Suggestion that Jason Garrett is 'Begging' To Stay With Cowboys Is a 'Cheap Shot'

FRISCO - We have written in this space that the person who should end the silly sentiment and tell Jerry Jones to hurry up and say farewell to Jason Garrett should be ... Jason Garrett. So why hasn't the outgoing coach of the Dallas Cowboys simply done so, even as candidates to replace him are literally taking tours of his soon-to-be-vacant office?

Because, as Garrett himself told us when we asked him a week ago about his wishes, he "absolutely'' wants to keep his job as the Cowboys head coach.

But that desire is now being characterized as Garrett "begging'' to stay. And while the person who reported that, FOX Sports' Jay Glazer, is well-connected in the NFL, listeners are turning it into an unfair portrayal of what Garrett wants.

in fairness to Glazer, the word he used is “petitioning.” But the FOX panelists’ post-report chuckles create the “begging” appearance.

It's dysfunctional to have Mike McCarthy (who remained in Dallas overnight) and Marvin Lewis interviewing for Garrett's job before he's officially given up the job. But it was dysfunctional for the Cowboys to have played footsie with Sean Payton last offseason and with Urban Meyer earlier this season. And it'll be dysfunctional when the next "official'' interviews occur with Lincoln Riley or whomever.

.@dallascowboys Coaching Carousel: Does The Silence On OU's Lincoln Riley Speak Loudly? https://t.co/emALfOOr61 pic.twitter.com/2CpyfJVwc7
— fishsports ✭ (@fishsports) January 3, 2020

Maybe that's just the Dallas Cowboys, the dismissal being delayed because Jerry Jones functions as this organization's pater familias. .. and the granddad is struggling to spit out the cold word "goodbye'' even as he greets Garrett successor candidates with a series of warm "howdy's.''

Why is Garrett still here? One reason, as my 105.3 The Fan colleague Bryan Broaddus put it so succinctly, is because "They’re letting him finish his Coaching Duties.''

But the other reason for "The Long Goodbye''? Garrett is petitioning to keep his job. "Petitioning” is the right word. It’s a word we’ve used here. But painting it as more than that makes Garrett sound wimpy and unmanly and that's too bad. "Petitioning'' is a fair characterization. ... and elevating his emotional desires beyond that represent a cheap shot that Garrett - despite faults that are ending his career in Dallas - doesn't deserve.