Life in the NFC East is all about the splash
Sunday, March 19, 2006
BY PAUL NEEDELL
Star-Ledger Staff
When you take up residence in the NFC East, like the Giants and Eagles do, being in the public eye is all about keeping up with the Joneses and Snyders. There's never a dull moment.
Especially during the off-season.
Since the Cowboys last won the Super Bowl to cap the 1995 season, the loudest noises made by owner Jerry Jones have come after his team put away the pads and cleats. Same for the Redskins ever since owner Daniel Snyder tried his hand at Fantasy Football when he bought the team in 1999.
Those men make it difficult to keep in mind that the Giants are the defending NFC East champions. Or that the Eagles won the division the four previous years.
The first week of NFL free agency this year has been no exception. The supposedly salary-cap strapped Redskins have somehow found the funds to sign Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, Rams strong safety Adam Archuleta and 49ers defensive end/linebacker Andre Carter to lucrative deals. Some would even argue Snyder overpaid each one.
Not to be outdone, Jones and the Cowboys signed reigning NFL bad boy Terrell Owens yesterday, the star wide receiver banished by the Eagles last season. This will be the third team in four years for Owens, who similarly wore out his welcome with the 49ers after the 2003 season.
The irony should be lost on no one. It was Owens, after all, who had the entire state of Texas calling for his head in 2000 when he had the audacity to celebrate scoring a touchdown at Texas Stadium by running to midfield and dancing on the famous Cowboys star. Not once, but twice.
After standing on the star the second time, then-Cowboys safety George Teague defended his team's honor by taking a run at Owens and shoving him off the star. Needless to say, Teague is among several former Cowboys angered by the idea of Owens now wearing the silver-starred helmet he once dissed.
"I couldn't do it if I was Jerry Jones," Teague told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It doesn't seem like the best thing to do for the fans and the supporters of the Cowboys."
But Jones and coach Bill Parcells apparently don't care much about history. Not when it comes to making a splash, as Jones loves to do, and trying to win games, which Parcells loves to do. Parcells also knows his biological coaching clock is tick ... tick ... ticking. He'd sell his soul to the devil to win another Super Bowl. Maybe he has.
BY PAUL NEEDELL
Star-Ledger Staff
When you take up residence in the NFC East, like the Giants and Eagles do, being in the public eye is all about keeping up with the Joneses and Snyders. There's never a dull moment.
Especially during the off-season.
Since the Cowboys last won the Super Bowl to cap the 1995 season, the loudest noises made by owner Jerry Jones have come after his team put away the pads and cleats. Same for the Redskins ever since owner Daniel Snyder tried his hand at Fantasy Football when he bought the team in 1999.
Those men make it difficult to keep in mind that the Giants are the defending NFC East champions. Or that the Eagles won the division the four previous years.
The first week of NFL free agency this year has been no exception. The supposedly salary-cap strapped Redskins have somehow found the funds to sign Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, Rams strong safety Adam Archuleta and 49ers defensive end/linebacker Andre Carter to lucrative deals. Some would even argue Snyder overpaid each one.
Not to be outdone, Jones and the Cowboys signed reigning NFL bad boy Terrell Owens yesterday, the star wide receiver banished by the Eagles last season. This will be the third team in four years for Owens, who similarly wore out his welcome with the 49ers after the 2003 season.
The irony should be lost on no one. It was Owens, after all, who had the entire state of Texas calling for his head in 2000 when he had the audacity to celebrate scoring a touchdown at Texas Stadium by running to midfield and dancing on the famous Cowboys star. Not once, but twice.
After standing on the star the second time, then-Cowboys safety George Teague defended his team's honor by taking a run at Owens and shoving him off the star. Needless to say, Teague is among several former Cowboys angered by the idea of Owens now wearing the silver-starred helmet he once dissed.
"I couldn't do it if I was Jerry Jones," Teague told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "It doesn't seem like the best thing to do for the fans and the supporters of the Cowboys."
But Jones and coach Bill Parcells apparently don't care much about history. Not when it comes to making a splash, as Jones loves to do, and trying to win games, which Parcells loves to do. Parcells also knows his biological coaching clock is tick ... tick ... ticking. He'd sell his soul to the devil to win another Super Bowl. Maybe he has.
posted by The Gryphon at 1:26 PM
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