Player's Lounge: Could You See More Cuts Coming?

player's perspective. All right, gentlemen, I see one of your former teammates guy fired today in the National Football League. That would be former Dallas Cowboys alignement and offensive line coach Mark Columbo. So, gentlemen, my first thought when I

saw this report from ESPN. They said he got into a verbal altercation with the head coach, Joe Judge, because Joe Judge decided he was gonna bring in a consultant and Colombo didn't take too kindly to it, like, hey man, this guy's over here, you know, stepping on my territory. And I immediately thought of that old day Chappelle's kit that I absolutely loved when keeping it real goals roll man, I'll tell you what many Joe better been bobbing and

weaving out there, because look, Colombo's a big dude. Man. He bought six eight two eighty something, so hopefully Joe Judge was out there bobbing and weaving. But for real, man, how how much lack of respect you gotta have for your head coach? I mean, look, this is the guy that hired you. He's putting he's putting food on your plate and gift, he's cutting your checks and you said, damn all that, let me go ahead and serve you up a couple of these knuckles sandwiches. Man like this

is this is beyond seeing anything like this. But I mean, Colombo, he was always a fiery guy. Even when we played with him, hearing with the Cowboys for that short period of time before he left. He was always fiery. He was always getting after the scout team. So for me, man, this isn't a surprise, but man, it is hilarious. So so you said Colombo put his hands on Joe Judge. It wasn't verbal, was it physical? We can't hear me crag. Was it was it was verbal? God? Was it verbal?

Or was it physical? Man? Internet boo boo? That's yalloo? Oh my goodness. Well, so let's go ahead. We could go ahead and run down lsu this he says. Was it verbal or absolutely not? Oh he's bad. I knew that. I knew that one getting. I knew that. I knew that he was working my brother some lsull. First of all. First of all, I knew some hate was coming. I just want to know was it verbal or physical that Columbo put hands on Joe Judge or was it or was it just a verbal altercation? I'm saying he put

hands on him. I don't know that for facts, but I'm saying he put hands on it. Goodness, Okay, listen, yeah, hey, that's something serious right there. But if you get fired over just a little verbal thing, it must have been some some real verbal assault for you to go fire

the guy. Uh, you know, I guess over him being mad because you brought somebody into consult the way that the old line is playing, I mean, you should expect that he was gonna have some feelings about it, and you should be mad enough to put up what he has to say, and then say all right, now, let's put this behind us and go out there and go to work. So it had to be something that was really outrageous that Columbo was saying the doing to Judge to get him fired, especially with j G up there

having his back. It had to be something that was really really out of hand. Good. Now a street the streets are saying JG put him on it. They say, hey, look, hey mccullumbuggo head and handled this work for me real quick. Oh man, think he set him up. Hey man, you should go talk to him. You should go talk to him. And he trying to bring somebody here to run your thing. You gotta look out, man, I'd say something. If FO were you, It's like like, um, you guys weren't here

for that that time. That to got Roy Williams and Patrick Crating them to go down there and tell Jason they didn't like how how he was running the offense. Next thing, you know, they all they all got they all got wrecked trying to buy this thing from t O about going and complaining about about the offense. But uh no, so as far as the verbal physical I'm not sure. So I'm not gonna sit up and tell that I know for sure. Um, I think we all understand and know that the truth will start to come

out a little bit here later on. Um. But look, I'm just I just found I just found it absolutely funny. And then I looked at the background of the guy, the consultant that they were going to bring in. He had a relationship with Joe Judge, you know, dating back into their days with the Patrons, and when Jason was hired, Jason brought Colombo with him. So for me, it's not a surprise that a head coach is going to bring in someone he knows. You guys know this better than

me because your players. This is an industry where guys hire their friends and like to bring in their friends, and when the situations get a little bit tight or they get uncomfortable, they rely on their friends to try and help them out. Or even if he was bringing that guy in there to be a sounding board to let him know what was going on with Colombo. I mean, this is this is the way that the league works. I mean, I can understand why Colombo was so solty.

I mean, coming from a player's perspective, that's like, you know, you're playing good. You're playing good at a position, and drafted guy in the first round he's right behind you. He's your backup. And as you know, as the weeks go on, he starts getting more and more reps with the ones here and there. He starts backing you up. In the walk throughs, they're telling them, hey, just stand right behind that guy back there and learned from from one of the best. And then what happens next that

guy ends up stilling your job. So I can understand why Colombo was bad, But I mean to get to the to the verbal altercations or or the or the haymakers being thrown. I mean, listen, I waited to draw this up. I'm waiting for I'm waiting for Anonymous to come out, man, because I know it's more to it than just just a consultant coming in bro like like I mentioned it, doing something like this. Columbo woke up

one morning. He had no idea that this consultant was coming in to dude was sitting in this cheer in the meeting room with the pointer like hey, yeah, hey, this is this is what I think you're doing wrong. And then Columbo went to go talk to Judge and it didn't go as Judge expected because he forgot to let Columbo know that he was hiring this guy. So it's more to it and we're gonna get it. Anonymous gonna lace us up. I'm sure they're gonna let us know. And mc cray as we both know, and McRae as

we both know. Man, special teams coaches, they're one of the most fiery guys on the whole team, like as a specialty. Every coach we've had, I mean Pisachi, uh, Decamiller's, they were always that just fiery, just you know, put their heart on their sleeve. They'll tell you no matter who you are, they'll tell you how they really feel.

So I can see how that could go down that way when you keep real goals, rang keeping the real goal from hey, let me tell you someth for a regular day, I found out that there was Dave sitting right there the head coaches Dave. Dave was his boy and he was going to watch over him and Mark No. I can listen. I vibe with Colombo. Look, hey, man, if you felt disrespected, and you know what I'm saying, and that's how you and that's how you're gonna handle it you say, man, forget this job. I'm gonna go

ahead and tell the do how I feel. Hey, dude, you gotta do man, Colombo got enough bread to go sit at home for a little bit. JJ gonna take care of when you take over the head coaching job. The more important question, who do y'all think? One? Who do y'all think ended up walking out there with the victory? Who who got the better of situation? This dude want to see a fight and nobody okay, So so since y'all don't want us, I'm gonna go ahead and say.

I'm gonna go ahead and say Colombo gave him the two piece with a biscuit, and I don't think it went I don't think it went far because Columbo's kind of heavy handed. He's a big dude. So I'm gonna say Colombo gave him the biscuit, gave him to work, and then uh, you know, just fired him on the spot, just like that. Colombo lost a lot of weight, man, he lost a lot of weight. Church. I don't know, man,

And it's true. I'm gonna go I'm going against nose dumbers, So anything that you say, I'm gona saying it was opposite. So I got to say that that that just had the low leverage. The low leverage, the low man wins broth. He started working on them, ds man, he started working ones, and it was over after that easy low man wins, and and he fired that guy, so he got he got a double women. What I do wonder was this a one on one you know thing, or was it

done in a group setting? You know, I mean that we'll find out a lot more, but that's gonna be be real interesting to see how it goes. I think it was. It had to be a group setting. Somebody had to hype him up. Somebody was like, you know what, this ain't right, Colombo. You gotta go out there, and you gotta let this guy know how you feel, because I don't think on your own, you're just gonna be like, man, you know what, let me go ahead and hold at this coach. I gotta see something off my chest. So

somebody had to hype him up. I'm not saying it was church, but who know, church, It sounds like you got some It sounds like you got some inside and information over there. All right. You brought the physical altercation and now you're talking about you know, he wented it sound like you know a little bit more than you letting on. All right, you know, I'm just hey, I'm just I'm just put trying to put the facts together. And you know, in the streets, the streets, they tell

me some things. Man, Oh okay, the streets. Okay, I'm turning back together. That's it turned on a little and then knew it, knew it. Two weeks from now he gonna be talking about nostre dumbers. He was able to see it with his powers. But really we know that he came some inside and source. It's all good. Man was buried. If you if you watched the Boondocks cartoon always okay, So remember the episode when Tom and Sarah meant usher and then oh yeah, sits down at the table.

The next thing you know, he's singing, Sarah smile, and then the way that looks at Tom, He's like, wouldn't happened to me? Oh yeah, that's what happened. Somebody with the Colombo that what happened to me? Walked on off and then here Colombo went up in there. Hey Joe, Joe, Joe, I'm not about this man, What's what's up? With this man, you and your buddy Joe for y'all think I'm taking off from me, you know who? Then he bowled up on it. Yeah it was man. Yeah, man, somebody walked by.

I don't know, I can't. I hope columb gonna land on the steat Man. We over landing, man, he got fired. I hope he landed on the steat. Bro. You know, that's a that's a tough that's a tough thing to do. You know, we just we just we just we just shooting a little bit. But that's a that's a tough thing. Like you said, Jill, look a look out for him. You know, they'll get him right, we'll see we should. I see it. Hate to see it happened. Hate to see it happened so close to the holidays, But hey,

it is what it is. We're all grown there. It don't sound like you made it allway. It don't sound like you made it all You actually sound a little happy. You saw a smiler. I see a little grin on your face on the screen. If this this man did what he wanted to do, because he's a grown man, go ahead, but right on the end, like I said, if you felt like that's what you want to do, then go ahead. You know, hate to see it happened, but you know it is what it is. The Giants

are playing good football. They'll move on without him. Who knows, man, maybe the Giant Tea didn't win this division. Maybe it gallanizes the football. Heck, you ain't just saying that, man, Just say the Giants might win a division after you on the Cowboys. I can't. I can't believe it. Just saying that it's swiders when the Giants have played improved football. If you start to look at what they've done in the the last three weeks, they had played some improved football.

And did you just say the NFC East is wide open? Did you say the nfcast wide it is? It is wide open? The church it is wild now, So y'all ya, I'll try to act like I was crazy a couple of weeks ago when y'all were now all saying the same thing about the NFC's being wide open. We got a chance, no man, that's no no, no, no, no, no no, no no wh when no no church. When we say wide open, we meet people's records. Anybody could win it based on their record. We're not talking about the Cowboys

going out and making this run and win it. We all have the Cowboys not making the playoffs. We're not. We are to you solo. You're solo, bro, you solo. You know you. I was just making sure we all all the same page. Now you are the lone wolf. Yes, you are the lone wolf. Okay, let's take our first

break when we come back, um my friends. Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Warning News put a column out today and says that Jalen Smith has to show some serious improvement over these next these these final seven ballgames, or he believes Jalen would either have to take a paycut or be cut. Let's dive into this because I think that there's some merits to what he said, and there's some questions about it. Let's dive into it. Next on The Players Lounge with Barry Church Danny Mccramnewi scrugs. You

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tickets now before they sell out. At set geek dot com, you're checking out the Players Lads, brought to you by Hotels dot Com in our s WBC Mortgage Virtual home Studios. I'm NEWI scrugs, come with the Cowboys for a long time, and I've got two former Dallas Cowboys players buried church Danny McCrae, and we always chopping up and get there unique perspective of these football matters involved in the Dallas

Cowboys and across the National Football League. So Jack Taylor wrote a column for the Dallas Morning News and it centered on linebacker Jalen Smith where he talks about Jalen has had a very disappointing season and basically that Jalen has got to show the Cowboys something in these final seven games or they could either ask him to take a pay cut in twenty twenty one or even cut him, and that his guaranteed money is basically already been paid now.

I also checked out Pro football Folks dot com and they did a little story talking about disappointing players for every NFL team and when it got to the Cowboys, this is what they said. I'm gonna read from it says Jalen Smith and Linton Vanderesh looked like a pair of future stars at linebacker for the Cowboys back in twenty eighteen. They ranked fifth and sixth respectively, and Pro

Football Focus great at the position that season. Vanderesh is injury in a dipping play from Smith in twenty and twenty In twenty nineteen, damping some of that optimism, but there were still reason to be excited about the duo. With Vanderesh returning healthy in twenty twenty, neither has looked all that reminiscent of the players that we saw two years ago, though Smith has earned a fifty three point four grade and Vanderesh comes in a tad hired fifty

five point three and another injury shortened season. Thus far, their disappointing play is a part of the reason that the Cowboys defense has underperformed this year generally. Do you think that's fair from Pro Football Focus? And do you think Jack Taylor is on or something when he says that Jalen Smith could be cut by the Cowboys are asked for a reduced salardy. I'll start with you, McCray. Yeah,

I mean, you know, we talked about this earlier. They're gonna be asking a lot of guys to take some pay cuts or get released just because the salary cap might get a little lore, and you know, we're looking on ways that we can get back paid. I think he's absolutely spot on correct with you know, those two are a reason for the defense not playing as well

as we expected them to play. But with that being said, everybody that's on our defensive roster is a reason for us not being not being as good as we thought we were a lot of the guys that are making a lot of money aren't playing up to their standard, and our defensive backs aren't playing up the standard either.

That's why I keep leaning on coaching, because it's it's got to be something going on for all of these guys, like every level of our defense to somehow not be prepared and not be ready to play it to the best of their ability. So I'm putting it a little bit on them, but more on coaching. But yeah, they will be asked. They should be asking him to take a major pay cut next season. Yeah, for me, I agree with with Jacques and Danny on this one. I mean, look,

the numbers don't lie. I mean, his play has dipped ever since that twenty eighteen season when he was just out there making splash play after splash play and just you know, basically taking over this defense from Sean Lee. So for me, on the dipping play and the fact that his guarantee, if that is correct, that his guarantee money is already up with this contract, I say, you can give them that option. You got to tell him, hey, you either gonna take this pay cut or you know

you're gonna you find yourself as a free agent. And that's why these last you know, six games are so important because, like mcraize said, a lot of these cats, not just Jayalen Smith, but a lot of these cats, they're they're going out there and they're playing for their jobs. I mean these last couple of games, not only for the NFC East, but like I said, for their jobs in the future. So for me, I think Jacque is right.

I think Danny's right on this one. They should be able to ask him for a pay cut if he doesn't improve his play in these last couple of games. So let me go back to something I mentioned earlier this week on the Players Lounge, and this comes back to the whole scheme thing. You've got Layton Vanderesh. When we saw Layton at his best making the Pro Bowl,

he was playing outside linebacker. Mike Nolan comes in and makes him a middle linebacker, a middle linebacker coming off a neck injury, and then you can take Jalen and you take him from the middle and you put him on the outside. So have the code. She got this even right and putting the guys in their best positions

in your opinion, correct, Listen. I think if the scheme and the players played the way that Nolan's seen it on paper and the way that he probably saw it in the past, I think this wouldn't be an issue. When you have the defensive line not playing up to the standard and you got offensive lineman coming off and always being on vander Esh and Jaylen Smith, then it

makes it hard for them to do their job. So scheme wise, I think that they if it was run perfectly, they will be able to make some of the players that they that they made it in the past and they would probably be Pro Bowl players. But when you're not performing up front, it hinders them. So when they're not even playing up to their hundred percent level, it

makes it look even worse. So scheme wise, I think they can, you know, we get a new guy in here, they can they can salvage their careers and play a little bit better. But you know, just the way the defensive played this season, I can see why they're having these issues. Gotcha, Yeah? And and for me, so we're saying that so vander Esh moved from Mike to Will or from Will to Mike. Correct, all right, So I mean I I could see that move. I can see, you know, a DC making that move because for the MIC,

you gotta be a bigger body guy. You're taking on more blocks than you are as an outside like as a will linebacker. So for me, I can see putting a bigger body vander Eshe in there. He just he's right now, he's injury prone. I mean we've seen in nineteen he went down with an injury. This year he had the collar bone neck thing. And as a middle linebacker, I mean, you're taking on blocks pretty much every single down. So it's just for him, it's a question of durability.

I would have kept him in that at that Mike position just because of he's a bigger body. But with him, the question is durability. And with Jaylen Smith, you know, I believe he's best suited as an outside linebacker. I think that's where he made the majority of his plays out there, and you're not asked to take on those fullbacks. You're not asked to take on those pulling guards and pulling tackles as much as a middle linebacker. So for me. I think they got the positions right. These two just

got to play better. Yeah, And with that being said, With that being said, listen, I'll just go back to this. Jaylen Smith be rushing off the edge, he should be. He should be doing some things that that maximizes his athletic ability to get back there, you know, and reac havoc on the quarterback and called some confusion. Not just sit back there, you know and play the run and

red gaps. He should be doing some stuff, not Jamal Adams because he played safety, but they should be doing some creative stuff like how they used Jamal Adams blizzening off the edge, blissing up the middle, plucking your hand down sometimes. They should be using him all over the place. I think this is a similar case to real quick. I think this is a similar case to Byron Jones. All right, So when Byron Jones came in, they put him at safety. And Barron Jones is a smart guy.

But as a rookie playing at safety, you have to make checks here, you have to make checks there. You have to be you have to be cognisant of the whole defense as a whole. And I think he struggled with that, but when they moved him to corner, they said, look, specifically, you do this, you guard that man, or you were in cover three, and he flourished at that. And I think we need to do the same type of thing

with Jalen, like Danny was saying earlier. Put him in a position to where he doesn't have to think too much. He doesn't have to make checks or get people lined up in the right gaps, or if somebody else messages up, he has to cover up for that person. I think you got to put him in a specific job and say either ay, you rush the pastor or you cover this guy, or you dropped back in this position. I don't think he needs to be the quarterback of the defense.

I think that's just slowing them down a little bit. Okay, so so here's my next question, just listening to you guys, would it be best to put both guys on the outside and then either draft or free agency go sign someone else and put them in the middle. But then somebody would have to play the middle when you went to a nickel package, like somebody would have to be that mid middle linebacker. Anyways, Yeah, so what you don't need, what you don't need on your team are three Pro

Bowl base linebackers. That is not what you need on your team. Like a lot of teams are coming out here, they run an eleven persons. They're almost the entire game, some running empty. So a lot of times you see that third linebacker that's playing in the base he probably gets fifteen to twenty snaps the game. He doesn't even play the whole game. So I don't think you need to invest in another guy just to put in the middle if you're still gonna have Jalen and Vander's playing

on the outside. The y'all killers, though, this could be something that could like this could just be an off year for them. Do you think that they can bounce back from them or do you think they need a whole new system just to get these guys. Second of that is true, they haven't looked the same since that since they played against the Rams in the playoffs. I would I would look to the next defensive coordinator and ask him, and that's what they should do in the

interview process. Hey, here two guys that turned in Pro Bowl years. Here are two guys that used to look like, Hey, they were going to be you know, key players for our franchise defensively number one. Check out the take. Can they get back to that or do we need to

make a move. Um, that's what I would do, as far as you know, interview with the new defensive coordinator for twenty twenty one, and then I'd also ask this simple question here, guys, do we see the Jones family admitting a mistake with Jalen Smith and running him after this season? They don't. They rarely pooled the plug on guys like that. You know, that's just kind of going and looking at the history they give guys deals. They rarely pull the plug this early. So anyway, mccraig, I

listen from from person from personal experience. Now, they asked you to take a pay cut, all right, So it's not it's not it's not necessarily them, you know, saying, uh, you know we're gonna release you. But they asked you to take a pay cut and get and give you that option, you know, to leave on your own and then say, hey, we gave an option. We really loved him, but it was best for him to go and in

his own direction. It was his choice. But that pay cut thing is always on the table for the joneses, m M, so so let me so, let's stay stay with this, Danny. So when they come to you for the pay cut, the first do they call you? Do they bring you into a room? Is it over the phone? Let me take me through how this works. Man, Listen. I don't know how it happens for everybody else, but I know for me, it was one of those things where, you know, I went off to Chicago the next year

because I felt so so played by it. They I had pulled my hamstring in the last preseason game, so I wasn't gonna be able to play the first game and I was on the tender And right after the last preseason game, they called me in the office and my agent called me like five minutes before that. He was like, I think they about to ask you to take a pay cut. And I was like, I mean

all right, well, I mean I got five minutes. So they called me back in the office and he broke it down to me, Hey, we're gonna need you to blah blah blah blah blah. And I was like, well, do I have a second to like talk about it, you know, called my agent back whatever. He was like, yeah, I could lead a room and when I come back again,

you know, we need you to have a decision. I was like, all right, So I called a few people, and you know, with me being hurt and having a hamstring injury, uh you know, I pretty much had no choice but to take that. So that that was my experience with it. I don't know how it is for those for the bigger players that had a bigger contract that they may be worried about keeping a little bit more. Who was he? Who was he? He said it was his name? Who's his name is Adam? I don't know

his last name, but his name is Adam. You might see him holding the change. He's a bigger guy. He's on the sideline usually you know his last name Church Now, I don't know. I just called him the money gag because that was the money man. He always had come to the top contracts and stuff. So, okay, so it was his name was Adam. To be honest, no, no, at your Adam ASSISI no, one't the Joneses. It was Adam. Okay, so I thought it was. It wasn't a grim reaver nat.

Now I find it this fascinating. So you take the pay cut, the next time you see the Joneses or a coach, what what what happens? How are you feeling? Anybody say anything? And what happened after that? Did they act like nothing ever happened? Listen, my coaches act like they had no idea what's going on? So I, you know, I don't know. I was pissed off of it for the rest of the year and I got up out of that right after that. So I took it personal.

And I took it personal mainly because, like you said, I had been around those coaches for three or four years. I was like, Bro, you couldn't come pat me on the back, you know, say what's up? Hey man? You know I understand, but this is how we're gonna get this fix or nothing. They just act like, you know, I act like it was no big deal. So I think my stuff got the little out of it. Do you think that you think the coaches wouldn't know they would tell the coaches about the decision like that, Well,

well it was in the paper. After it was in the paper. After that, it was everybody know what I'm saying. Yeah, they would have known. They would have known. Yeah, no, they they knew because also, you had to tell the coaches, they look, we're gonna ask mc cray to take a cut, and if he doesn't, you know, what's the next plane, you know. So so everybody, you know, you know somebody was in on it. So definitely somebody was in on.

Mickey Spagnola had a great line that he said many years ago when I used to have him on one or five through the Fan. He said, guys will take a pay cut, but they won't take a pay cut for you. And this was about that time when Andre Girard had to take the pay cut. Andre is like, nah, I ain't taking that pay cut. He took a pay cut, but he went to Baltimore. But so so you're kind of one of those rarities, mccraig, where you took the pay cut and stayed with the cowboys, and most guys

didn't hit that pay cut. They're like, nah, man, I ain't gonna do it here. I had nowhere to go. I was injured, but believe me, I made the phone call. I made the phone call. I won't get a hurt for it now. I made the phone call that obviously was out there, but I was injured, so nobody could help me at that point. I remember, I remember that. After that, your whole mood change. You was like, I am strictly special teams. They was like, come on, we

get some reps as safe. Danny like, nope, I am special teams my days when his kickoffs done, and listen, listen, listen. You know what why why were yaller? Let me let me go in too? Because I never got to get this off my chest Church. If you remember I was playing, I was playing. I was a special teams guy already, and then everybody started getting hurt. And then usually when when when that happens and they moved somebody up to play safety, they usually take them off special teams. That

let them focus a little bit more on safety. They had me running down there on kickoff at the five. I was playing gunner on the on the punt team, still on kickoff return, and then going out there and Rob Ryan defense covering tight ends and certain package started at safety. And when I told Jerome Henderson, I was like, hey, man, look I'm gassed, and you know this is gonna affect my play. He was like, look, look man, I just need you to get some rest during the week. It's

nothing I could do about it. I was like, what are you serious? So so that that whole thing transpires or whatever, and then you know, I ended up I played. You know, however I played, I ended up losing the starting job. So I thought that was over. I was like, yes, I'm backing on special teams. And you know, the next year came and they asked me to take that pay cut.

So I was upset for two years. To be honest, that's that's why I had to get up out of it it and they give my mind, right, it's just to me. It was to me, it was baffling that they waited for so long, like they waited right until the last Like wasn't it like a day or two before the regular or something like that. It was it was. It was the day of final cuts. It was a day of final cut. So I didn't have any option. It

was like you got, you got thirty minutes. It was like right right before that deadline was there, and he made me sit in that room where I was upset, but I knew the day opinion me in the whole. I had no choice. So let me ask this. Since you're here and you opening up the cannib were talking, was there any part of you. After you said you take the pay cut that you wished you went ahead and got released, so you could have gone somewhere else. Uh nah, man, you know, money on the table's money

on the table. When I was I always enjoyed the fact that I was in Dallas and I was close enough to my mom and my family that they could all drive up like it was. Everything was convenient for me in Dallas. So I didn't regret taking a pay cut.

I just regretted how how it happened, right because I had a feeling how I felt about the Cowboys an organization before that, and then that whole process happened, and it was like how I thought they felt about me, they actually didn't, especially because nobody actually came and said nothing after that. It just it was a shocking surprise, and I didn't hear nothing from pretty much anybody after that.

But I will tell you this, when I was, when I was about when I was about to leave the next year though, to go to Chicago, I got all the phone calls then, yeah, we really want you to do this, really this, and that that I was like, all right, yeah, I'm on my way. I'm on my way to oldhair right now, buddy. See, let's see y'all. See y'all next time, y'all because y'all y'all have to me the phone then, So okay, So who calls you at that point in time, it was trying to make

it right. Who was on the phone? Who who it calls you? Yeah, man, look at it. It was j G called me. Joe Baker called me. The one person that kept it real with me was Jerome Henderson. He was like, look, I know that I know that you're gonna get some money out there in Chicago, so I want you to go out there and prove all of us wrong. I know what happened to you here was bad, so you know, I'm really not gonna try to convince you to stay. And I was like, appreciate it, bro.

And then when I went to Chicago and I ended up getting the starting job there for a little bit, he he was the first person to call me a congratulate be on that. So I got love for Jerome Henderson as well. Jerome always did keep it real, man. He always did keep it real. Oh all right, let's take a break, man. I mean, that's why we do this show man. That that is That is why we do this show. That is why we do this show

because that's pretty eye opening. And look, you know, I've I've gone through the whole pay cut thing too, in my whole in my experience. Now it's nothing like yours. But but I know, I know high speels. When you you stepped back in that building, you know you ain't trying to smile, and nobody ain't trying to say hid anybody just go do what I do. So I understand, I understand. Okay, um, when we get back, um, something that I know is gonna make Barry Church say, wow,

we'll do that next try. Other players are interrobuct you by Hotels dot com, oh Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio each game day, you know what that means. First cup, Bob prep steak pepper Runnion, Steak pepper runion. Next, a counterclockwise lap around the rule. Now the lucky grease stained jersey goes on, and laslie the dance, you know the one.

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and T stadium dot com Slash at home. All right, gentlemen, the NBA Draft is tonight, so good luck to all those young men as they fulfill a lifelong dreams gonna be a little bit different because it's virtual, so you're not gonna be able to see guys do what they've done in the past. And I love these these NBA opt outs because guys right now have a good bird in the hand if they want and with the way the salary cap is, you can try and get out

there free agency, but there's no telling what you may get. Barry, You'll love to understand the excruciating dilemma for one Gordon Hayward the Boston Celtics. He has an AKKA. It is four thirty four million dollars. He's not sure what he wants to do, and they told him you didn't have to decide Tuesday. They pushed it out to Thursday, so he's got one more day to decide if he wants a guaranteed thirty four million dollars to play for the Celtics. If he plays for the Celtics this year, he's not

going to be He's gonna be a role player. He's gonna be a role player. So he's got this tough decision to decide. Does he want the burden the hand of thirty four million dollars, but does he want to go out of the free agent market. What would you do? Man? What is the indecision here? What is Gordon Hayward thinking? Like, Look, it ain't like Gordon Hayward is lightening up the stat sheet or anything like that. It ain't like he's a

perennial All Star or anything like that. Since just gruesome injury. But what are you thinking? Thirty four million dollars fully guaranteed as soon as you sign on the dotted line, and it's the easiest money you'll ever made because you're not even going You're not even gonna be a starter. You're gonna be a guy coming off the bench, maybe playing twelve fifteen minutes a night, and you're making thirty four million dollars. There's no indecision about this. It's signed

me up. I'll take his spot, we can switch spots, he can come on the players lound. I'll go ahead and get the twenty jersey and play for Boston. I mean, this is this is ridiculous. I don't the man, Well, I'm gonna piggyback out that for you new Church Church to do it. Goodness, I thought dude is gonna bring this up yesterday because he put it in a Twitter group chat. So James already gonna pass fifty two a

year in Houston, so you can go to Brooklyn. What type of sister that made these guys fifty two million dollars a year to do? Fast it up? Yeah? So he could have been the NBA's first fifty million dollars year play. Here was the thing I truly didn't get in this whole I want to go play for the Brooklyn Nets demand that James has right now, we all know there's no state taxes here living in Texas. You're going up to New York to play. Guess what brother

you are about? You about to jump up fourteen percent? It's it's it's crazy that. But I'll also and one reason why I didn't bring it up, Danny, We've seen a bunch of these guys turned down more money because they don't want to be someplace New Orleans had offered, and Anthony Davis the max. They offered him a great boatload of money, but he said, no, I don't want it.

I'll go play for the Lakers. And so he just opted out, turned down the twenty seven million dollars and so he's about to sign, you know, a big, mega deal with the Lakers, and he got we won a world championship, So it worked out for him. But this starts to become really, hey, how comfortable am I? And how much money do I want to leave on the

table to win? Now? To me, I look at Anthony Davis and this is what I was told by my buddy Mark Experience of ESPN that Anthony lived in LA in the offseason and this is where he wanted to be anyway, So this was for him about getting to a spot, leaving New Orleans and get into a spot where he wanted to be. And oh, by the way, he'll play with Lebron James. I don't know if i'd be what didn't it gonna play with Kyrie Urp. I wouldn't be doing that. Well, I would not be doing that. Man,

Well let's let's do this. So so just I don't know how true this is, but I know I've been reading that one of the issues for James Harden and Russell Westbrook and a lot of other guys for the Rockets with some political issues for you know who, Tilman for Tido was supporting. So all those guys are kind of revolting and trying to get up out of there, and then James Harden, I don't know, man, you know

how comfortable you can be. But I know the dude, you know, two hundred million dollars from Adidas, so he might be already passing up that fifty two because he know he's gonna make a boatload of money in the New York market as well. Fifty mill thole. I understand, he's getting that bread. Like you said, he got Adidas, he got all those contracts, he went in Oklahoma City all those times. But fifty mile passing that up and then you're gonna go play with KD and Kyrie, who

all dominant guys. It's not up there. Let's say this that the fifty two is not for next year. It's an extension, so he still has I think a year or two on his current deal and then he'll make fifty two after that. So I'm sure if he goes to Brooklyn, he's still gonna make a boatload of money. And you know, they say New York is a marketing capital capital of the world, so he's gonna he's gonna get some more deals and the money are probably even

out somehow. The only thing he's saving is those state taxes. But he's been to it. He's been close as he can in Houston. So you know, go take your shot and go try to get your championship. What do y'all think about this? Like, what do y'all think about all these guys like grouping up together? Like now it's Katie Kyrie and maybe Kevin or Hardened? Like, I mean, what y'all thought? What are your thoughts on that? I like it? Yes, I have no issues with it. I have no issues

with it. Here's the thing. What you and your organization need to do is create a culture and a climate that people want to come to it. I mean, that's what you have to do. And I give Milwaukee a lot of credit with what have we seen this week. Milwaukee said, you know, look, we're gonna make this atmosphere great for Jannis and we want him to stay. I remember, and you guys were young, but when I was growing up, man, that's what they did in San Francisco, Bill Walsh and

Eddie de Barlowe Junior. They made the forty nine ers a place where guys wanted to come, and they were taking less money to go get there. And when Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys and he and Jimmy John's helped making the team of the nineties. It was an atmosphere the dudes wanted to come to. That's how you get a Dion Sanders here because they want to come play

in this kind of atmosphere. So to me, now, if you're running an NBA franchise where you have one player who can change the fortunes of the whole organization, you've got to make sure that you are trying to make that player happy, but also have a situation where other guys want to come play there, and hopefully you can get them to come and play for a little bit less cash. Pat Riley has been able to do that in Miami Houston, and I want to make sure I

give Houston credit. They've done everything they could and they built that whole thing around James Harden. And something that you said, Danny was Rick Bucher, who was on with my boys couple, Chris Bossard and Rob Parker. That's where that report came from. That there were several Houston Rockets who weren't happy that Tilmo and Ftida, in their opinion, was too close to Donald Trump and the day all wanted to go. Let me tell you what. I don't

buy that, because these guys ultimately all want you make money. Okay, you can sit. I mean, and most of these NFL owners are affiliated. You can just go look it up. You can find out who your owner is affiliated with. From a political standpoint, all right, Tilman Fritida were the only owner in professional sports giving money and supporting Donald Trump. But I thought it's a difference. It's a difference between supporting the Republican Party and then being being very close

to Donald Trump. You know, just to be fair with what they're talking about. It's it's it's a huge difference, right. But but at the same time too, Look, you know there's a lot of NFL owners who gave money to President Trump and his inaugurations. It's a whole bunch of owners. I mean, he saw Woody Johnson of the New York Jets go work for the Trump administration. Um so. But but ultimately, but I don't think. I don't and this

is just me, Danny. I don't think and I don't believe that this is what Houston Rockets players are motivated by. The saying get me out of here or I don't want to be here because of that. These guys want their money and they want to be in a situation that they like. I just don't believe that. I just have And I'm the dude who used to cover the Clippers when we knew all about Donald Sterling, way before that Magic Johnson take got out there, that v Staviana play.

I mean that stuff was known about Donald Sterling and dudes came out there. When Chris Paul was traded to LA he was asked about it and Chris said, I don't get into all that. I just played. I was like, all right, dude, do you want to be blind and to it? That's fun. But these dudes just came out a situation their money. You think about this, we already we already explained that NBA and NBA players NFL players are different as far as how much power they have

and what they're willing to do. And they take exactly what you said. These dudes one thing money. James Harden is running from fifty two million a year to get away from Houston. Russell Westbrook has money on his contract and he's still trying to get up out of there. So they getting their money they got money there from Houston and they're trying to go to opposite way of it. I don't I don't think this is the only reason that they saying we need to get up out of here.

But when you start listing stuff on there, I'm sure that they can throw that there. Some of them throw it out there and say, yeah, also you know X, y Z and this is that, so that this, this is why I want to leave. But I don't think it's the main reason. But whether they smoke there's fire, I'm sure they heard something something about it up there. I don't think it's in the top three though, I really don't. I don't think no, no, no, no, no no. I don't think it's in the top three. I give

a top five. You know. First off, it's it's it's me. He's always the number one thing. When I look at these NBA guys and guys who are moving, everything revolves around me. What's best for me? And what are we seeing for Russell Westbrook. Russell Westbrook realized, guess what, I need the ball. I like, I like James, James is my boy, But I need the ball. He has the ball. I want to be gone, you know, Kyrie Irving, you played with Lebron James. Lebron James, you play with Lebron,

you just walk into the finals. Lebron now here getting bums rings, and Kyrie like, nah, I need to be the man. I need my franchise. I don't care about him. I mean, these guys are built different. I mean they think that's amazing. The fun thing about covering these the two sports for me is NBA guys are just different dudes. Man, I do want to hear nothing about Kyrie. Kyrie and

his decision making. He was running around head telling people that the Earth was flat a few months ago, so I don't I don't want to hear nothing about Kyrie talking nothing about those decisions or none of that. Kyrie, right, weird guy, the earth is flat. I used to tell my boys in Boston because I used to do NBC Sports Radio, I bring the guys on from Boston and I would always I mean, they was like, man, why do you hate Kyrie? Man? What did he do to you?

That I used to tell? Was like, you don't want this dude. This dude is different. It's something. And then sure enough, man, Kyrie up to got out of Boston. And they were like, you were right. That's like I told you, I was right. You thought I was just taking down because he was part of that was because he was a dukie. But this, this dude ain't right. When you decide that you don't want to play Lebron and you running down Lebron James, there's something wrong with you. Man,

It's just something wrong with you. He's just a different dude. He gonna come out to Steve Nash is a coach, and he like, well, we're all kind of the coach, Like, no, you ain't all. Stevens is the coach. Then he gonna sit up. K Katie's the first guy ever played with who I know can make that shot. You know, I never played with a guy who could be that guy to make a shot. He didn't play Lebron. James won a championship. Like this dude is different. You should run

from Kyrie. So if I'm the NETS, I make the James Harten deal and I tell him take Kyrie, Please take Kyrie. Blow up the franchise. Man, Yo, listens getting long, man, your listens getting long? Kyrie? It's what Leon Sanders, No, no, no, Columbo. Colombo's on there. Colombo's I don't I like Prime. Prime don't like me. That's what toy on that Prime promise. Not like me, but Colombo. I think what Colombo was

Colombo tried to keep other guys from talking. Okay, So if I go in the locker room, all right, I want to talk to to Tyrn Smith or Andre Gerard and if no, we can't talk, well I can't talk. Talk Colombo don't want to talk. I'm like, man, why whore Colombo? You go sit around here to tell people they can and can't tell me? Who are you? You You ain't nobody's daddy, he said, were telling people what they can't talk. I mean, dude, I get it. Does stop

the same thing man, and y'all see what happens. You should really be questioning to dude, who told you they can't talk? They can't they can't talk because Colombo said so you should be questioning in those guys. Those are the ones who need to be questioned that. That is another conversation. The old line, I guess has some kind

of fine system or something. But anyway, they were trying to do what the Broncos did back in the nineties, where their guys didn't talk, but yeah, no, when Colombo was out there trying to do that kind of thing. And then then as soon as my last thing on Colombo. So it was during the lockout and guys who are working over at Dragon Stadium, South La and Colombo was there. So the media shows up to talk to guys and Colombo goes over there telling the telling the media we're

not talking. And it's at this point time everybody knows this dude is getting cut. But why are you talking? Nobody's here to see you, nobody here to talk to you, and you ain't gonna be here. Why are you telling somebody to say no? It was just and then so nobody talked, and I'm like, you know, wit didn't want to Nobody wanted to talk because they would have scared him with Mark Colombo's gonna say like who made he representative? So and then that they need in the locker room

right now. They need a Colombo now right now? What Okay, I'd seen No, I didn't see no championships being one when Mark Colombo was here, Anonymous, you ain't seen no championship being one and twenty? What are you talking about? So? I and this is this is how Jerry, and this is how Jerry plays us in the media. So we show up for the press commence, the Daily Pressor, and Jerry has it. Jerry's gonna talk like, okay, well we

need to show u because Jerry's gonna be here. So before the presser starts with the coach, Jerry has a retirement thing for Colombo right there. So Jerry and ied Columbo tries a cowboy and it was one of those things where had we known in the media that he was gonna do that, we wouldn't have showed up. We would not have shown It's like, oh, you didn't want to We wasn't gonna show up because they've done that before, all right, So they did that one time. The Texas

Rangers have retired. They had a y'all, they had a Hall of Fame presser for John Wetland. So he was going to Texas Rangers Hall of Fame that John Wetland was notorious for. He hated the media, he didn't like us, so his pressure was at one o'clock, nobody showed. It's like, now we ain't going you don't want to talk to nobody. Anybody gonna talk to you now, So it's like nah, nah, nope, nope, nope, nope. But he did that, so Colombo was there. You know what,

I'd have used any of it that night. It's like, I ain't putting none of this on. I ain't putting that, putting nothing come up over and tiring on, like I ain't using the cinder. But this guy didn't want to talk to us. He didn't want he didn't want to take care of the media. We ain't take care of you. So it was just like he just vanished in the night. I ain't mentioned it. We just went on the Cowboy

business Man. And that's how that's that was how Jerry got a story because he knows well you were in the show. He had Rich dal Rupper knows we would not have shown up had they told us it was gonna be about him. So it happened. They go through the whole thing, and then we got on with the coaches press conference. So so there you go. There you go, Hey, Danny, I appreciate you sharing to day. Man. That was good stuff. Man, that was good stuff. Oh yeah, I got you, bro,

I got you. That was good stuff. I'm getting him. Get away, all right, we'll be back tomorrow. I want to share some of the mother stories too. No no, no, no no. It's a process. Shows over shows over this process man show over time over time to get all the stories. Two thirty right here, Chris Bean. We appreciate you. We'll talk to you tomorrow, everybody. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.