The following is a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. This He's Talking Cowboys, screening live from the Dallas Cowboys World Head Hours at the Star in Friscott. Now your hosts Mickey Spagnola, Rob Phillips, Everson Walls, and Bill Jones. And here we are on the morning after the Cowboys beat the Redskins on Sunday,
and yet the Giants fall to the Eagles. And so now the new year comes a couple of days early for your Dallas Cowboys as we look ahead to twenty twenty and look back at what happened in an eight and eight season. This is Talking Cowboys, and we've got much to get to here in the SWBC Mortgage Studios got the full squads. Start on time, guys, the SEP time is killing me. What's going on? Man? I thought I was joining a profession sheeted out of five minute You ate Nate when you don't so slow starts it
was the story was one story of the season. Were slow Start here on Talking Cowboys also, and so here we are and uh, let's I guess go around the table and just a quick take on where we are right now, Mickey, kind of where you think you would be when you have to rely on somebody else to do your dirty one. You had your opportunity against the
Philadelphia Eagles the week before. You didn't cash in. And as I say over and over again, the NFL helps those who helped themselves, and the Cowboys didn't help themselves enough. The Giants teased them, uh, tease them almost seventeen goes sixteen nine yards two five left in the third and it's a tie game. Seventeen seventeen. You're sitting there going, okay, maybe chips, maybe everyone will like Jerry Jones at the game.
Every one's had them. Yeah, split screen. You had one TV on the we had one TV in the press box down there on that game. And then Elliot hit the fifty yarder and then the FuMB boy was about the same time the Cowboys make a field goal to as it was very weird. Every time one very weird, the other one scored all to the realities or something. Yes, that was very good, but it did not turn out the wind. No super Bowl bill just you're gonna be there,
all right. Whatever. If you would have won the hat Friday, then I think we were doing in better shapes. That's right. Yeah, wore wore. We don't get into the head was not getting I'm sorry, Billy, that way exactly how I thought it was. Although you know, although if there is any saving grace, at least they did what they needed to
do and beat the Redskins forty seven sixteen. And I don't know if I've ever seen a victory over the Redskins so hollow in my life, right, because usually if you just beat the Redskins, even if they're bad, it's a great deal, right, And you beat them forty seven sixteen, And as Dak Prescott said after the game, he said, I don't think I've ever been as disappointed after a win. Yeah, that was a quiet locker room. Not many guys talked.
And I mean they had their chances, that they had their chance a week ago and they didn't capitalize in Philly. And when you look back at this season, I think we're gonna look back at a lot of things, but the close games in particular, they were one in six and games decided by one score, and last year I think they were something like nine and three, and you know, didn't make the plays in the fourth quarter. We mentioned the slow starts. Those were a thing all year long.
And you know, when you go back and review this season, I think you're gonna look at some things that didn't go right that cost them in the playoffs last year. Are same things the games they lost. They didn't convert in the red zone, they didn't stop the run at times, and they didn't take the ball away, and those are Jason Garrett mentioned on the on the Fan this morning, they didn't make enough winning type plays consistently this season, and that's why they're eight and eight, and that's why
they're home for the playoffs. Yeah, when you started thinking about it, you've got what the turnovers in the game, you know, we made the third downs. It was going
back to what we were accustomed to. And as you looked at the game and as it was over, I'm sure if I was in that locker room and I was one of those players, I would have been contemplating so many things at that point, all the things that you pointed out, you know, our failties and and everything that we messed up, our inability to you know, keep things in our own hands, you know, to keep our fate in our own hands. I think that really is
the most disappointing part of it. Um. We can talk about the different individual stats and failures, but when it all comes down to it, they were not a good team. We always talk about the superstars, We always talk about the salaries that we gave out. And I've said it over and over again. You don't need a team full of superstars to beat a team full of superstars. You just need a good team. And who who implifies that
right now to me? The Philadelphia Eagles. Yea, everything that they got, they deserved everything that they have right now. And we deserve everything that we have right now because those guys did what we did last year with nothing, with less at least last year, Dak and the guys had Zeke and you had Cooper, had the offensive line. They were man. I think the guy said yesterday some of the guys had just met in the huddle. Let me think about, Hey, how you doing it right? I
just signed up about it right before the game. And here you got practice player, former practice player got three touchdowns yesterday. Scott. Did I read that? Boston Scott? Boston Scott the running back and just think about that he was a practice player. Yeah, no excuses and almost. Let's we got a lot of elbows in the face. Yeah, I think he did play in high school basketball, yeah, or go pick up basketball. Yeah, yeah, I didn't grow any from high school. Yeah. All right, let's do this
and we'll uh. Douglas Barricklough is doing the producing honors today, chores today, and he's got some cuts from Jason Garrett's appearance this morning on one oh five three the Fan. Let's start with this. Despite missing the playoffs, Garrett pleased with the way his team played yesterday. That was so inspired by how our team played yesterday. And ultimately, as a coach, you know that that's the stuff that becomes
most important to you. And uh, you know, the look our guys had in the rye is and how they played, and the love they had for the game and for each other, and just how hard they played and how determined they played, and how tough they played and how willful they played. You those are the things as a coach that you just you value more than anything else. So you know, ultimately we didn't get it done. Ultimately, you know, we weren't a playoff team this year. That's
disappointing for everybody. And no one more than us, the guys who were directly involved in it. But yesterday was a good day. We control we could control, and the guys played inspirational football. As a coach, that's that we
value most. You know, the big takeaway I had from the whole post game scene yesterday was, you know, these guys, as disappointing as it is any team, especially at this level, you invest so much during the year, and Dak Prescott talks about the brotherhood that develops every year, and it's emotional regardless at the when you've even invested, like this team invested it, even though the results aren't what they
everyone wanted it to be. It's's an emotional time at the end of the season when you're when it's the end of the road, well, you know, when you're spending your whole time with these guys, you know, you're you're
with your teammates more than you're with your family. They might see you guys more than they I might see you guys more I might see my wife, you know, if I'm playing during the season, and you know, when you start getting real close to these guys and your your efforts come together and then you're you know, you're together when you lose, you're together when you win. You know, you go through these ups and downs like a family.
You know they're gonna be some arguments, some disappointments, but then in the end is when you finally realize we did all of this together, good or bad. Well, we are all in this together, and it is I guess it does get pretty emotional, you know, especially when you're disappointing in the disappointing season. It's emotionally enough when the
season's over. After Super Bowl win, it's really emotionally when you don't even get there and get to watch all of these guys and the accolades and things of that nature, knowing that you have really and if you're that player and you in this particular situation, you would look at yourself and say, I let my teammates down. No matter how well you played, if I would have done better, then we would have done better. That's the team concept. It's like Zeke said, after the game, it becomes like
a family. And Jeff heat told me, you know, and he's sitting there talking to us with two bad shoulders and probably at least one probably needs to get fixed in the off season. Guys playing through stuff. He said. You know, we've we've been together basically every day since April. You know, when the when the off season program starts. And so you summed it up, great former player, you know exactly what it's like when or lose at the end of the season. Um, and and the reality sets
in that this group will never be together again. I mean especially, I think that that is really the ultimate sadness about it. You know that something's gonna change and this this will never happen again. This will never happen, not this exact group. And uh, you know, go to on the list here, it's like twenty it is twenty six potential unrestricted free agents. Yeah, a lot of potential
change on this team, you know. And I think the hardest thing is is you're going from start of training camp to you know, the last game of the season. You're going one hundred miles an hour, right, and then all of a sudden, when you get in situations like this, say say you're six and six and nine or whatever, you know you're not going to the playoffs. You know the season's over. You go three and twelve, you get
to the last game, you know the season's over. But this was almost like a playoff game where one hundred miles an hour then everything comes to a screeching halt. And I think that's so hard if if I was a player, Heck, it's hard for us, right, Yeah, We're going one hundred miles an hour and then all of a sudden, well it's over, And I think that would
be the hardest thing to accept. The most sobering thing is here in a few minutes in the locker room supposed to open to the media, and those trash bags comes out. Guys are cleaning out their lockers after their final team meetings, like you get the box, you know, when you're in the office, you get the box. You know, the guys got the trash bag. Yeah, and guys start asking answering questions about their contract status coming up, whether
they need surgery in the offseason. I mean, it's it's just a totally different vibe, and it's it's the reality sets in. This is it all right? Here's more from Jason Garrett from This Morning on one O five three The fan answering a big picture question, what did he think went wrong this season? I think the overarching explanation is we weren't consistent enough. We weren't consistent enough throughout the year, from game to game. We weren't consistent enough
within games. We didn't do the things that winning football teams do. And you know, we have a we have a basic formula for winning that we talk a lot about. You have to win the ball, you have to win the big players, you have to win the fourth quarter. And oftentimes when you when you pull back after a ball game to evaluate those three statistics, you know those will be the deciding factors in games. If you lose the turnover ratio, you're going to lose a lot of games.
In the NFL. If one team is making many more big plays than the other team in the game, typically that correlates to points. You know, you make big plays typically score points. If you don't, it's hard to score points. And then obviously, so many of these games are decided in the fourth quarter. They're one score games. Two thirds of the games in the NFL decided by one score. And how you play in those games, you know, how
you play in the fourth quarter is huge. If you make the players on offense or if you make the stops on defense, do what you need to do. In the kicking game. And you know, in the games that we lost, many of them were close games, one score games. That's the best thing we did with our team last year. You know, we won seven out of eight down the stretch, eight out of ten down the stretch last year, and
they were close games. They were back and forth. You know, we're ahead, they're a head, scores tied, and we do we need to do at the end of the game. This year, in the games that we lost, we weren't able to get that done. And ultimately that's the difference. And that was the difference, right one in six and one score games. And I think in some of those one score games they became one score games because they had fallen behind right so much that they had to
score so much just to make it a one. That's true. They weren't all yeah, but they have some opportunities in some of them, and they put in cash in late, you know. And there was never ever a better example of what he was saying than the Seattle Seahawks. They went into the game last night and they of their
eleven wins, ten were one score games. And what happens last night, it's a one score game and they're right, and they get penalized and they can't get in the end zone and they lose twenty six twenty one when the tight end landed six inches from the goal line. Sometime they say that it catches up with you. Yeah, and you know what, and I and that was kind of my what I wrote about from last year to this year, it caught up with them. They won eight games last year by one score. It's like, okay, now
this year you're testing face of the attempting. If you're not knocking people out right dominating them, at some point, that stuff's gonna even out. You can't keep winning like that. Well, the pattern that they had was was not a good pattern, you know, having to win those close games and putting yourself in position to having to make that play. All of a sudden you can't make that play or that field goal or that field goal, and so here you got you can say, Okay, well it's coaching. We should
have done this, We should have done that. No one questioned any of their you know, any of their approach. You know, last year, there was no questioning how they wanted, Oh this could have gone this way in that game or for those games we didn't. We didn't quantify how full of those games could have gone another way right
now here we are talking about them. By the way, on that Seattle game, ironic was it that this Saints missed out on a chance at a first round by because the replay booth decided not to review and obvious pass? By the way, my NFL officiocule, how could they not even look at that? I mean, okay, say you say that, and you know what they were going to say. The
call in the field stands. But look at it and and somebody said, I mean because they because they passed the rule right, so you might as well, and it was broadcast justified. He tried to justify it by saying, you don't want to come in and change a game with that call? Yeah, well that no call, That's what that That's why the rule was put in. That's what they said. That's why the rule. And then let me
throw this out there. Can you imagine the criticism Jason Garrett would have gotten if his team got down on the one yard line and getting got a delay a game penalty? How do they look? That looked like us watching that game? How did they get a delayed? But it just they blew it. Asked Jason garb the same thing. How did something have They just blew it. They wouldn't even explain it. They tried to talk about it after the game. He just brushed over it. Pete Call said, oh,
it was just what it was. And then they tried to try to explain the way, saying, oh, well, now they have more room to pass the ball we wanted from the six stop. Even the commentators were silly on that one. They gave it a pass. They gave them a pass. If that was Jason Garrett, that would be the talk of the entire game. Jason Garrett blew the whole season right there. I can't remember which game it was.
It was somewhere in the in the nineties in the Super Bowl seasons where the Cowboys were kind of in that same situation about the six yard line, and Troy threw a pass underneath against Eland right now, remember, and he ended up at the half yard line, And how could you throw the ball underneath? You got to throw it in the end zone. They had no timehouse left, and so the clock is run, the actual game clock is running, and they couldn't get another playoff. So yeah,
all right, one more before we take a break. One more from Jason Garrett asked what his future holds. I don't know. I don't know. We're gonna go in this morning, and uh, the guys have acted physicals, so we're gonna talk to our players. We're gonna have a team meeting at at twelve noon, and I'm scheduled a visit with the Joneses after that and we'll have a good visit and we'll see what's we'll see what's next. I thought the locker room was open at noon other team meetings.
I just heard it's gonna be a little later, Okay, all right, Yeah, so the team meeting takes place right after talking counts everyone precedence, then us getting in the lock. When I woke up this morning, I was looking for esp in the load or something already. Yeah, we had two of them. Yeah kitchens. Last night Cleveland made that move quickly, Aqui quickly after they lost count and then this morning Pat Shermer let go, but Dave Gentleman is staying on as the gem of the New York Giants.
So that's that's Jason Garrett's futurements. That's a lot of speculative lining up like that. It sounds like it. Well, it's unique because he's he's out of contract. So there's if they decide to go in a different direction, it's not of firing. Would it would be Yeah, And I don't even and I don't even know if if they do, if they do change direction, I don't even know if they would make an announcement or when they would make an announcement, because if you look at it, Mick like
a player as a free agent. They don't announce that a player leaves. I don't know how we'll see how this unfort I think if there was, if there was an announcement, and I'm just speculat, I have no idea, but it would be a mutual parting of the ways. If that way was, I think it would describe describe that way as a mutual parting of the ways. Anyway, we continue right just a moment. Alrea is a proud sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys, helping fans see more and
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Back to Talking Cowboys. Time to grab the best of twenty nineteen. Choose a free travel size of one of this year's best with your sixty dollars plus purchase on get Jack Black dot com was Jack Black and you can go in shop now if you use the code best. So go ahead and get some of your fades, grab them best ones of twenty nineteen. You've got what's the best one? You guys, you should do a pre reading. You know, I'm a big fan of He doesn't need to practice. You know when he gets when he gets
off track, he drops in a big inflection. Everybody starts stumbling and it's like scrambling. It's better the next better they're going uh true, true, welcome to say it with more authority when you start going off the rail. What's your best? Well? The beard Loube is what I finally, finally the bed I finally used it today for the first time. The razor that they're shelling, Oh, they're shelling,
they're selling it out. Yes, it's pretty darn good. Really, yes, And if you use the beer loob, have you had some of the beer loube this morning? I did go to get Jack Black cock cop. Okay, we heard from one Jason, how about we here from another Jason? From the post game yesterday, Mister Witton reflects on yesterday's game, with both its playoff implications and the possibility it was the last of his career. I've never experienced anything like it,
you know. I mean, really, you showed up today and you just felt like, you know, it was gonna work out. You know. We had to take care of our business and felt like maybe in New York could beat him, and but look, we had opportunities in this season and we felt short. And it's a tough day across the board because I think this team was close, but we
didn't play well at critical times this season. And I can go back at different points and recognize that, but just I wanted to share with those guys, you know, when I came back, it was a huge challenge. I'm proud of the way I played, but more importantly, I'm proud that I was able to kind of be there for those young players who I think have really bright futures that are cornerstone pieces in this organization and just
show him how you do it. You know, And it's a tough game, and you got to be mentally tough. You got to go in there and approach it every day and say, you know, everybody's watching, they're watching what you do every single day. And for all the young kids out there they want to be here one day, just know that it takes a lot of hard work, it takes a lot of determination, and you know, but it's worth it. This game has been so good to me. I love this game, and it was a it was
a heck of a year. Well you can hear the emotion in his voice, and I think that was probably the way he reacted after the game. Probably it he was going in and he turned around and he grabbed Sean Lee and he goes, hey, let's take a picture, and they posed for a picture side by side, and then he ran to the northeast corner towards the end zone and waved to the stand so I assume that's where his family was. And then when he came back, when he got behind the boys bench, he went he
didn't go in through the club area. He went along the sideline and slapped hands with the fans that were sitting in those bunker suites before he went into the tunnel. So it was almost like he didn't want to do the last kind of harah that players do, but but prior to the game, he didn't want him And then yeah, and then afterwards he kind of made his last walk and he said, you know, he said he would take a few days to the side, but he heard the
emotion in his voice. And if I'm not mistaken, he was on the sideline for much of that fourth quarter. It was it was Jarwin and Schultz. And then he came back in for victory formation. Yep, gave the guys a hug and uh, you know that seemed kind of symbolic. Well, the other part of that is on the on the television, they showed the shot he had and this is when the defense was on the field, all right. He had had shaking hands with teammates on the sideline and then
he had his helmet on. I thought that was so cool. The defense is on the field and he it was like it was as if we take it off one last time. He's putting his helmet on the field. And he was also probably anticipation he is going back on the field for victory formation here because the defense was about to hold him. But I'll tell you what, he is blessed because only a few, a very small percentage of former players get a chance to go out like that. Most of us are just just acted and you're out.
You know, we get the box, like you said, we get the sacking and then we're out of there. So yeah, I'm you know, he deserves. To me, every player deserves to go out like that. But it's good to see somebody get that opportunity who deserves it because to me, players that are put in a lot of work for I don't care if he's one team or many different teams were all emotional about it, you know, whether you see us cry or not. You know, we go through
the same thing. And there's a lot of guys that deserve the accolades that Jason has gotten on the way that they have gone out, And I'm just glad to see somebody get a chance to go out like that because it's a tough game. NFL is a tough game when you get when you get put out. Did you know your last game was your last game? I did not. No, I did not, So yeah, it's myself. You can think of some great players that were never able to go out with the dignity that that was shown to Jason Witten.
So it's good to see somebody to get that. But there was a lot of guys that have come through this cowboy through this this cowboy organization that deserved that same kind of love, and they did not get it. So kudos two. The Cowboys were given Jason winn't a chance to do that, and that one. Usually somebody tells you, yeah, last yeah, you don't realize they don't even when they don't give you the love. Did you finish the season? I did not. You did not. I did not know.
So it happens to a lot of us, no doubt. One more from Witton talking about his teammates, the Cowboys organization,
and a particularly notable moment in his career. Oh the start, you know, I think the beginning, you know, green as I could be just turned twenty one years old, playing for a legendary coach, Bill Parcels, who had a blueprint on what the tight end position looked like, you know, and walking into the Valley Ranch and meeting the Jones family and seeing the legendary figures that you know, my grandfather talked about of Tom Landry and Roger Shawback and
Michael Irvin and saying that I'm gonna be one of those guys one day, and nobody in help probably thought that was going to happen, but you know, to be standing here, and really it's the relationships. I mean, guys like you, guys and certainly those teammates have just walked out.
I mean it's a small family, you know, and you sacrifice a lot, but this ordanary organization surrounded with really good people, and I think the older you get, you appreciate going to work every day and being around people that are passionate, make others around them better and are unselfish, and that's something that I appreciate. So sixteen years, I
don't know if that's going to be the end. I'll take a few days and figure it out, but I think it's decision will happen pretty quickly here in the next few weeks. Yeah, pretty quickly, Yeah, pretty quickly. Days awfully, awfully reflective. And I do think he kind of stopped and smelled the roses this year a little bit more
than maybe he did in the past. I mean when he first came back in the spring, Mick he stopped us in the training table and shot the bowl with us for I don't know, thirty minutes, and I remember my sandwich just getting super cold. But he was so great. It was great and right, He was so excited to be back, and I think, yeah, great, but that that I mean, obviously, you know he made the decision to come back, but it also you know, TV didn't work
out the way he probably planned. But at the same time, it's a hard decision to come back because you know, this is killing him to make the decision, put the work in, and nobody wants a title more than he than he does. It has to be kind of heart breaking for him as well, because he thought, as well as we all did, that this team was gonna be it. I'm gonna go out with a bang with these guys. You know, we've got it together, you know, with the previous year and all of a sudden we got this year.
It's gonna build up to something great. And I'm sure he saw this thing ending a lot differently than how it did. But I mean, it's kind of hard to feel sorry for him because the guy had a great career. Of course, you know, we know how it is you gotta go, but man, you guys got to look back on all the good things that he did, man, and realize that they'll never forget him. He'll never be forgotten about him, So you know, He mentioned that Bill had
a kind of an idea of what a tight end was. Parcels, Parcels, and I'll never forget this. It was one of his first offseason. Yeah, it was one of his first day I don't know if it was an OTA or a mini camp practice and went and kind of went over the middle and caught a pass and Parcels barks out, Yeah,
that's my past catching side. Because he saw Mark Bavarro of course him and you know Mark Bavaro Wright, and he wanted to make him a complete tight end, not just some guy that's gonna line up in the slot and catch pass. Let's just be real, guys, tight is right, are taking over the game, right, Let's just be real. And it really kind of started right there. You know, Bavaro was one of those guys. But then you know, winning those guys they were, they were that class that
came up. You know that that was really great. It was a guy for the Falcon's big tight end. I mean the commentator, thank you, thank you. Gonzalez was with that group as well. I mean, these guys came up, former basketball players. Antonio Gates came all of a sudden, he got these former basketball players and they're taking over the league. And one thing which said he talked about how he's proud of the way he played. One thing he mentioned was he's proud of the way he blocked
this year. He said, this is one of the best blocking seasons he's probably had the last few years. In a little bit of a different role. He still had major snaps and played started sixteen games, but he did some of the more little things that maybe you don't notice as much in the run. I think it was a big improvement from the year he left. Yes, because when he left, he was making some mistakes, you know,
just unusual mistakes I'm characteristic for Jason. And then when he came back, I think he was a little bit more aware, you know. The other picture I wish I had in the locker room was Sean Lee when we were all getting ready to leave, still in his he had still had his game pants on, he had a kind of a T shirt. His knee is bleeding, the calfs of his legs were I don't know, they were just discolored. I don't know if it was from dirt intusions.
And then and then he had blood all over his pants, right and I'm looking at this and I'm going that's Sean Lee right there, that that is the epitome. And and then he didn't want to do the interview, said no, I'll do it monday. He goes on, he goes, I got a shower. I don't want to picture of myself like this, and I'm thinking I want that That is Sean Lee to the right there. So looked like Rocky after a fifteen round. Yeah, no, seriously, So there were Yeah,
there was pretty there was a lot of motion. The other thing, were you in the stadium still when Jason Garrett and his family and friends on the field, And big impression on me it was it was probably I don't know if it was ten. It was approach according to the media, that approaching. So, but he was out there for why And he does it after every he's done it, win or lose a lot. But they meet it wherever the family reception room. Yeah, it's not like he goes home right after the game and he always
goes out there with family. Uh probably niece's, nephews, whatever, and he's the quarterback and he throws the ball around and he was pretty funny. Uh this morning when he talked about it because a lot of times they just go out there and they run forty yard dashes or whatever. Because we he said, believe it or not, we have a hard time finding a football that late after a game.
But he says, we had a football. So he was the quarterback for both teams, and uh, you know what, and you know, when he and I know the deal, he it's probably a long cut that we don't have time for. But he talked about afterwards being a stand up guy and and and he was. You know, he didn't change. He standing tall. Yeah, he went out and did that. When he left the locker room for the last time and we were about done doing our TV stuff, he came out, he tapped me on the shoulders, shook hands.
He tapped Dak, I mean Babe and Brad on the shoulders, shook hands with them and just kind of walked off. And but he did what he always does. You know, he didn't it didn't change. He stayed on that podium for ten minutes answer answering all the questions and then did them. You know, if it was me, I don't know if I would have done that morning radio show. Well,
you know, and on that morning radio show. He said what he always says the cut earlier about it was a good day yesterday, and you know that's Jason Garrett because it wasn't. Yeah, I mean, if you look at the big picture and that's our job, is that. No, it wasn't a good day in terms of missing the playoffs and finishing eight and eight. You know, it's it's a it's a disappointing end to a season. But he's proud of his guys finished standing tall and finishing the
season strong. That's that's a coach's mentality, and that's that's always been his message. Have a great day, and in his mind, you know, the way they finished out, at least they finished that way. So all the all the people out there that you know got into this deal about you know, his message got stale. He can't motivate the team. Just take your bs home, all right, because that that team didn't have to play the way they did yesterday, and they can't and they didn't start off
very well either, right the way. Listen to how emotional Dak got talking about him after the game. Yeah, respect his message that the job didn't get done, but there's respect for the way he's he's for the way he stayed true to himself throughout all these years. You know, to me, it's the whole school. You can tell he was raised whole school. Yeah, you know, we can talk about motivation people. Ye, his dad was jogging until like
the day died. He jogged like all around the track and yeah, but you can tell that's how he was raised. He was raised by a man that basically no nonsense. You know. It's we have coaches out there that are firing, firing brimstone. I was. I was taught by a bunch of them, but they're also like people like my father. All he wants is I asked you to do something, You do it. You know, I don't need to motivate you to do anything. This is what you do. And
so I think that's what Jason's philosophy was. Guys, you know why we're here. I don't need to tell you why I've been here myself as a player. Now i'm your coach. I can tell you what's going on. I parted all this wisdom to you. Now let's go out and win some ball games. But they I think these players they need more than that. As as an old school guy. Myself, I would not have needed more than that. All I needed was my teammates to be there with me.
That's all I needed. Coaches were they were instructors to me, and I thought that this team was going to handle that in the same way. But I think they need somebody to threaten them. I think they need a Jimmy Johnson out there because obviously, you know, they just didn't see motivated at the beginning of the tough games that they had. And let's be real, guys, if this game was in DC, we might have lost that game. That was a slow start. It was a slow, ugly although awkward,
they're not drawing very many fans. Yeah, right, even if the Cowboys say this, let's just say this, the Cowboys came out for that game the same way they came out for Philidelphia. Came in Flip, You're right about That's what happened. And in the road games they didn't handle because the opponents are gonna be more fired up, They're
gonna be more motivated now they're here in Dallas. The last game would not even at home, if they would have played in DC, may not have been may not still been a loss for the red Skins, but they were played better and they didn't want to win either, by the way. They wanted that. Yeah, let's say that. And you know, I mean, and it's always hard to play those types of teams because you know it's gonna be four downs, right. I don't even know why they
kicked those field goals out. It kept going. It was like I didn't understand why he started off not Yeah, he went forward on fourth now the first time, and then he kicked the field goal the second time. He said, well, what's the difference? It was fourth and four or fourth and seven. I mean, why are you kicking it now? Yeah, that's why. That's right, that's right. Um, all right, So so what happens the rest of this day? So it's left and we have to break getting ready to come
in here. He mentioned that he's meeting with the Joneses after the team meeting, so we'll see what takes place there. And I would imagine, Um, I don't know. I just have this feeling we're going to hear something by the end of the day. Very well, could be yeah, and almost and almost in fair this to him, because if you're letting him go, there's opportunities out of course, right,
and no sense letting those opportunities pass by. And while you're hanging on to him with the Giants, Jimmy, let me go as soon as the season was open, as opposed to being vindictive and holding on to me all
off season when everyone's always filled up their rosters. Yeah, and they let me go by the way, But you gave him every opportunity, and you were fretnized with them and with the enemy, with the enemy, if you think about it, this was this was the same situation Troy was in after that twenty twenty season when he wanted to get released, so he thought norv would bring him in as the backup quarterback in San Diego, and Jerry wanted to wait to June one because he wanted to
spread out his cap, his his his and Troy. Troy got mad at him, and they got mad at each other, and then he finally let him go. But by time they released him, uh, Sandy has signed Doug Flutie as their kind of veteran back up, and there really wasn't an opportunity. But Troy in his mind was I'm still playing right wow, And then he finally decided he's still then he decided, Okay, it's time to retire. I mean
DeMarcus Ware kind of the same situation. All I guess he was going to be a free Remember, no, he was under contract. He was under the contract. But it was right at it was right at the opening day of free agency. They decided to Yeah, and I don't know him. There was because Troy had a roster bonus there too. He was going to cost him seven million dollars if they kept but they were willing to do that to spread out the pro ration of a of a signing bonus. But yeah, they were going to release
them and say, okay, but not till June one. Okay, the break is up next keep it right here and now the Cowboys dot Com and we will we will be back here tomorrow for another edition of Talking to Cowboys, and there will be lots to talk about tomorrow. This is been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.
