Lone Star Struck

Terrell Owens is now a UFA which means unrestricted free agent. Anyone can pick him up for however much money he and his agent agree to.

He is an example of the joys of free agency which give hope to struggling teams looking to improve their team by going after experienced players for lucrative contracts.

According to Sports Illustrated, Cowboys wide receiver, Patrick Crayton, has stated that he would welcome the return of Terrell Owens should he come back to the Dallas Cowboys.

However, I don’t think the Cowboys will go after Terrell due to a few reasons.

A: He’s a year older and we don’t know if he’ll keep up his previous production of the past.

B: Terrell has publicly stated many unflattering comments about former teammates like how if he had had quarterbacks like Joe Montana and Steve Young throwing to him for his career, he would have numbers like Jerry Rice.

That is a subtle way of saying, ‘My QBs are not good enough to realize how open I am at all times.’

He even posted things on his twitter page, which I thought was fake at the time, but sadly, it was confirmed to be true.

His exact words when responding to a fan that had stated he was unhappy that T.O. was no longer in Dallas were: “Neither ws i, blame the OC & romo!! but i’m happy 2 b where i am but i miss the other guys tht were & r true teammates!!”

The “OC” is offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who calls all the plays for the Cowboys. We all know who Romo is.

So, how can Dallas just welcome back a guy who has insulted the two guys that are responsible for Owens getting the ball at all?

C: We already have an accomplished receiving corp. Roy Williams is going to start next year as said by Jerry Jones, the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, and the Cowboys are paying him starting money already with a six-year contract of $54 million and along with $26 million of that guaranteed.

Throw in the fact that Miles Austin will get a new contract soon, and he is the number one guy who will get a lot of money. Throw in the fact that the Cowboys love to run the ball just as much as they do pass it, so we can’t expect this team to be Air Coryell and play with three wide receivers every down.

Despite Roy Williams’ disappointments this year, I believe that he can improve and become that big-play wide receiver we need alongside Miles Austin.

The two guys we have now are much younger, much quieter, are more of team players, and will not have reality shows in the offseason.

I love T.O. But, we can’t have him now. We’d be wasting money on an unhappy player. Dallas is a family now. Keith Brooking is the daddy on defense and Tony is taking charge on offense, and Tony doesn’t need Terrell demanding the ball every other down.

What else is there?

Terrell Owens is not coming to Dallas. The Cowboys are going to use the receivers they have now and look to a Super Bowl win next year.

Original article posted here James Williamson is an accomplished writer for NFLTouchdown and Bleacher Report as well as a view Dallas Cowboy sites

The Dallas Cowboys have been the center of criticism and unwarranted jabs for a long time.

That said, I can honestly state that this team is one of the best in the league, especially since it won its first playoff game in over a decade. It was a long time coming for us Dallas fans, and I treasure that moment up with the ones you would have on today’s holiday of Valentines Day.

However, I was sitting with my close friend and the conversation included college majors, the artwork in our homes, old memories, and finally it drifted to sports.

And I heard something from her I couldn’t believe. She actually wished that Tony Romo was off the Cowboys.

Immediately I was stunned because Tony’s coming off his best season ever.  347/550 pass completions to attempts with a 63.1 completion percentage, 4,483 yards passing, 26 passing touchdowns to only NINE interceptions, and a 97.6 quarterback rating.

Plus, we won a playoff game!!!

What else do you want? Yeah, I know. You want to win the Super Bowl; who doesn’t?

It just ruffles my feathers when I hear the fans I represent take advantage of what Dallas has in its possession. We have a top ten quarterback and they want to catapult him out of Dallas?

I think of the days when we had Quincy Carter or Drew Bledsoe starting for us. Or how about that three game stretch in 2008 with Brad Johnson as a starter?

Those were some dark times. With Tony Romo however, we are never counted as an automatic loss ever. No team suits up against us thinking they can just check this one off the to-do list.

It’s offensive and somewhat asinine to be against Tony Romo after what he has done for us. We finally have a shot at the whole thing; Lombardi Trophy, parade, and all with Romo.

That’s something we never had with Drew Bledsoe, who looked more like a worn-out punching bag at times.

That first year in 2007 when Tony Romo took over as the starter, you knew that Dallas actually had a shot. That we weren’t battling for a lower draft spot or a season about .500, we actually had a shot.

What does Tony do? He throws 36 touchdowns and we win 13 games. Get first round bye, but are knocked out by the eventual champions, the New York Giants.

Yeah, we didn’t win it all, but we made progress! Rome wasn’t built in a day.

I think the fans or viewers that harshly critique the Cowboys as losers, and Tony Romo as a incompetent player, should either jump in a lake or read Football For Dummies.

Is their any legitimate argument that Tony Romo needs to be replaced other than the fact that he doesn’t have a Super Bowl ring yet?

Is that all that the negative people have?

Ok, lets see, just a few weeks ago, Drew Brees didn’t have a title. Should the Saints have looked for someone else instead?

Peyton Manning was in his ninth season before he won the Super Bowl. Should the Colts have scrapped him back in 04?

I think it is pure impatience by fans who want to win the Super Bowl, and since Dallas has this great history of winning the Super Bowl, they believe that the team should win it right now.

Football is not royalty, there is no entitlement to the fans for anything. All we can do is hope and pray for our players. They are trying very hard to win the Super Bowl, but we need to be patient because this isn’t Troy Aikman, who actually took five years to win the Super Bowl, and the 90s Cowboys. These are the 2010 Cowboys fresh off a playoff win and ready to kick some butt.

There are all these fans that think the solution is to change quarterbacks and every time I hear that, I just scoff and roll my eyes.

Who can we get that’s better than Romo? Better yet, who is better than Romo?

Ok, lets say: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, and Kurt Warner are better.

If anybody says Eli Manning or Ben Roethlisberger are better because they have rings do not have any idea of how average-good passers they are while Tony Romo routinely throws for 300 yards.

Kurt Warner is retired. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees are staying where they are without question for now.

Philip Rivers and Aaron Rodgers are unlikely going anywhere barring some scandal or them demanding a trade.

Face it people. Tony’s the best we got. He may not have a ring, but we as fans need to give him time.

This team was sorting out its kinks when he started here, and now the first year where we actually look like a Cowboys team of the past, we win a playoff game.

You got to win a playoff game before you win the Super Bowl.

Yeah, we did lose to the Vikings the next week, but I don’t think the 85 Bears could’ve knocked Favre off his rhythm that day. They just had our number and it happens.

‘Next time, we’ll have their number’ is the kind of attitude I need to see more of. How can anyone say that Tony Romo is a bad quarterback when he threw for nearly three times as many touchdowns as he did interceptions?

Please view the rest here: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/dear-fellow-dallas-fans-why-do-you-want-romo-gone/

James Williamson is also an accomplished writer for SB Nation, NFLtouchdown, and Bleacher Report.

Hall of Fame wide receiver, Michael Irvin, has been accused of forcible rape by a young woman at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in 2007, a month after he gave a moving speech at the Hall of Fame.

There are no criminal charges yet, but the woman is filing against him in civil court with a lawsuit. She will be known as the woman because her name has been kept confidential. Even the lawsuit states her as Jane Doe.

Irvin’s lawyer, Larry Friedman scoffed at the charge calling it, “totally untrue.”

In fact, he is stating that no kind of contact of any physical nature, consensual or forced, happened between the plantiff and Irvin.

I’m sorry, but I refuse to graphically state the alleged crime because I’m not sure how young my readers are.

But, to put it in plainly, she states that Irvin got her drunk, tricked/escorted her to his room where he and another man had some fun with her, and then Irvin committed the alleged felony. After he was done, the other man had the woman ‘Lewinsky’ him.

Irvin’s brother, Derrick, was accused of helping Michael silence his crime after the deed was done by taking the woman to another room and “assisted in covering the sexual assault and rape up.”

Friedman, Irvin’s attorney, is basically calling the woman a blackmailer/extortionist.

The woman apparently spoke up after Irvin appeared on a few episodes of the television show Dancing With the Stars.

She wanted to settle for a million dollars, then went down to $800,000.

Each time, Friedman said no.

“This complaint is tantamount to criminal extortion,” Friedman said. “There is no merit to the complaint.”

Plaintiff’s lawyer stated that his client has passed a polygraph test (which, by the way, are not used in criminal courts of law because they can be fooled).

No criminal charges have been filed, but the district attorney’s office will ponder their options for a little while until a decision is made.

Charles Haley. Man, what can I say about this guy.

When you think of success, in terms of football, one of the first images that should pop into anyone’s mind is Charles Haley. No player had more success than he did.

To be on five Super Bowl teams and have five Super Bowl rings is an accomplishment that no one has been able to match, and I doubt if anyone else ever will.

The addition of free agency and salary caps have prevented dynasties from surviving in the NFL. “The teams that do stay intact, like the Patriots, are unusual,” to paraphrase my idol, Paul Zimmerman.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for a man to be on five different teams and win the Super Bowl. He’d have to be a mid-level player for one, because teams try to lock up their stars for several years.

He’d also have to be extremely lucky as well.

But, Charles Haley was more than that. Charles Haley was a difference maker. Charles Haley was a man that scared opponents. He made every defensive line he played on a better line. He made every linebacking corp he played with a better crew, and he was probably the most angry and violent man to ever play professional football.

This defensive end/outside linebacker belongs in the Hall of Fame.

To truly understand why this man is a must for a Hall of Fame, you have to look at the player. You can’t just look at numbers. You have to get inside Charles Haley’s head and understand what kind of player was he.

Was he driven? Was he a leader? Was he a locker-room cancer? Was he someone who made clutch plays? Was he a constant threat to other teams? Did his teammates respect him?

All of those things come into perspective now. We are talking about the Hall of Fame here. Charles Haley is on a list with 14 guys, and only a maximum of five of those men are going into Canton this year, and with two slots being locks for Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice, that means Charles Haley will have to beat out a minimum of ten players for a bust in Canton.

For voters to choose Charles Haley, they will need to judge every aspect of Charles Haley besides the statistics he has on football websites.

Charles Haley was born in Gladys, Virginia on January 6, 1964. He went to James Madison University and is the best player to ever come from there.

Since James Madison is not relatively known for its NFL talent or has what one would call a high competition level, Haley’s success there was overlooked.

However, arguably the greatest talent judge of all time, Bill Walsh, saw something in Charles Haley.

In 1986,  Bill Walsh realized that the 1986 draft really was weak in terms of talent. “One of our chief scouts after the draft said to other people, “That’s the worst draft I’ve ever seen.””

Walsh realized that he could make trades and accumulate multiple draft picks in order to really build depth to the 49ers. He turned eight draft picks into 14 through a variety of trades.

Out of those 14 picks, he drafted eight starters for at least one Super Bowl, most started two, in the 88-89 Super Bowls.

Walsh and his assistants saw Charles Haley in the fourth round, and Walsh knew that Haley was something to get.

Haley had very long arms that could extend and get to the passer. He was 6-5, around 250 lbs and very fast. An ideal defensive end.

Combine physical talent with Haley’s almost Viking-like warrior persona and an intense dedication that was rivaled by few, and you get a great football player.

Haley was frequently used as a pass-rusher his rookie year, and he compiled 12 sacks, despite the fact that he was playing linebacker instead of his college position of defensive end.

His second year, he only played in 12 games, and the Niners were upset by the Vikings in the playoffs.

However, in Haley’s first year as a starter at left outside linebacker, he was elected to the Pro Bowl with11.5 sacks, and the Niners won their third Super Bowl title.

Remember that the left outside linebacker is really, to the quarterbacks point of view, on the right. So, Haley managed to record 11.5 sacks with the quarterback able to see him coming most of the time since most quarterbacks are right-handed.

I’d like to know how many sacks he would have gotten if he had rushed on the quarterback’s blind side.

Not only was Haley crowned a champion, he also was recognized as a great player by one of the game

“Charles is one of the greatest players of our era,” said 49ers Vice President/General manager/Head Coach Bill Walsh. “At one point he was considered the best pass rusher in all of football. He’s been a credit to the game and very well could be a Hall of Fame candidate.”

Bill Walsh understood Charles Haley and how to deal with a man like Haley. Haley was… I can’t spin it or try to fudge the facts, he was crazy. The guy was nuttier than a cuckoo clock.

He was a manic-depressive. He could be happy and sweet as well as helpful with other players, and down and mean as a mother-in-law the next.

One of the most common similes used today to describe someone when they’re mad is to compare them to a volcano. I think that simile is used as a hyperbole too often.

Yet, that simile is what one can use to perfectly describe Charles Haley. He had so much anger in him that it did come out like ash and lava out of a volcano when he lost his temper.

He even wrote an autobiography entitled, All The Rage, which was a first person perspective of the thoughts and words of Charles Haley himself.

It really is a book that I would recommend because it can help one understand how an NFL player would think, and how to handle people with severe psychological problems.

He also was a guy who would ride you. You could not have thin skin or sensitive feelings around Haley. He was always testing you. He made fun of Joe Montana’s nose, he went after Troy Aikman’s crooked smile, he messed with Deion Sanders’ uniforms, and he even went after Jimmy Johnson’s hair.

Haley accepted teasing as well. People would talk about his head, how it was pointy and shaped like a bullet.

Some could take it, some couldn’t. Matt Millen, a highly talented linebacker for the Raiders joined the 49ers in 1989, and he said, “Now, I get to the 49ers.Within a week, I want to kill him.”

No one was safe from Charles Haley. The players needed to have thick skin or he’d eat them alive.

One of Haley’s closest friends and largest supporters is Hall of Fame cornerback/safety Ronnie Lott. Ronnie Lott was the guy that could keep Haley from going over the edge whenever Haley started pushing it too far and becoming a locker room chaos.

After the 1988 season, Bill Walsh retired from the 49ers. Defensive coordinator George Seifert was chosen to replace Walsh, and Haley was not happy with the transition.

Seifert did not know how to talk to Charles Haley. Seifert was not a good choice for a mediator, and as a coach, you have to be able to talk to your players, especially with guys like Charles Haley.

An excerpt of Haley’s book tells of what George Seifert was like as a communicator.

“When I was in San Francisco, Seifert’s way of dealing with black players was to bring in Harry Edwards. Dr. Edwards is a professor of sociology at Cal-Berkeley. He used to be a radical, but now I think he’s all about the money. Give him a check and he’ll help your team solve its racial problems. It was kind of pathetic, really. He’d come around, acting like he belonged, telling stories about how he used to be with the Black Panthers and shit. Most guys would just try to ignore him. We all knew why he was there: to be the mediator between the coaching staff and the black players. It was like Seifert said, “I’ll handle the white guys, you talk to the black guys.” What kind of bull**** is that?”

Bill Walsh was not that kind of coach. He talked to all of his players, and Haley respected him for it, but Seifert did not make that effort.

Since the 49ers were such a dominant team to begin with, the 89 season was really a breeze for them to repeat. They were 14-2 and blew out the Broncos in  Super Bowl XXIV 55-10.

One signature play in that game was when John Elway throws an interception to Michael Walter, and that would not have happened had Charles Haley not been in his eyesight. Elway could not see Walter because Haley’s pass rush prevented him from seeing that Walter was in a position to intercept the ball.

Charles Haley was the owner of two Super Bowl rings with that victory. Things did not go well after that though.

After losing the 1990 NFC Championship game to the New York Giants, the 49ers did not resign Ronnie Lott, and Lott went to the Los Angeles Raiders instead.

Matt Millen said, “It was like the ship was rudderless, and that drove Charles crazy. And so, when Ronnie left, they lost Charles Haley at the same time.”

Charles Haley said in an NFL Films interview, “Just seeing the anger and hurt in his (Ronnie Lott’s) eyes man, and that hurt went over into me and uh, because I’m a loyal friend, I could not deal with it, I could not deal with it. It just festered into everything. I just started hating being here, hated wearing the uniform.”

Forget money, strength, physical attractiveness,  and all that other stuff; my main criteria for the Pro Football Hall of Fame along with great play is great character and there is no greater measure of character than loyalty to one’s friends.

The bond that Haley shared with Lott is one that I can describe best by another use of Haley’s book.

It was 1991. The Raiders had Ronnie Lott on their team. The 49ers were in Los Angeles, and the Raiders are a decent team that finished 9-7, but the Niners should have beaten them.

The Niners didn’t even score a touchdown. They lost 12-6 in what I would definitely call an embarrassing fashion with Steve Young throwing two interceptions.

Losses like this happen though, right? This was more than just a “loss,” this was the final blow to the already unstable and frustrated Charles Haley.

“My frustration reached a peak in the fifth week of the ‘91 season, when we lost to the Los Angeles Raiders, Ronnie Lott’’s new team. After the game I had a slight nervous breakdown–or whatever you want to call it. Basically I lost control and gave the 49ers reason to believe that I really was crazy. It just seemed like I was the only guy out there playing hard, and I went up to George and told him, “You know, you’ve got to start coming down on these guys.” Everybody had big contracts, everybody was fat, with full pockets. They weren’t playing hard anymore. They weren’t hungry. But when you try to point out something like that, when you try to express your opinion, coaches always think, You’re a dumb-*** football player and you can’t tell me anything.

I tried, though. Man, did I try. When the game ended those motherf****** came in, and I really gave it to them. I started cussing out the whole team. George got sick of listening to me, I guess, so he grabbed my arm, and when he did that I just lost it. I took a swing right at his smug little head. Fortunately, I missed. But I did hit the wall, and it hurt so much–left a big knuckle print–that I got even more pissed off. I started bouncing around, cursing, yelling, throwing s***. Then I put my hand through a window and cut it to pieces. They had to stitch me up in the locker room.

I don’t know what I was thinking. My temper had gotten me in trouble before, but this was like nothing I’d ever experienced. I was in a complete f******* rage. Some of the other players tried to hold me down after a while, but I wouldn’t let them. Finally, they tracked down Ronnie in the other locker room, and he came running in. I remember he was half-naked–shorts, no shirt, no shoes. He sat down next to me, held my hand, and kept telling me everything would be all right. I just sat there shaking, crying. It was so emotional. I can’t really explain what happened, except to say that I felt like they were trying to destroy me…and they almost succeeded.”

That is as close to brotherhood as you will find. To find a man like Charles Haley, who is one of the toughest men to ever step on a football field and is willing to let another man hold his hand as he is crying is the ultimate symbol of trust.

That was the beginning of the end for Charles Haley. After the 91 season, the 49ers made a deal with the Dallas Cowboys, exchanging Charles Haley for a pair of second and third-round draft picks.

You can quote me on this. It was the trade that finished the championship roster for the Dallas Cowboys.

In 1991, the Cowboys had allowed 310 points to finish 17th in the league in defense. After Haley showed up in 1992, the Cowboys were 5th in defense and allowed only 243 points for the season.

The only change to the defensive starting roster was Charles Haley. He brought a championship attitude. A guy who had two rings in the Niners dynasty and was still as hungry as fox in a chicken house. His strength and leadership made the defense dominant enough for the Cowboys to win Super Bowl XXVII.

One play that really changed the momentum of the Cowboys in that game was when Jimmie Jones caught a fumble in mid-air on the two yard line and he dived into the endzone as fast as he could.

The only reason that play happened was because Charles Haley got his hand on Jim Kelly and forced the fumble.

Dallas got the lead with that play and never gave it back. It was one of the biggest blowouts in Super Bowl history with a score of 52-17.

A year later, they won it all again. The Cowboys beat the Bills again with a score of 30-13.

Charles Haley became one of the few players in NFL history to have four Super Bowl rings. It is hard to get one ring, but four?

Who would have thought that he’d be getting one for the thumb in two years when the Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 30-20 in Super Bowl XXX.

That would be the end of championships, but not challenges for Charles Haley. He would later face a challenge that you cannot defeat by working out or sacking the quarterback or winning a Super Bowl. He would have to face the challenge of a father.

His daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. Nothing hurts more to a man than when he sees his little girl in pain, and he cannot do anything to stop it. That and an injured back led Charles Haley to retire from football in 1996.

He was there for her and her fight to overcome it made him realize that he could come back to football. At the age of 35, he came back to football in 1999. He would rejoin his former team, the 49ers, who now had Bill Walsh back in charge as the Vice President and General Manager. Haley was welcomed with open arms.

It is strange though when you think of it. He’s got injuries, he has five Super Bowl rings, he definitely had done enough to be considered for the Hall of Fame. Why come back?

It is the same reason as a lot of people. For the love of the game, he came back and played.

Another oddity about Haley is that he doesn’t wear his rings. He said, “I believe that if I put it away, then I’d always keep driving and trying to get another one.” He doesn’t even remember where he put them. That’s the kind of man he is.

And you know what? He’s right. It is human nature for us to have goals and a lot of the times as we get closer to our goals or once we complete them, we lose our will to keep climbing the mountain. Charles Haley never would let that happen to him. That’s why he was a part of five championship teams.

He never wanted to stop winning, and he never did stop. After the 1999 season, he retired. He realized that he would probably end up in a full body cast if he kept playing.

Despite all the things that he may have done off the field (I’m not going to get into details because this is a PG-13 case at most), he’s a Hall of Famer. Even Jeff Pearlman, the author of the tell-all book “Boys Will Be Boys” that states all the activities, legal and illegal, of the 1990s Cowboys, believes the man belongs in the Hall of Fame which he stated on the Jim Rome Show.

If this guy, who knows everything good and bad, Charles Haley has done says he belongs, how can anyone argue he doesn’t belong?

Please view the rest here: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/building-a-hall-of-fame-case-for-charles-haley/

Before Jason Witten, the Dallas Cowboys had another go-to-guy at the tight end position named Jay Novacek.

He had a vital role on the Cowboys team that won three Super Bowls in four years.

However, it is with a sad heart that I have to inform Dallas fans that Jay Novacek is now a widower. His wife, LeAnne, passed away earlier today on February 1, 2010.

The 45-year-old woman was found in one of the residential bedrooms. Suicide is one of many presumed causes for her death. Jay Novacek has confirmed the passing, but is mum on whether or not it is suicide.

He and his daughter are in my prayers as they should be in yours.

Here’s to you Jay. The Big D is with you in spirit.

Well, you can’t win them all. As a person and fan, I’ve have to learn to accept that. Sometimes you don’t win the big games.

This game the Cowboys lost while it is tragic they did, you can’t win them all. There are some days where it would have been close, where Dallas would’ve won, where Minnesota would’ve won, where one is a blowout like today or a close one.

It comes down to who played the better game that day and that was Minnesota. This loss was painful, but Dallas wasn’t horrible, Minnesota was just good.

If I may, I’d like to drift off for a second. Before I realized that sportswriting was my calling, I wanted to be a lawyer like in Law & Order. Well, one of the most famous legal quotes is by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart when it came to the definition of obscenity.

“I cannot define it, but I know it when I see it.”

Well, its the same thing with Dallas. The final score of 34-3 is one that many people who didn’t watch the game would say, “Aw, they got killed! They suck! They are such pathetic chokers!”

Well, they don’t know anything. They are immature haters usually. The reality is that Dallas played a hard game, but Minnesota was just better. There wasn’t a choking moment, the Vikings just controlled the game. There was a lot of bad luck for the Cowboys.

I cannot define the difference between choking and being outplayed, but I know it when I see it, and Dallas did not choke. I can’t upload film to my computer and send ESP to you to point out where this went wrong or how this was just Minnesota playing great ball, but I can hope that you trust my instincts and believe that Dallas is still a great team.

Believe it or not, there is a lot of luck in this game, and Dallas just had some bad luck today.

What Dallas needs to do is to reevaluate themselves. Look at what needs to change on offense or on defense. They need to constantly train throughout the offseason. Preparation is half the game. Some of the best teams have had only good athletes, but they were disciplined and ready for the postseason.

Dallas was ready. I have no doubt they were ready, but they were probably inexperienced. This team now has more experience, and they will make an effort next year to go even further into playoffs. To may get that chance at a Super Bowl. To possibly get that sixth Super Bowl ring.

This was just not Dallas’ time. I truly believe that Minnesota was a team that no one could have beaten today. This team had everything going its way, and you can’t always prevent that.

Despite this loss, I am still a Cowboys fan. I love this team. I love these guys, and I’m proud of them. They seem like a team that is seriously a contender for a Super Bowl for years to come maybe.

I remember in the 1970s, one of the finest teams that was playing was the Oakland Raider coached by Hall of Fame coach and legendary announcer John Madden, was a team that was eliminated often in the postseason.

From 1969 to 1978, John Madden won 103 regular season games with the Raiders and won nine playoff games.

Before 1976 however, Madden was known as the coach who couldn’t win the big one, and his team was known as one who couldn’t finish it all in playoffs.

To paraphrase him from the 1976 America’s Game, “People say that Madden can’t win the big one. Well, before the game, tell me when there’s a little one?”

They had won big games, they had won playoff games, they hadn’t won a championship, but Madden was never discouraged because if you constantly work at it and keep trying, then you will win a Super Bowl. John Madden was very calm and very confident in his guys for the upcoming season.

He finally assembled a team that went 13-1 and won the Super Bowl 32-14. It did happen for him because he realized that sometimes great teams take a while to get it all done.

Dallas has won big games, they’ve won a playoff game, they won in December and January, so they haven’t won a Super Bowl yet, but they are on the right track for that and I believe that it will happen one day for these guys.

Even if they don’t do it next year, I’ll still be watching these guys, and I’ll still believe in them.

So, if any Cowboy reads this, know I got your back too guys.

James Williamson is also an accomplished writer for http://www.nfltouchdown.com/ and http://bleacherreport.com/

When Jerry Jones originally traded for Roy Williams, everyone I corresponded with that knew anything about the Dallas Cowboys thought that Williams was going to be opposite Terrell Owens.

When Owens was released, I was shocked because not only did we let go of a guy who is a Hall of Fame receiver, but we now had Roy Williams as our number one target.

It made me very nervous to say the least because when you look at Roy Williams in a uniform, he reminds you of Owens and Hall of Fame Cowboys receiver Michael Irvin.

Tall man at about 6′4 and 210 lbs, long arms, broad shoulders, very good speed and jump, a good sense of where the sidelines are to go along with good feet placement, and he can catch some of the weirdest passes at times.

Yet, when he finally got on the field, it was a major disappointment. He and quarterback Tony Romo didn’t always have the right timing with him, he didn’t always run the right route, and at times, he would drop major key passes, which definitely hurt his confidence.

It looked like the Cowboys were cooked for the season until Williams missed the Kansas City game and gave Miles Austin a chance to start, and it was the greatest thing Williams did all year because Austin exploded on the Chiefs, catching ten balls for 250 yards and a pair of scores.

Miles Austin is now a Pro-Bowl wide receiver while Roy Williams has had ups and downs during the season. Austin, in 12 games, caught 81 balls for 1,320 yards and 11 touchdowns while Williams has only 38 catches for 596 yards and 7 touchdowns.

It looked like Jerry’s trade for Roy Williams was a horrible idea. The Cowboys gave up a first, a third, and a sixth round draft for Roy Williams and a seventh round draft pick from the Detroit Lions.

However, I contended that Roy Williams was just in a slump and with time, it would go away.

It looks like it just might be gone now.

Jean-Jacques Taylor of the Dallas Morning News stated in a previous article that he doubted Roy Williams would be a factor in the playoff game against division rival, the Philadelphia Eagles. Well, he was wrong, I can definitely say that.

Roy Williams wasn’t hot, since he only had five catches for 59 yards, but he made a statement early by catching the first pass from Romo for 7 yards to set up a very manageable 3rd and 5. Later on in that drive, he made a 15 yard catch and run on 2nd and 11.

Despite not scoring that drive due to a few penalties and a sack on Romo that kept the Boys out of fields goal range, Roy Williams got his confidence back and made some big plays against one of the best cornerback tandems in Sheldon Brown and Asante Samuel.

Williams made two 17 yard catches on two 3rd down situations in two separate drives. Both drives led to scores by Dallas. One other time Romo threw a screen to Williams, who tripped and only got three yards, but he didn’t lose the ball, and trust me, the Eagles were trying to strip it all night.

Roy Williams is not a top five or ten wide receiver, but when he is on, he is just as dangerous as one. This game has definitely helped his confidence, and he refuses to give up on working with Tony Romo. He will now have another chance to step up since the Vikings will definitely put their best cornerback, Antoine Winfield, on Miles Austin.

Dallas will need Williams to get more plays and I believe that he has the ability to do it. He’ll have to prove it in Minnesota’s dome next week though.

James Williamson is also an accomplished writer for http://www.nfltouchdown.com and can be personally reached at http://bleacherreport.com/users/50061-james-williamson Leave me a message or an inbox.

This has been the greatest moment of the new generation Cowboy fans. After constant losing seasons, coaching changes, quarterback changes, and the ten year sentence of watching the Philadelphia Eagles go to playoffs, a place that Dallas had, historically, called its common-law housewife. The Dallas Cowboys have won a playoff game and have defeated the Eagles for a spot in the divisional round against Minnesota next week.

The Dallas Cowboys, for the first time, have defeated a division rival three times in a year. It had never happened before, but the Dallas Cowboys ignored the history and wrote their own January 9, 2010 in Cowboys Stadium.

As a Dallas fan who can’t even legally drink alcohol yet, I have to say this is the greatest moment in my life as a Cowboys fan.

The Dallas Cowboys dominated the Eagles from start to finish. Cowboys scored first with a one yard touchdown throw from Romo to rookie tight end, John Phillips, after Sheldon Brown committed a defensive pass interference of Miles Austin in the endzone.

It looked like Dallas was in trouble when Philadelphia threw a touchdown pass by subbing Donovan McNabb with Michael Vick who threw a touchdown pass to Jeremy Maclin that spanned 76 yards, but the Cowboys scored 20 unanswered points to complete the half.

The Cowboys refused to take the foot off, and Felix Jones stabbed the Eagles in the heart with a 73 yard touchdown run that was pure speed. Not even a 4 yard touchdown pass from Donovan McNabb to DeSean “The Mouth” Jackson could deter the Cowboys from what they felt was there God-given right and answered with a drive that took seven minutes off the fourth quarter clock to twist the knife in Philadelphia’s chest.

After a DeMarcus Ware came around the tackle and knocked the football out of Eagles quarterback, Donovan McNabb’s, hand; the Eagle died from blood loss.

The Cowboys have now won a playoff game and have taken the monkey off their back for now, and they are going to Minnesota.

Tony Romo was 23/35 for 244 yards and two touchdowns with the Cowboys running attack led by Felix Jones, who had 16 carries for 148 yards and a touchdown. Miles Austin was the leading receiver with 7 catches for 89 yards and a touchdown.

The Cowboys defense forced 3 turnovers (two fumbles and one interception) and Michael Vick fumbled the exchange between himself and Leonard Weaver and Bobby Carpenter recovered it.

The Cowboys defense shut down the Eagles, allowing only two touchdowns, and gave the offense of the Cowboys plenty of time to score.

The Cowboys can now take pride in this big victory and enjoy the sweet taste of revenge…

Only two more wins separate us from the Super Bowl!

First, I want to apologize for my leave of absence. I’ve no reasonable excuse to explain why I have not written except a combination of holidays, homework, laziness, and writer’s block.

Thankfully though, I have found my muse and I’m ready to write and see Dallas go to playoffs. It has been as tough a year as it has been magical.

The tough part is losses to the Giants, the Broncos, the Packers, and the Chargers, but still to finish this season with back to back shutouts against division rivals is remarkable.

The Redskins win was one that redeemed us for our horrid win of 7-6 last time. Even though Al Davis is famous for saying, “Just win baby,” it is one thing to win a close one with a team that is your equal, but the Washington Redskins are not on the same planet as Dallas in terms of organization and teamwork.

That said, I was nervous going into the game this past Sunday. I had been sick with something that had stolen my voice from me to where I could only whisper naturally and talking was a challenge.

However, I was determined to not let that deter me as I went to see my good friend, Scott, at his house. It was me, Scott, and old friends of mine for a guys football night with Jeff, a tennis player in college now who could also switch hit when we were youngsters. Zach, who was a very good second baseman when he, Jeff, and I were kids on the city’s championship baseball team in little league. Jarrett, Zach’s little brother, Chris, who I’d become good friends with during sophomore English class in high school, and Carter, one of the most interesting yet at the same time, boring people I had ever met who had decided to go for the mountain man look and grown a beard.

I was thinking Dallas would win because of homefield advantage by a touchdown, but as I drove my way to Scott’s house and I was running late, I hear Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg on the 97.5 radio station calling the game. I hear about Jason Witten reaching for the goal line and getting in for a touchdown.

I knew it had to be Dallas’ first possession on offense. That’s something that Dallas doesn’t normally do. They don’t score on the first possession often because they usually take a quarter to start to click on offense. That’s been a major problem of the past.

Yet, they are in on the first try for six points? I’m like, “Game on!”

As I get to my friends house with four jerseys, a Cowboys hoodie, a Cowboys t-shirt, my old worn out Cowboy cap; the only thing I didn’t bring was my Cowboys mug and Cowboys pajamas, I sit down to get some chips, cheese dip, and soda.

There, sitting in that amazing room filled with my buddy’s accolades, game systems, and big screen TV with a pinball machine behind the great sofa and easy chair (the only thing Scott didn’t have was a pool table), I saw the Dallas Cowboys make new history.

Despite having the greatest coach, in terms of innovation and invention, in Tom Landry, despite having five Lombardi trophies in Dallas’ glorious history, the 2009 Cowboys did what no Cowboys team had ever done. They posted back to back shutouts for the first time ever.

And even if I had known the outcome ahead of time, I still wouldn’t have believed it.

Dallas shut out the Philadelphia Eagles? The same Eagles with explosive talent all across the board. Six of their guys are in the Pro Bowl, they have a strong offensive line, an experienced quarterback in Donovan McNabb, dynamite and nitroglycerin known as DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin respectively, and a tight end who causes constant trouble in Brent Celek.

That offense had not been shut out for a half, let alone for a full four quarters. I didn’t even think that Philly could be held to seven or ten points. I thought for sure they’d put two touchdowns on their first time in Dallas’ new stadium.

Some of it was luck like a few errant Donovan McNabb passes at some key moments including one where DeSean Jackson had the entire secondary beat for six, but not even he could catch up to McNabb’s overthrown pass.

A David Akers missed field goal really hurt the Eagles and Dallas fed off that to finish with a score of 24-0. Tony Romo had every snap under center for the season, and no key injuries happened to Dallas.

This win got Dallas a playoff game at home and they know have momentum, they have belief, they have passion.

All they need now is a playoff win against the same team as last week.

That’s right. Dallas will have to face Philadelphia again, and I pray that for Dallas, the third time is not the charm for Philly. The Cowboys have all the chips in their favor except for history. The history of 13 years without a playoff win. Nothing irritates me more than the trolls of the web who constantly bring that fact to light.

It’s up to you Dallas. Let’s not make it 14 years.

It couldn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen. How could it happen? The Saints were 13-0, their offense was tremendously dominant, the defense had significantly improved. The last two opponents of their schedule would be the Yucs, excuse me, Bucs and the Panthers.

All they had to do was knock off Big D at home. And they lost. THEY LOST!

If I sound like I’m yelling, I am. My voice is gone from the shouts of joy coming from the depths of my belly to the rooftops of my neighborhood.

Sometimes I wonder if I am writer or a member of the team because I feel an enormous weight off of my back.

The Cowboys were not supposed to win. It is DECEMBER! Their worst month! How is it they won???

I’ll tell you how. Because no matter what I say or what my colleagues say in their articles about game previews, power matchups, who is the weak link; none of it matters.

Am I slurring my work? Yeah, I am. Because games are won by men in armor on a field of play.

The games are not decided by the keys that are underneath my fingers as I type this article. They are decided by sweat, by want, by men on a field in the dead of night, in a stadium filled with fans and loud noise.

The field is where the game is decided. The Cowboys knew that. Some of the Saints apparently didn’t. They underestimated the Dallas Cowboys. They thought that this team couldn’t beat him. It already lost two heartbreaking games in consecutive weeks.

That was the biggest mistake you can make.  You can never think a team of NFL players is unworthy of you.

When you step onto that field. You are 0-0. There are no previosu wins or losses with teams outside your division.

The attitude is this: “I don’t care abour your record. I don’t care about your stats. I don’t care that you are guaranteed playoffs. You are going to get a fight, so suit up and put up or shut up.

The Saints and Sean Payton can now shut up.

Because the Dallas Cowboys beat the Saints. Tony Romo completed 22 of 34 passes for 312 yards and a touchdown. Dallas ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns. The defense forced three turnovers, including one to end the game, and four sacks.

The Cowboys may not be a better team than the Saints, but guess what?

You just have to be a better for 60 minutes.

And I don’t think any team could’ve matched Dallas tonight. None whatsoever.

Will Dallas win next week? That’s another 60 minutes.

Right now, I’m going to go enjoy this win.

GO COWBOYS!!!!!!!!!!

Despite the fact that the title of the article could receive a, “NO DUH!” response, that does take away to its truth.

Miles Austin is the explosive wide receiver that Terrell Owens was, except he doesn’t drop any easy passes, and actually doesn’t talk to the media. He was a free agent pickup from Monmouth College that sat behind on the bench and learned from the best on how to be the best.

He learned well. In just seven starts, he has 824 yards receiving with eight touchdowns. Those are the statistics of a truly elite receiver in the NFL.

Granted, it is only his first year starting, but the Cowboys and their fan-base are really hopeful for Miles Austin’s future here.

Back to the original point, in the past eight games, the Cowboys have seven games, six of which Miles Austin made a tremendous contribution on offense.

The first game was all him in the end. He had 10 catches for 250 yards and a pair of TDs in a 26-20 overtime win against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Dallas’ offense had been in the ICU up until then. Coming off a heartbreak loss to the Denver Broncos in Mile High, where a couple of plays were the game’s deciding outcome.

Enter Miles Austin and Dallas fans, including myself, finally saw something that made us want to be excited instead of tense.

Following the win over Kansas City, the Cowboys devoured the Atlanta Falcons 37-21 with Austin having 171 yards receiving in six catches and a pair of TDs again.

The Seattle game was another checkmark for Dallas with a 38-17 result and Austin had a medium performance, but still had five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.

You could argue that Dallas would have beaten the Seahawks and the Falcons without Miles Austin, but you can’t debate the fact that with him, Dallas dominated instead of just winning.

There is another thing you cannot debate either. Miles Austin was without a doubt, the difference in the Cowboys-Eagles game in Philadelphia.

Dallas was playing neck and neck with the Eagles. In the fourth quarter, Dallas was down 13-10. Folk managed to kick a field goal and tie it up, but Dallas need a touchdown.

I’m watching this game, and I think that if I had not had such an arduous football practice earlier, I could have managed to create a pool of sweat. The tension was there. I’m wondering when is Dallas going to lay the goose egg they usually make in these kinds of situations.

Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth are talking about how Miles Austin has not had any receptions the entire night. Then, a minute later, it happened.

Romo pump fakes, then hits Miles Austin on a deep one, and Austin scampers in for the score. One catch, ONE CATCH for 49 yards and a touchdown to put the boot on the Eagles’ throats.

The Eagles never came back, and Dallas won the game 20-16 in one of the best clutch performances I’ve ever seen.

That’s what happened when Miles Austin got the ball.

Here’s what happened when Austin didn’t get the ball…. Please check the rest here:  http://www.nfltouchdown.com/how-dallas-can-keep-winning-give-miles-austin-the-ball/

The Redskins-Cowboys rivalry has always been intense.

The Redskins have three Super Bowls to go along with their two NFL Championships, while Dallas has five Super Bowl wins of their own.

However, to my great delight, the Redskins have struggled greatly as of late due to the ineptness of owner Daniel Snyder, who makes Al Davis not look half bad, and general manager Vinny Cerrato, who has neglected several key positions.

The Redskins have had a repugnant offense this season. Before the Cowboys game, they had 140 points over nine games.

Dallas, however, had one of the best offenses in the league, averaging nearly 25 points per game.

For Sunday’s matchup, the Redskins offense did not have Chris Samuels, Clinton Portis, or Chris Cooley.

In other words, the Redskins’ offense was supposed to struggle against the Cowboys. They did just that.

However, what appalled this writer more was the fact that the Dallas offense, for the second week in a row, had only one touchdown.

7-6 was the final. The Dallas defense saved the day after Tony Romo made a clutch touchdown throw to Patrick Crayton.

Regardless of the fact Dallas won that game, they should be utterly disgusted with themselves for not blowing out the ‘Skins.

Why is it that Dallas was losing for three and a half quarters before they pulled out a win? They can get away with this against the Redskins, but what about other teams like the Eagles or the Giants?

What’s wrong with this offense?

The football player in me says they all failed, but the analyst in me is able to point a couple fingers and criticize those guys who need to do their jobs.

Roy Williams is still not a bust, but he is ticking me and a lot of my friends off. He missed multiple opportunities for big plays in that game. Tony Romo may not had the best pass at times, but those balls were certainly catchable, and Roy Williams did not catch them.

I still believe Williams has the ability to get on the same page with Romo and make these plays like he did in Detroit. The question is when will the chemistry click?

I can possibly give Miles Austin a break. I understand he was double covered a large amount of the time.

Austin came through in the end with four catches for 47 yards.

Could it be that the Skins were just pumped for this game because of the rivalry? Yeah, but I still think Dallas is better.

Dallas should have been pumped for this game. If I’m Jason Garrett, I want to run up the score and make the Skins realize that they belong at the bottom of the NFC East.

It didn’t happen though.

I don’t understand what happened, but it has to change. Maybe it is the playcalling. Maybe Romo needs to spend more time practicing with Williams. Or maybe the Cowboys need a swift kick in the rear.

Dallas won that game by a nose.

Now, they have they face the Raiders on Thanksgiving. Oakland is coming off a big win against the AFC North-leading Bengals.

I don’t want my turkey messed up by an anemic offensive attack.

This team has got to do better. They need to diagnose this problem and get an aggressive treatment for it before it bites them in the heel in two days.

Two days. That’s all the Cowboys have.

Should I be this worried? It is the Raiders, right? Sorry, I don’t underestimate the Raiders, and the fact is they have benched JaMarcus Russell.

If Tubby the QB was playing, I’d be a little less worried. But they are going up against Bruce Gradkowski, who is definitely an upgrade over Russell at the quarterback position.

Also, count on Austin to struggle because the Raiders have the best cornerback in the league, in my opinion, in Nnamdi Asomugha.

The guy is a textbook shutdown corner and he’ll be on Austin for sure.

Which means our main target will be Roy Williams. Uh oh!

Should Dallas fans be worried? Absolutely. My advice is for the religious one to start praying, because they’ll need all the help they can get.

James Williamson is also featured on http://www.nfltouchdown.com/ among other sites.

Look, I’m not going to sit here and type away about how the Packers cheated, or how the refs were clearly against the Cowboys, and go boo hoo all over the screen.

I’m giving the Packers credit. That defense they prepared was amazing. I’m more angry at the lack of execution by Dallas, who should have trampled over the Packers.

However, I will say that they were lucky that this wasn’t a playoff game because the league screwed this one up.

I knew Dallas had lost when the fumble was ruled recovered by Clay Matthews. It was a horrible call, but I can forgive the referees, they are human, but what I cannot forgive is the insertion of an unfair and idiotic rule that effectively ended the Cowboys hopes of coming back.

Any reasonable and unbiased fan with a basic knowledge of football would realize that Felix Jones was obviously down by contact after he recovered the ball. He was rolled over and the ball bounced in the air and Clay Matthews barely recovered it.

However, the rules of the NFL state that teams cannot challenge the recovery of a fumble, which immediately infuriated James Williamson the writer as well as James Williamson the fan.

It is not so much that Dallas lost the game, it is so much that this rule could come and hurt another team. Dallas may have had a fighting chance with a 10-0 lead instead of a 17-0 lead, but I’m over it.

What I will not do, as a fan or as a writer, is keep quiet about a horrendous rule that obviously did not fit the Cowboys situation.

What if this had happened in the playoffs? Or in the Super Bowl? Does the NFL really need another version of the Tuck Rule controversy? Shouldn’t the NFL prevent those kinds of situations so they don’t have to break a team of players and their fans hearts?

As a fan, I could live with being beaten. What I could not live with is having a game that we should have won or had a real chance to win being taken from us because of some pencil-necked man in a zebra uniform with his stupid, destructive rule book.

Would the Cowboys have won? Maybe. Would the Cowboys have lost? Sure, they could have. But, we will never know because of a ridiculous rule that prevented a team from making a comeback. Granted, Dallas made mistakes, but does that mean the officials and their rules should join in on it?

I would rather have seen the Packers kick Dallas out of the stadium by their own power, not by the referees.

Jerry Jones stated that he understands why the rule is in place, but he still disagreed with the rule’s use in this game.

“I know why they have it because so many times there are piles and scrums so it gets really hard to see,” Jones said. “But that wasn’t a play out in the middle of the field where you’d have a scrum.”

To view the rest of this article, please go to: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/the-nfl-needs-to-change-its-rule-about-challenges/

Not only did the Cowboys lose to the Packers this past Sunday, but they lost some players as well.

Starting right tackle, Marc Columbo, is most likely out for the season with a broken fibula on his left leg after severe contact with a Packer defender.

Columbo, up to that point, had not missed a start for the Cowboys and really was playing great. Last year, Dr. Z, the well-respected Sports Illustrated writer put Marc Columbo on his All-Pro team.

Columbo was recently signed to a long extension and he is obviously very upset with the setback.

After Columbo was lost, Dallas proceeded to allow a season high five sacks. Columbo was more than the right tackle, but also the emotional leader with a voice of a sailor. I listened to Marc Columbo on tape and he had a mouth nastier than rotten anchovy paste.

Columbo came to the Cowboys from the Bears after knee injuries shortened his time there. However, he came in 2006 and he earned his starting job in training camp and he did not stop starting till now.

Tackle Doug Free came in to replace Columbo, and hopefully he will start gelling with the remaining four lineman so that they can get back to the dominant form they had at the beginning of the year.

Now, when you break a bone in the leg that means your out for the season typically, but Wade Phillips has said that Columbo may have a shot at coming back, so he may not be placed on injured reserve.

Injured reserve is a list of players that the team makes up. These players are severely injured, most likely out for the season. The action of putting players on injured reserve means that the player cannot play this season. Even if he should get healthy enough later on during the year to play, he cannot play.

Injured reserve is separate from the 53 man roster. It was made that way in case a team had a ’series of unfortunate events’ and the team needs to continually have enough men to play for the team.

By putting Columbo on injured reserve, the team will have an extra roster spot so they can pick up another player, but on the condition that Columbo cannot play at all for the rest of the regular season or postseason as well.

I, however, don’t see Columbo avoiding injured reserve though. We are going into week 11 now and it could take four to five weeks minimum for Columbo to recover. Then, he’s got to be careful coming back from the injury or he could injure it again.

This was the worst thing that could have happened. Dallas has great backups at every position except offensive line and Jerry Jones was concerned about that from the start.

Dallas had originally drafted Robert Brewster from Ball State in the third round of the 2009 draft, but he tore a pectoral muscle before training camp, and he’s out too.

Last year, the loss of Kyle Kosier damaged the Cowboys season to an extent that made me believe that it affected the outcome of several games.

Now we lose another lineman?

This Cowboys team may still be in first place, but now they have to win games without a Pro Bowl caliber right tackle. It is a challenge to say the least.

Mike Jenkins and Ken Hamlin were also banged up in the process, but according to Jenkins and the Cowboys, they should not be missing any significant time.

This was a big loss for the Cowboys. A great player and a game that could have extended the division lead to 7-2.

Come on Cowboys, we know you guys can pull this together!

Check out James Williamson at: http://www.nfltouchdown.com/category/dallas-cowboys/