Jones loves T.O.'s star appeal
By PAUL DOMOWITCH
OXNARD, Calif. - Jerry Jones has been known to make a brash prediction or two in the 17 years he's been the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys.
But his team's recent dry spell, which has included nine straight seasons without a playoff win and a sub-.500 record (40-56) in this millennium, has humbled him a bit.
While he privately may believe the offseason acquisition of best-selling author and five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Terrell Owens is going to earn the Cowboys an all-expenses-paid trip to Miami in February, he's trying to keep a lid on his public optimism.
"I've had a lot of the fire knocked out of my pants by my predictions the last several years," Jones said yesterday. "It's humbled me not being in the playoffs. It's limited me as far as feeling optimistic.
"Having said all that, we've put together a team that makes us the best team on paper that we've had in the last 5, 6 years."
Paper, of course, is what Owens' 7-year, $49 million contract with the Eagles was written on. And we all know how that turned out.
With his team residing in the same division as the Eagles, Jones had a front-row seat for the whole Owens soap opera last year. Watched him try to renegotiate his deal just a year into it. Watched him turn on his quarterback. Watched him drop one napalm bomb after another on One NovaCare Way.
But Jones was unfazed. When the Eagles finally released the petulant, self-centered - and yes, very, very talented - receiver in March, Jones was there waiting for him with a big hug and a 3-year, $25 million contract.
"I've been around other players who have had criticism off the field, but have been inordinately hard workers in practice and tremendous competitors in games," the Cowboys owner said. "I bought into, or became comfortable with some of the things he's been criticized for. It's all about winning the game.
"Plus, we had the money right. We agreed in just about every way you can [regarding Owens' contract]. Are we being fair [to Owens]? Did we address the money in the right way with respect to recognizing where he is [in his career] and the circumstances [that led to his release by the Eagles]?"
Owens received a $5 million signing bonus and will earn another $5 million in base salary this season. He's scheduled to receive $8 million (a $3 million roster bonus and $5 million in salary) in '07 and another $7 million ($3 million roster bonus and $4 million in salary) in '08. The roster bonuses aren't payable until June of each year, which gives the Cowboys a little extra time to decide whether Owens is still worth the trouble. The same with putting so much of his money in salary.
The Eagles' willingness to take a gamble on Owens 2 years ago was prompted by a sense of urgency caused by three straight NFC Championship Game losses. They were desperate to get over the hump and Owens was their best shot to do that.
Jones felt that same sense of urgency. He has a soon-to-be 65-year-old coach - Bill Parcells - who is hardly in this for the long haul. He has a quarterback - Drew Bledsoe - who will turn 35 in February, and no viable replacement on the roster. His other top wide receiver - Terry Glenn - is 32. Tick, tick, tick.
"I do feel [a sense of urgency]," Jones said. "But the decision to bring T.O. on the roster was about winning."
In Owens, Jones sees a player who not only will bolster a passing game that finished 15th in the league last season, but also strengthen a ground game that will benefit from the soft coverages that defenses will play to keep Owens and Glenn from beating them deep. He sees an offense that will bring back memories of Aikman and Smith and Irvin.
"I've had my finest hours on the field in the NFL when we were really balanced [offensively]," Jones said.
Early on, there was a perception that Jones signed Owens without first consulting Parcells. That's mainly because Parcells didn't make an appearance to talk about it at the news conference to announce Owens' signing, or at the media breakfast at the league meetings in Orlando in March. But Parcells has since said he was part of the decision.
Jones insisted he didn't have to sell his coach on bringing Owens to Dallas. "I think we were pretty candid with the potential pluses and minuses,'' he said. "We didn't have a disagreement on those. I didn't feel myself having to coax him into it."
So, a guy who not once, but twice, trampled on the hallowed Cowboy star at Texas Stadium to celebrate a pair of touchdown catches a few years back, now is playing for the Cowboys.
"I've been asked how I felt when he did that,'' Jones said. "[They asked] did it make me mad? I tell them not half as much as the touchdown catches he made right before he went to the star. That'll make you mad.''
Part of the reason Jones doesn't find Owens as obnoxious as many others do is because, well, because he's a lot like Owens.
"I've been criticized at times for having controversial visibility that might have taken away from what we were doing as a team or franchise," the Cowboys owner said. "And I've made adjustments. I have."
Owens has claimed he has made adjustments too. Said last month that he has "grown from my mistakes" and that he plans "trying to be a better person in life and a better teammate."
Jones said that when he and coach Jimmy Johnson parted ways after the Cowboys won their second consecutive Super Bowl after the 1993 season, former 49ers coach Bill Walsh said "it was a classic example of two friends who grew careless with their relationship."
"Working with [Parcells], we have not been careless with our relationship," Jones said. "And I have every reason to believe that Terrell's relationship here will be the same way."
OXNARD, Calif. - Jerry Jones has been known to make a brash prediction or two in the 17 years he's been the owner and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys.
But his team's recent dry spell, which has included nine straight seasons without a playoff win and a sub-.500 record (40-56) in this millennium, has humbled him a bit.
While he privately may believe the offseason acquisition of best-selling author and five-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Terrell Owens is going to earn the Cowboys an all-expenses-paid trip to Miami in February, he's trying to keep a lid on his public optimism.
"I've had a lot of the fire knocked out of my pants by my predictions the last several years," Jones said yesterday. "It's humbled me not being in the playoffs. It's limited me as far as feeling optimistic.
"Having said all that, we've put together a team that makes us the best team on paper that we've had in the last 5, 6 years."
Paper, of course, is what Owens' 7-year, $49 million contract with the Eagles was written on. And we all know how that turned out.
With his team residing in the same division as the Eagles, Jones had a front-row seat for the whole Owens soap opera last year. Watched him try to renegotiate his deal just a year into it. Watched him turn on his quarterback. Watched him drop one napalm bomb after another on One NovaCare Way.
But Jones was unfazed. When the Eagles finally released the petulant, self-centered - and yes, very, very talented - receiver in March, Jones was there waiting for him with a big hug and a 3-year, $25 million contract.
"I've been around other players who have had criticism off the field, but have been inordinately hard workers in practice and tremendous competitors in games," the Cowboys owner said. "I bought into, or became comfortable with some of the things he's been criticized for. It's all about winning the game.
"Plus, we had the money right. We agreed in just about every way you can [regarding Owens' contract]. Are we being fair [to Owens]? Did we address the money in the right way with respect to recognizing where he is [in his career] and the circumstances [that led to his release by the Eagles]?"
Owens received a $5 million signing bonus and will earn another $5 million in base salary this season. He's scheduled to receive $8 million (a $3 million roster bonus and $5 million in salary) in '07 and another $7 million ($3 million roster bonus and $4 million in salary) in '08. The roster bonuses aren't payable until June of each year, which gives the Cowboys a little extra time to decide whether Owens is still worth the trouble. The same with putting so much of his money in salary.
The Eagles' willingness to take a gamble on Owens 2 years ago was prompted by a sense of urgency caused by three straight NFC Championship Game losses. They were desperate to get over the hump and Owens was their best shot to do that.
Jones felt that same sense of urgency. He has a soon-to-be 65-year-old coach - Bill Parcells - who is hardly in this for the long haul. He has a quarterback - Drew Bledsoe - who will turn 35 in February, and no viable replacement on the roster. His other top wide receiver - Terry Glenn - is 32. Tick, tick, tick.
"I do feel [a sense of urgency]," Jones said. "But the decision to bring T.O. on the roster was about winning."
In Owens, Jones sees a player who not only will bolster a passing game that finished 15th in the league last season, but also strengthen a ground game that will benefit from the soft coverages that defenses will play to keep Owens and Glenn from beating them deep. He sees an offense that will bring back memories of Aikman and Smith and Irvin.
"I've had my finest hours on the field in the NFL when we were really balanced [offensively]," Jones said.
Early on, there was a perception that Jones signed Owens without first consulting Parcells. That's mainly because Parcells didn't make an appearance to talk about it at the news conference to announce Owens' signing, or at the media breakfast at the league meetings in Orlando in March. But Parcells has since said he was part of the decision.
Jones insisted he didn't have to sell his coach on bringing Owens to Dallas. "I think we were pretty candid with the potential pluses and minuses,'' he said. "We didn't have a disagreement on those. I didn't feel myself having to coax him into it."
So, a guy who not once, but twice, trampled on the hallowed Cowboy star at Texas Stadium to celebrate a pair of touchdown catches a few years back, now is playing for the Cowboys.
"I've been asked how I felt when he did that,'' Jones said. "[They asked] did it make me mad? I tell them not half as much as the touchdown catches he made right before he went to the star. That'll make you mad.''
Part of the reason Jones doesn't find Owens as obnoxious as many others do is because, well, because he's a lot like Owens.
"I've been criticized at times for having controversial visibility that might have taken away from what we were doing as a team or franchise," the Cowboys owner said. "And I've made adjustments. I have."
Owens has claimed he has made adjustments too. Said last month that he has "grown from my mistakes" and that he plans "trying to be a better person in life and a better teammate."
Jones said that when he and coach Jimmy Johnson parted ways after the Cowboys won their second consecutive Super Bowl after the 1993 season, former 49ers coach Bill Walsh said "it was a classic example of two friends who grew careless with their relationship."
"Working with [Parcells], we have not been careless with our relationship," Jones said. "And I have every reason to believe that Terrell's relationship here will be the same way."
posted by The Gryphon at 6:47 PM
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