Cowboys Laughing, Acting Like “Last Day of School” On Return Trip From Philadelphia

I just got to the office on this beautiful December Monday morning, and I have to admit that after yesterday’s 44-6 loss to the Eagles by the Cowboys, I was looking forward to today’s drive. Everyone down here in Dallas is going to be in such a tizzy over how poorly the Cowboys played, for an outsider and (some might say) Cowboys hater, it will be fun listening to the Cowboys get raked through the coals for their awful performance.

After watching some of the game — I’m a Dolphins fan, so the Dolphins-Jets game took precedence — I thought things could not get any lower for the Cowboys. But in the time since the game has ended, two stories have emerged that have shown that things very well could, and did, get lower.

First, there was the report that Tony Romo collapsed in the shower, which I posted about last night.

Then, there is the story that I just heard on 1310 The Ticket here in Dallas this morning while driving in. Norm Hitzges was manning the morning slot today, subbing in for the Musers and Gordon Keith. While Norm Hitzges can be something of a downer and is prone to attacks of hyperbole, he knows his football and I was excited to hear his perspective on the Cowboys-Eagles massacre.

What I was not prepared for was the report by Mark “Friedo” Friedman about his experience flying home on the Cowboys charter after the Eagles game last night.

According to Friedo, the Cowboys charter was not the sad, sullen, and despondent scene that one might expect. As someone who grew up around college football, and saw many a post-loss locker room, bus, and plane, I can say with certainty that my expectation would have been a pretty quiet and somber plane ride for the Cowboys. Not only did their season end with an absolutely horrific showing, but this was a team with “Super Bowl or Bust” aspirations coming into the year. I don’t care how much money you make, I would assume that if you take pride in your job and performance that it would be hard to recover from the pounding they took in Philadelphia.

Not so, according to Friedo.

He described the scene as “like the last day of school”, with dominoes being played in the back and lots of laughing and carrying on. He said that he was reluctant to say anything, seeing as how the Cowboys are nice enough to allow media members on the charter, and that only leads me to believe that he may have muted the reality of what was actually going on. Friedo did not mention any specific names, nor did he say if alcohol was flowing, but he made it pretty clear that if you did not know who won the Cowboys-Eagles game, you just might assume it was the Cowboys from their conduct on the plane.

When I first heard this, it shocked me. But after Norm and Friedo discussed it a little more, it sadly started to make some sense.

As they explained, many of the Cowboys players made over $100,000 just for the Eagles game. As I’m sure you know, NFL players get paid by the game. 16 game checks in total, each of which can be pretty exorbitant amounts when you are talking about contracts between $5-10 million per year. For a playoff game, each player would have received an additional $18,000 (I believe), which for many would be a huge step down in pay.

As hypothesized by Norm and Friedo, many NFL players view football as nothing more than a job. Why should they be expected to be excited about playing another game, and risking serious injury, for a mere fraction of their usual paycheck?

Hmm…let me see…

Perhaps because you are being paid so much money in the first place to help your team achieve its goals, which are to make the playoffs? Perhaps because your owner overpaid many of you in a go-for-broke strategy this year to make a run at the Super Bowl? Perhaps because you have professional pride? Perhaps because $18,000 is still a lot of money and more than you’ll be making now sitting on your ass during the playoffs!?!?!

Look, I understand the realities of the NFL. I realize that these guys are professionals and that football is as much their job and livelihood as practicing law is for a lawyer, or medicine for a doctor. And a lot of lawyers and doctors hate their jobs and do it just for the money. I get it. Kind of.

But football players are playing a game, a game in which passion and will can oftentimes be the difference between winning and losing. So part of your responsibility when you cash those $X00,000 game checks is to put forth a maximum level of passion, will, focus, and effort that enables you to maximize your individual talents and potential. Jerry Jones may not always make smart decisions, and he may bring lots of problems on himself, but no one has ever accused him of not taking care of his players or having their backs. How could the Cowboys players play like did on Sunday, let their owner down with such a putrid performance, and even look themselves in the mirror — let along act like kids “on the last day of school” on the charter.

Norm and Friedo were right: for many NFL players, they simply do not share the live-and-die mentality that many fans share with their teams. The sad thing is that players get paid such ridiculous sums of money because there are passionate fans who will watch TV, pay for tickets, buy merchandise, etc. Many of these fans were probably despondent in their recliners or crying in their beers after watching that pathetic performance Sunday night. One Cowboys fan who is a friend of mine called me and asked me to talk him out of hanging himself in the middle of the 3rd quarter. I’m not sure he was completely joking.

Am I making too big a deal of this? Maybe. Are most of the Cowboys players probably heartsick and frustrated at another December failure? Maybe. Do a lot of the players feel a sense of responsibility to Jerry Jones and the fans, and feel bad for letting them down? I sure as hell hope so.

According to Norm and Friedo, Tony Romo said after the game something to the effect of “It’s just a game. If losing a football game is the worst thing that happens to me, I’ll have a pretty good life.” And while that is a great perspective to have from a personal standpoint, and would sound great in a Hall of Fame or post-career speech, or even during an interview later in the offseason, fans don’t want to hear that right after the game. They want to know that you are suffering as much, if not moreso, than they are.

Unfortunately, it sounds like Tony Romo’s perspective was shared by the majority of his teammates.

And hearing this story in the immediate aftermath of the Cowboys loss makes it pretty obvious why the Cowboys are not playing in January and why a team like the Miami Dolphins still is. Do you think Dolphins players would be hooting and hollering on the plane ride home after a loss with Bill Parcells and Tony Sparano on the plane? I cannot imagine so. Those two men command more respect than that, and you know they would not be able to forget the loss so easily.

Do you think Chad Pennington or Peyton Manning can walk away from a loss thinking “it’s just a game?” I don’t know either of them personally, but I would wager that they have never once thought that in the immediate aftermath of a loss. Tony Romo gets the pub and the big contract, but Chad Pennington has been a more successful quarterback in December and is playing this year into January for a team that was 1-15 last year. Honestly, who would you rather have as your quarterback for next year?

There are 1,001 reasons why the Cowboys feel short of expectations this year. Friedo’s observation of their post-game conduct on the charter home was a pretty disappointing symptom of the disease of mediocrity that engulfs what many call the NFL’s most talented roster.

But that’s the beauty of the NFL, and why it is the most popular league in American sports.

Talent is only part of a very complicated equation of what makes a winner. Character, resolve, will, preparation, and pride are all equally as important. Watch highlights of Roy Williams running his routes yesterday and tell me he showed character, will, and pride? Listen to the excuses of Wade Phillips and tell me that he instilled a sense of resolve in his team, or adequately prepared his coaches and his players to play Philadelphia?

The Dallas Cowboys may have treated their plane ride like “the last day of school”, but for millions of Cowboys fans across the country, they were all forced to treat last night and today like what it really is: the last day of the season. And for the fans who are truly passionate, the ones whose ticket purchases and other monetary outlays pay the $X00,000 game checks, it will lead to a cold and frustrating Winter. If nothing else, even if the Cowboys players don’t really care themselves, you would think they would have enough respect for the fans and their owner to empathize and at least give the appearance of caring.

I thought 44-6 said it all. This morning, Friedo proved that just when you think the Cowboys players cannot care any less, or be less passionate or prideful about winning, they bust through the floor of expectations to reach a new low.

But hey, like Tony Romo said, it’s just a game right?