Hot Air: Former Dallas Cowboys coach loves Marion Barber
by Barry Horn:
From his seat on the Fox pre-game set, Jimmy Johnson has been closely watching Dallas Cowboys games this season and he has fallen head-over-heels in love with a member of the organization.
Johnson's straw that's stirring the 3-0 drink isn't Tony Romo or Terrell Owens or Jason Witten. It isn't DeMarcus Ware, Terence Newman or Jay Ratliff, the suddenly chic pick on the defensive line.
It's not Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett or Jerry Jones.
Johnson's guy is ... Marion Barber.
It's probably the old ball coach in Johnson. Deep down, most football coaches are channeling Woody Hayes. They love the clock-eating, ball-control offenses that a solid running game brings.
"Offenses love Barber," Johnson said over the phone this week from his home in the Florida Keys. "Opposing defenses hate him."
Then he mentioned Owens and Witten and reasoned they can be considered supporting acts.
"The Cowboys can beat you 17-7 without them and with Marion Barber," Johnson said. "It may be a boring game and not as fun to watch, but in the end winning is really the most fun."
Johnson also had only nice things to say about Romo.
"I like his approach," Johnson said. "He is a playmaker. I wouldn't mess with that. But I would sit down and have sessions with him to make sure he stays focused."
Johnson believes that not getting drafted and being forced to sit and watch for 3½ seasons has served Romo well. "He came up the hard way and that keeps him in check. Just like our 1-15 season kept us in check…Players who are stars all their lives and face little adversity sometimes aren't as hungry."
Johnson remained reluctant to compare the Super Bowl Cowboys of the 1990s to Wade Phillips' team. "But I'll say they have as much talents as anybody in the league and we probably had as much talent as anybody in the league although I did think San Francisco had more talent that first year (1992 season) we won the Super Bowl but the next year we were better."
Johnson has a special interest in one Cowboy. Johnson and linebacker Zach Thomas arrived in Miami together in 1996.
"I have a helmet in my weight room from Zach that says, "Thanks for making my dream come true and taking a chance on a little white boy from Texas."' Johnson said. "He's my guy. If you protect him, he will make plays."
But Johnson is not ready to hand the Cowboys a pass to the Super Bowl and the Vince Lombardi trophy.
"They have their work cut out for them," he said. "I picked the Cowboys to be Philadelphia but if the game had been in Philadelphia, I would have picked the Eagles. And we all saw what the Giants did last season.
"Football can be a funny game," Johnson said. "A year ago everybody was talking about the dominance of the AFC. Now look at it. They are playing the best football in the NFL in the NFC East…The Cowboys are well-coached. They are very talented. They just have to keep focused and not get too happy with themselves."
• • •
The Cowboys return to Fox on Sunday, which means Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will call the game. It's not quite a national telecast but it is just about as close as Fox can come on a Sunday afternoon. It is Fox's only late afternoon game and is scheduled to go to 96 percents of the country. CBS has a pair of 3 p.m. games – Bills at Rams and Chargers at Raiders – that will keep the Cowboys-Redskins out of St. Louis and the Bay Area.
From his seat on the Fox pre-game set, Jimmy Johnson has been closely watching Dallas Cowboys games this season and he has fallen head-over-heels in love with a member of the organization.
Johnson's straw that's stirring the 3-0 drink isn't Tony Romo or Terrell Owens or Jason Witten. It isn't DeMarcus Ware, Terence Newman or Jay Ratliff, the suddenly chic pick on the defensive line.
It's not Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett or Jerry Jones.
Johnson's guy is ... Marion Barber.
It's probably the old ball coach in Johnson. Deep down, most football coaches are channeling Woody Hayes. They love the clock-eating, ball-control offenses that a solid running game brings.
"Offenses love Barber," Johnson said over the phone this week from his home in the Florida Keys. "Opposing defenses hate him."
Then he mentioned Owens and Witten and reasoned they can be considered supporting acts.
"The Cowboys can beat you 17-7 without them and with Marion Barber," Johnson said. "It may be a boring game and not as fun to watch, but in the end winning is really the most fun."
Johnson also had only nice things to say about Romo.
"I like his approach," Johnson said. "He is a playmaker. I wouldn't mess with that. But I would sit down and have sessions with him to make sure he stays focused."
Johnson believes that not getting drafted and being forced to sit and watch for 3½ seasons has served Romo well. "He came up the hard way and that keeps him in check. Just like our 1-15 season kept us in check…Players who are stars all their lives and face little adversity sometimes aren't as hungry."
Johnson remained reluctant to compare the Super Bowl Cowboys of the 1990s to Wade Phillips' team. "But I'll say they have as much talents as anybody in the league and we probably had as much talent as anybody in the league although I did think San Francisco had more talent that first year (1992 season) we won the Super Bowl but the next year we were better."
Johnson has a special interest in one Cowboy. Johnson and linebacker Zach Thomas arrived in Miami together in 1996.
"I have a helmet in my weight room from Zach that says, "Thanks for making my dream come true and taking a chance on a little white boy from Texas."' Johnson said. "He's my guy. If you protect him, he will make plays."
But Johnson is not ready to hand the Cowboys a pass to the Super Bowl and the Vince Lombardi trophy.
"They have their work cut out for them," he said. "I picked the Cowboys to be Philadelphia but if the game had been in Philadelphia, I would have picked the Eagles. And we all saw what the Giants did last season.
"Football can be a funny game," Johnson said. "A year ago everybody was talking about the dominance of the AFC. Now look at it. They are playing the best football in the NFL in the NFC East…The Cowboys are well-coached. They are very talented. They just have to keep focused and not get too happy with themselves."
• • •
The Cowboys return to Fox on Sunday, which means Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will call the game. It's not quite a national telecast but it is just about as close as Fox can come on a Sunday afternoon. It is Fox's only late afternoon game and is scheduled to go to 96 percents of the country. CBS has a pair of 3 p.m. games – Bills at Rams and Chargers at Raiders – that will keep the Cowboys-Redskins out of St. Louis and the Bay Area.
posted by The Gryphon at 4:35 PM
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