Jerry Jones Pulled A 'Tony Romo'
ARLINGTON (105.3 THE FAN) -- "If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, then I'll have lived a pretty good life."
Remember that one? Remember the backlash and the anger everyone felt when they heard that? That was Tony Romo after getting embarrassed 44-6 by the Eagles in a season-ending game in 2008.
There's some things that just don't make sense to say when there's a microphone on. No fan wants to hear a statement like that, even if it's true. We want our athletes to live and die with each game, because the fans do.
Enter Jerry Jones, doing his best Tony Romo impression after this weekend's loss to the Broncos:
"This is a moral victory. It's not a loser talking here."
Huh? A moral victory? Granted, you didn't lose 44-6, but at the end of the game, one team had a win and one had a loss. The word "victory" applied to Peyton's team, not the Cowboys. The Boys let up 51 points, you lose the game, you drop to a tie for first place in the NFC East with the Eagles with an outstanding 2-3 record, and it's a moral victory?
The Cowboys tried hard. Participation ribbons for everyone. There are no moral victories in professional sports, especially for the Dallas Cowboys. When you set the bar so high going into every season, when you spend so much time marketing and branding your football team to be the center of the NFL universe, you either win or you don't.
Jerry wasn't done with his 2008 Romo impersonation though:
"Knowing what my expectations were playing Denver and playing against Peyton Manning coming in, I'm going to cut him some slack. I must tell you that I was expecting a high-scoring game and high-yardage game from Denver, and I knew we were going to have to match it. So I'm not concerned."
Jerry's not concerned about the defense? 51 points. No pass rush whatsoever to make Peyton Manning uncomfortable. Defensive backs were essentially just turnstiles watching the Denver skill position guys do whatever they wanted.
Fans know that the game against the Broncos goes into the L column. No spin required. The Cowboys played pretty well on offense against one of the best teams in football, but don't try and sell the fan base on anything with the word "victory" in it, and don't give passes to units that are keeping the team from success.
Before this season got started, we had an offseason where Jerry promised to make it "uncomfortable" at Valley Ranch, and he did. People lost their jobs, they were held accountable for a season (really a decade and half) of futility that FINALLY seemed to get the Owner/GM a little pissed off. I liked that Jerry. That Jerry seemed like the fans, showed us the passion that wanting to win is more important than a positive spin to make sure people still had Super Bowl aspirations and would buy tickets to his spaceship stadium.
I want that Jerry back. He didn't seem satisfied with mediocrity. This weekend's Jerry does.
You can hear Jeff on the G-Bag Nation, weekdays 10a-2p on 105.3 The Fan.
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