1st & 10: Jerry Jones Will Fall On Right Side Of History; Cowboys Notebook
FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys 1st & 10: On the virtual team meeting on social injustice, where ‘Legacies Can Be Defined’ - plus our Top 10 Cowboys Stories of The Week ...
1) 'LEGACIES DEFINED' - A Dallas Cowboys recent virtual team meeting extended beyond football and featured powerful testimonials and conversation on the subject of social injustice in America.
It was "raw and real,'' as our friend Laura Okmin of FOX Sports notes.
"It was,'' one player tells me, "all about how we all have families, and how we are our own family, and how together we want to leave a legacy. Standing together, for what's right, is what we want to be remembered for.''
On Friday morning, CowboysSI.com broke the news that a Cowboys announcement/statement regarding George Floyd and social injustice was forthcoming. (The video above is that statement, which comes on the heels of team leader Dak Prescott's eloquently powerful $1 million commitment.) At about this same time, the Cowboys were conducting their team-wide virtual meeting.
And, at the same time as all of this was unfolding, we asked about owner Jerry Jones' involvement.
And we're still asking.
I've known Jerry Jones for 30 years. It's wrong to paint him as unsympathetic here. It's right to assume that - despite the political and financial and even "patriotic'' forces involved - Jones will eventually speak publicly.
And it's with hope that I say what Jerry Jones eventually says and does will land him on the correct side of history.
2) BACK AT THE STAR - McCarthy, by the way, led the coaching staff back inside The Star this weekend as allowed by NFL rule - and by Texas state guidelines. It's McCarthy's belief that his young "veteran'' team is well-equipped to deal with the unusual circumstances caused by COVID-19 - virtual meetings now and no training camp in Oxnard later.
It's my belief that The Star in Frisco is uniquely able to house a training camp ... and that doing so in late July and August can provide Dallas with an advantage it should not waste.
3) FREDERICK AND THE CAP - Contrary to much speculation, the official paperwork on Travis Frederick's post-June 1 retirement - and the fact that it took until June 4 to finalize it all - has nothing to do with Dak's contract negotiations, nothing to do with the rookie pool and nothing to do with some impending signing.
It does provide the Cowboys with $7 million of room this year. Could that be used as a "cushion'' to pay for later needs? Absolutely. If some free agent is still sitting on the shelf down the line and is willing to work on the cheap, is that in play? (Sure; is Jadeveon Clowney willing to work for one-third of his asking price? Is it possible that, given the predicted cap crunch of 2021 (due to NFL revenues shrinking), Dallas keeps that room and allows it to carry over into '21? Yes. Also in play.
But again: There is no direct correlation between the Frederick transaction and some other front-burner deal. What there is for sure: Travis moving on to a post-football life, likely back home in Wisconsin, but still maintaining DFW ties - and charity commitments, as our Bri Amaranthus writes here.
4) STILL THE BEST O-LINE? - Even with Frederick gone, our SI survey of NFL scouting types demonstrates that Dallas retains the honor of having the best O-line in the NFC East. That story is here.
Oh, and how do the scouts rank the QBs in the East, mostly Prescott vs. Carson Wentz? That one is here.
5) QUOTABLE - "Sports and the locker room has always broken the race barrier. Everyone is different, from different places. We look different but we're all brothers. If we can do that in the locker room, we can do it outside the locker room, too.'' - One team leader on the private conference call.
6) D OVER CEEDEE? BUT WHY? - NFL writer Peter King has positive things to say this week about the Dallas Cowboys (ranking them ninth in his Power Poll), about coach Mike McCarthy (having spent all that time with him in the barn) and about Dak Prescott's weaponry (good enough that King favors Dallas in the NFC East).
But my guy Peter confounds me when, tucked into his optimistic notes, he adds that Dak will "have much better weapons to use with the Cowboys, led by CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper and Michael Gallup at receiver and Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield. ... I still feel like the Cowboys would have been wiser to go defense with the pick that nabbed Lamb ...''
But ... why? I try to figure out Peter's logic, here.
7) AIKMAN (AND SEAN LEE) ON DAK - My conversation with Troy Aikman touched on so many subjects ... but here's one that slipped through the cracks in terms of the attention I think it deserves: What is Sean Lee telling Aikman about what the locker room thinks of Prescott? It's important. And you can only get it here at CowboysSI.com.
8) IS IT NEWS? - Am I a particular fan of Deion Sanders? It's ... complicated, but I have over the quarter-of-a-century of covering him had frankly harsh things to say about him.
Am I a particular fan of Antonio Brown? I don't know him, except from a distance, and no - he's exhibited criminal behavior rooted in mental instability, and he needs the sort of help "just playing football'' cannot offer.
But when a story comes along that causes us to write, "Deion Campaigns For Antonio Brown NFL Return'' ... we are obliged to write it. In DFW, Sanders is news. We've joked for 30 years of covering the Cowboys that "if a blade of grass moves, we're writing about it. If a player has a hangnail, we're asking him about it.'' That's the way our coverage of the Cowboys is accomplished. Period.
Whether I'm friendly or unfriendly with Deion is immaterial. Whether I view Brown as someone who belongs in prison or in a locker room is immaterial, too, as far as a news story is concerned - and a Hall-of-Famer mentoring an All-Pro receiver in an effort to revitalize his career is news.
I've covered countless Cowboys players who have problems. Emotional disorders, substance-abuse problems, issues with violence, you name it. I've been in conflict with some of them and been friendly with others.
But in a news story, what I have not been is in judgment of them.
My working relationship with Charles Haley is a long (1988 to now) and unfortunate one. But I'm still obliged to cover him fairly. My working relationship with Greg Hardy was a solid one. (I was so fair to Hardy that USA TODAY scolded me in print for refusing to label him a "monster,'' as the national publication wished me to do.) But I was still obliged to point out the reasons he eroded away his career. My working relationship with David Irving? Excellent. My working relationship with Randy Gregory? Excellent.
My working relationship with Aldon Smith - who has a track record that has him accused of many of the sad and scary issues attached to the aforementioned names? We don't know yet.
But while I might write an opinion piece, a column, about Aldon Smith, my news stories about Aldon Smith (like this latest one) will be factual and fair. Just as with Sanders and Brown.
"Facts first. Opinions later, if ever at all.'' That's how I work.
Tempting as it is, there is very little room for a writer's fondness for a player getting in the way of writing harsh facts. There is also no room for a writer's distaste for a player getting in the way of writing the news.
9) LVE'S LEAP - OK, it's not exactly a "vertical leap.'' But it's still off one leg. It's still 41 inches. It's still a 6-4, 256-pound man coming off neck surgery doing something in the gym. So Leighton Vander Esch's video is worth a Cowboys Nation click, I promise you.
10) THE FINAL WORD - "I stand to see our country whole! I stand to make our country equal! I stand for black lives. I stand for love. I pledge $1 million to improve police training and address systemic racism.'' - Dak Prescott.
