazy to some of you, but this list was about "greatest Cowboys," not the greatest NFL players. When I think about the players that have defined this franchise, Lilly comes before Smith in my opinion. They don't call him "Mr. Cowboy" for nothing.
What did you guys make of the list?
Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
Cowboys
- Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News loves the December portion of the Cowboys' '09 schedule.
- Randy Galloway of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says Cowboys fans have Tex Schramm to thank for all those national TV games.
- Great to see Clarence E. Hill embracing the Star-Telegram Cowboys blog. He's predicting a fast start for the Cowboys.
Eagles
- Paul Domowitch of the Daily News analyzes the Anquan Boldin situation in Arizona.
- Reuben Frank walks you through the '09 schedule.
- Domowitch has a report from Tom Heckert's news conference.
Giants
- Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News has more on the Boldin situation. He also reports that Kenny Britt is visiting the Giants today.
- Tom Rock's thinking the same thing I'm thinking. Boldin's availability may affect the Browns' leverage in an Edwards trade.
Redskins
- Jason La Canfora of the Post says the Redskins are "strongly interested" in Mark Sanchez.
- David Elfin of the Washington Times has an interesting story about Randy Thomas' neck injury last season. I'd like some of our doctors to weigh in on this one.
Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
On this day 20 years ago, a 46-year-old oilman named Jerry Jones became the owner of the Dallas Cowboys. I've talked to Jones about that day several times over the years.
Previous owner Bum Bright had offered to fire Tom Landry before turning the team over to Jones. That could've softened some of the harsh criticism that Jones drew in 1989. Jones instead listened to a couple of world-renowned public relations consultants and decided to fire Landry in person.
He and former general manager Tex Schramm flew to Austin, where Jones fired Landry on a golf course. Looking back, it's one of Jones' biggest regrets that he decided to do what felt like the right thing. It took him years (and Super Bowls) to recover from that decision. Here's an excerpt from an interview I did with Jones on the 15th anniversary of this day:
On if he regrets the way in which he took over the team: "From the get-go, I retained two of the top PR firms in the nation. One was from Washington, D.C. and the other one nearby in Texas. I'm not going to give their names. But the interesting thing is that I had the opportunity to do it differently. Bum Bright said he would make all the changes I wanted before I bought the club. But I was advised that the heads-up way to do it was to address any changes face to face. I know that my gut was telling me that I needed to have a personal dialogue with Coach Landry. After we won one or two Super Bowls, I ran into some of those same PR people, and they told me they'd come up with a whole standard in PR advice based on our situation.
"They said they'd advised dictators and leaders of huge companies, but they'd never known what it was like to change America's Team."
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' reputation for being a renegade helped him forge a friendship with Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis in the early '90s. And based on Jones' recent moves, it's becoming difficult to tell the men apart.
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| Wesley Hitt/Getty Images | |
| Jerry Jones was unable to get Dan Reeves to stay with the organization. |
Since taking over the Cowboys in 1989, Jones has emulated his GM predecessor, Tex Schramm, when it comes to selling his product. He's one of the most accessible owners in professional sports, in part because he loves the attention. But since the Cowboys' season ended with an embarrassing 44-6 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, Jones has basically gone underground.
Just before disappearing from sight, he made the worst sales pitch of his illustrious career in a call for continuity that centered on head coach Wade Phillips suddenly changing his personality after 30 years of back-slapping. For the first time anyone can remember, Jones informed reporters at the Senior Bowl that several topics were off limits, including anything that seemed remotely pertinent.
Privately, he has conducted a witch hunt to identify the anonymous sources who've had ESPN's Ed Werder on speed dial this season. When I reached a longtime Cowboys employee by phone two weeks ago, he spoke in hushed tones as he explained that an internal e-mail had warned people in the building not to speak to the media unless they have clearance from the club's public relations office. That's in stark contrast to the beginning of the Phillips era, when Valley Ranch basically turned into a public park.
Phillips may have been the first head coach in club history to decline interviews at the Senior Bowl because "[P.R. director] Rich [Dalrymple] told me not to talk."
The latest gaffe involves a beloved member of the Cowboys family, Dan Reeves. At his end-of-the-season news conference, Phillips indicated that he would consult with former associates about how to clean up the mess at Valley Ranch. Reeves played and coached under Tom Landry before head-coaching stops with the Broncos, Giants and Falcons. Phillips had replaced him as head coach in Denver and Atlanta, but the two men had remained friends over the years.
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| NFL.com Video | |
| Rise and fall of the 2008 Cowboys. |
As I understand it, Phillips recommended that Reeves be brought in to serve as a consultant. Jones already had fired Phillips' close friend and defensive coordinator Brian Stewart, and Phillips thought Reeves' expertise on offense would allow him to devote most of his time to the defense. It seemed like such a good fit that Reeves moved into an office at Valley Ranch on Monday before details of his contract had been finalized.
A local TV station first broke the news of Reeves' presence at Valley Ranch on Tuesday evening. The next morning, Werder reported that Reeves would report directly to Jones. And by late Wednesday afternoon, Reeves was out of a job. (Cue the "Benny Hill" music.)
"I thought the thing was done, and we finally agreed on what the title was going to be," Reeves told ESPN late Wednesday. "I didn't want to have a coaching title and not have authority coaching-wise. I wanted to work with him [Jones] and Wade and help in any way that I possibly could. We finally agreed the coaching thing wouldn't be in there, but then the contract changed and there were some things in there I couldn't see being in there, and they were important to him. He made a lot of concessions, but this was something that was important to him, and I just didn't feel like I could live with it. So it didn't make sense for us to go forward."
No matter where you stand on the Dallas Cowboys, you have to admit that Texas Stadium is one of the most iconic venues in all of sports. From an aerial view, it's hard to distinguish the NFL's new state-of-the-art facilities, but the hole-in-the-roof has provided an enduring image for Cowboys fans and haters. On Wednesday, the NFC Beast stopped by Valley Ranch and talked to former and current players about what Texas Stadium has meant to them. Former running back Calvin Hill, who now works in player development for the Cowboys, was in his third year with the club when the new stadium opened in 1971. Wide receiver Roy Williams played at Odessa Permian (Texas) High School and remembers his first high school playoff game in the famous stadium.
Calvin Hill, RB, 1969-74
"I'd torn my knee up in the last game at the Cotton Bowl. I figured I'd be allowed to watch [the first game in Texas Stadium] from a box upstairs, but they didn't let me. They said I could sit in the stands with my wife. I spent the game driving around Denton, and I was pissed. The first time we practiced in there, I just remember it being so pristine. It was like an opera house. I remember Bob Lilly saying to one of the coaches, 'Can we spit in here?'" When it rained, we'd go over to Texas Stadium to practice because we didn't want to mess up the practice field. I remember looking up in the stands and seeing Tex [Schramm] and Gil [Brandt] sitting out of the rain. Lilly kept talking about how stupid we were to be out in the rain while those guys were sitting up there enjoying themselves. I put a lot of sweat equity in that building. I hurt my knee in my last game there and I remember dislocating my elbow. At the time, I think we wanted a building that rivaled the Astrodome, which was called "The Eighth Wonder of the World." There were rumors that [ownership] had run out of money, and that's why we had that hole in the roof. At one point, they were having a little trouble moving the [luxury] boxes and they gave me the chance to have one in lieu of the $50,000 signing bonus they owed me. I didn't take them up on that offer. I remember coming in after one game at Texas Stadium and LBJ was standing in the locker room. The one thing I recall is thinking, 'I had no clue his hair was so white.'" Like a lot of presidents, he'd aged a tremendous amount in a relatively short period of time."
Roy Williams, WR, 2008-present
"Playing there in high school meant a lot to me. Seeing those name tags above your locker made you feel like a Dallas Cowboy. I remember scoring a touchdown. I ran down the left sideline and then around the goal post to the other side of the field. I didn't want to stop running. I just wanted to stay out there forever. And I still have that name tag at home."
Posted by ESPN.com's Matt Mosley
Former Dallas Cowboys vice president of player personnel Bob Ackles died of an apparent heart attack Sunday morning. He was 69.
Ackles served under the late Tex Schramm from 1986-'92 and helped oversee the drafting of The Triplets -- Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. He stayed on when Jerry Jones fired Tom Landry in 1989, but was fired in 1992 to make way for the new owner's Arkansas buddy, Larry Lacewell.
Ackles is credited with coming up with innovative ways to evaluate draft-day trades. Following the Cowboys, he worked for the Cardinals, Eagles, Dolphins and the XFL's Las Vegas Outlaws.
Born in Canada, he cut his teeth in the CFL and helped lead the BC Lions to prominence. He returned to Vancouver in 2002 and became the CEO and president of the Lions, who won the Grey Cup in 2006. Ackles started out as a water boy with the organization in 1953 (his autobiography is called "The Water Boy") and worked his way to the top.
He left his mark on both the NFL and CFL, but his legacy will be strongest in Canada, where his son, Scott, is now president of the Calgary Stampeders.
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Dan Graziano
Graziano joined ESPN.com in 2011 after two years as a Senior NFL Writer for AOL FanHouse. He covered Major League Baseball, the Olympics and various other sports during his time at the Star-Ledger and the Palm Beach Post. A New Jersey native and author of two published novels, he now lives in Ridgewood, N.J., with his wife and two sons.
