'#53BRANDS': Cowboys 'Culture Problem'? 'Jerry Jones is the Coach!' Claims Shannon Sharpe
FRISCO - I'm the originator of the concept of "#53Brands,'' my thesis that the Dallas Cowboys' core problem is that because the organization is so focused on marketing itself, individual players naturally do the same for themselves. ... thus creating an environment that, as I half-joke, "sometimes seems like this is a marketing company that plays football on the side.''
So when similar criticisms come Dallas' way, I feel qualified to put those criticisms through that #53Brands filter.
And now along comes ESPN's Shannon Sharpe with a Jerry Jones-centric take that misses the mark in key ways.
“This is what you get right now, you get guys making excuses,” Sharpe said. “The coaches can't coach, because Jerry is the coach.”
Cowboys players "making excuses''? Sharpe's criticizing of the Cowboys gets that part right; with the low point being DeMarcus Lawrence's regrettable "burnt-out'' explanation for the embarrassing playoff loss to Green Bay.
But it's a reach to tie "making excuses'' to Jones.
Also a reach: This tired "Coach Jones'' meme. There is nobody here inside The Star who sees the owner in that way. Jerry simply does not flex that particular muscle. In fact, coach Mike McCarthy will tell you he has more power in the area of personnel than he ever had when he was in Green Bay. And those who truly follow the Cowboys know that COO Stephen Jones and personnel boss Will McClay hold enormous authority here as well.
So what part of Sharpe's diatribe gets it right?
“Jerry Jones created the culture, he created it,'' Sharpe said.
Bingo. That is undeniable. ... as is the fact that during the Cowboys' 29-year Super Bowl drought, the one constant has been the stewardship of Jones. (It's worth noting that the three Super Bowls in four years just before the 29-year drought also came under his watch.)
Does that mean Dallas falls short "because of the presence of Jones''? There is no way to prove that.
Does it mean Cowboys Nation has a reason to wish Jones would try something different? Yes, and I've suggested, pipe-dream though it may be, how fascinating it would be to watch a season-long experiment in which Jerry pulled himself completely out of all the non-GM extracurriculars - no radio and TV appearances, no promoting boxing or soccer or tractor pulls, no hobnobbing with Dolly Parton or LeBron James - and just did football.
Is that realistic? I say it's more realistic than trying to fix a problem that's been misidentified, which Sharpe does here.
“Jerry is the coach. He's the offensive coordinator, he's the defensive coordinator, he's the position coach,'' Sharpe asserted. This is what he has allowed to happen.”
None of those things are true. Sharpe's work here is like that of a bad doctor, poking and prodding to find that something's wrong but then misdiagnosing the illness.
The Cowboys' problem, in how it trickles down to Jerry's players, is not that Jones “is the coach, the offensive coordinator, the defensive coordinator, the position coach.'' It's not about the football responsibilities that he prioritizes.
It's about the NON-football responsibilities that he prioritizes ... and how his #53Brand players, through osmosis, follow his lead.
THAT, goes my thesis, is the Cowboys "Culture Problem.''
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