The Landry Hat
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Dallas Cowboys: Walking the Modest Path to Success?

By Barbara K Morgan

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Like most others in Cowboys Nation, I have spent the past week feeling simultaneously nauseated, incredulous, dizzy and perplexed. And even though the whirling dervish nature of this week could only be expected given how many free agents the Dallas Cowboys had this year, the feeling of being whipped this way and that as players have signed their John Hancocks to contracts with teams that are not the Cowboys has been slightly disconcerting.

So now that the dust has settled with twitter feeds and push notifications about player moves no longer in overdrive, it’s a moment to recognize that it shouldn’t really be that surprising at all. In short, the Cowboys brass did exactly what it said it was going to: look for the right kind of guys at the right kind of price that fit in the system in the right kind of way.

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Prudent. Judicious. Reserved.

Now, certainly, it’s still Dallas and everything is bigger and better, including Jerry Jones and his hyperbolic nature, but there has been a shift in tenor over the past several years. Those words could certainly be applied to how the organization functions – seemingly on every level.

From not freaking out last year when middle linebacker Sean Lee suffered a season ending injury during the first day of OTAs to tweaking quarterback Tony Romo’s weekly routine to not over paying over great guys/good players DeMarco Murray, Dwayne Harris, Jeremy Parnell, Justin Durant and Bruce Carter. It’s part and parcel of the same mindset.

As my colleague here at the Landry Hat, John Bankston also laid out yesterday, this is the way this club operates now. They take guys and mold them into better versions of themselves. They coach. They advise. They insist upon trying harder day in and day out. Just like the simplicity of their 2014 motivational campaign ‘FIGHT,’ this is the current nature of Valley Ranch.

Methodical. Disciplined. Deliberate.

So when writers suggest that the signing of running back Darren McFadden is a ‘puzzling’ move, it’s more striking that people would not have seen this as exactly the direction they team would be heading in. Darren McFadden fits right into the mold of players that this coaching staff believes it can produce a winning season with. A profile just prior to his rookie season in 2008 noted this (emphasis mine):

"“On the coach’s signal, the blitz comes. Darren McFadden, 21, lunges toward the defender but then loses contact with him, which means the imaginary quarterback is either running for his life or buried in the Napa Valley turf. Tom Rathman, the all-sweating, all-screaming running backs coach for the Oakland Raiders, strides purposefully toward McFadden and gets in his face. “You had the angle, but you have to keep your hands on him,” he screams. “I’m gonna have a violent collision! That’s gotta be your attitude! I’m gonna smack his ass! McFadden takes his helmet off and listens intently, his eyes fixed on Rathman. He seems genuinely…interested. Like he’s just another no-name rookie trying to make a football team.”"

And despite much outcry that he has not lived up to expectations, you STILL see the same type of interest, dedication and commitment to team today:

Modest. Unassuming. Humble.

It’s a Right Kind of Guy attitude. And while it’s lack of splash might not ‘win free agency‘, I think most Cowboys fans care more about the team’s record heading into December than whether all of the analysts and pontificators would give them the highest grade for what amounts to quiz in the meddle of the semester. I know I do. And if the path is the one this organization is headed down, then I can get on board.

Next: Dallas Cowboys: Five Free Agent Bargains

 

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