Playmaker's plan for fixing Cowboys starts with come-to-Jimmy talk with T.O. and Tony Romo
by Tim MacMahon
Michael Irvin was the maddest man in the building the night the Cowboys closed Texas Stadium with a whimper. The Playmaker's passion for his former team still runs deep, which makes it especially interesting to hear him discuss how he'd get the Cowboys back on the right track.
A major part of his plan, which he detailed on his ESPN 103.3 show today, would be a stern talk with T.O. and Tony Romo.
"This conversation is going to be something like, 'Guys, I need you,'" Irvin said. "'I need you to give me what you got on the football field. All you have. I need you to lead this team in the locker room - make sure they are a team. I need that. If you're not going to give me that, those two things together - you don't have to be in love with each other, you don't have to smooch each other - if you're not going to give me that, let me know.
"'What I will not have - what I will not have - is at no time will I have you going at my offensive coordinator. The same offensive coordinator that got both of you paid mounds of money, and you're running to the press instead of running in here to talk. If you've got a problem, bring it in here and we'll talk it out. That's what teams do.'"
Irvin also had messages that he'd deliver one-on-one to the Cowboys' two highest-profile players.
To T.O.: "'We were getting ready to go down the road, on an end run to get to the playoffs, and all of this stuff started. If you ever do that again, I'm going to cut you on the spot and then I'm going to spread rumors about you to make sure you never play in this league again.' That's what Jimmy would do."
To Romo: "He will be held accountable in practice. If I don't see it in practice, if he doesn't look good in practice, it won't even have a chance to be shown on game day. That's just the bottom line."
Irvin's logic is that the Cowboys can't be fixed unless T.O. and Romo are on the same page and acting as positive influences in the locker room.
"I'm going to grab control of the head," Irvin said, "and the rest of the body will follow."
Sounds like a plan. Should Jerry Jones or Wade Phillips deliver the speeches?
Michael Irvin was the maddest man in the building the night the Cowboys closed Texas Stadium with a whimper. The Playmaker's passion for his former team still runs deep, which makes it especially interesting to hear him discuss how he'd get the Cowboys back on the right track.
A major part of his plan, which he detailed on his ESPN 103.3 show today, would be a stern talk with T.O. and Tony Romo.
"This conversation is going to be something like, 'Guys, I need you,'" Irvin said. "'I need you to give me what you got on the football field. All you have. I need you to lead this team in the locker room - make sure they are a team. I need that. If you're not going to give me that, those two things together - you don't have to be in love with each other, you don't have to smooch each other - if you're not going to give me that, let me know.
"'What I will not have - what I will not have - is at no time will I have you going at my offensive coordinator. The same offensive coordinator that got both of you paid mounds of money, and you're running to the press instead of running in here to talk. If you've got a problem, bring it in here and we'll talk it out. That's what teams do.'"
Irvin also had messages that he'd deliver one-on-one to the Cowboys' two highest-profile players.
To T.O.: "'We were getting ready to go down the road, on an end run to get to the playoffs, and all of this stuff started. If you ever do that again, I'm going to cut you on the spot and then I'm going to spread rumors about you to make sure you never play in this league again.' That's what Jimmy would do."
To Romo: "He will be held accountable in practice. If I don't see it in practice, if he doesn't look good in practice, it won't even have a chance to be shown on game day. That's just the bottom line."
Irvin's logic is that the Cowboys can't be fixed unless T.O. and Romo are on the same page and acting as positive influences in the locker room.
"I'm going to grab control of the head," Irvin said, "and the rest of the body will follow."
Sounds like a plan. Should Jerry Jones or Wade Phillips deliver the speeches?
posted by The Gryphon at 7:51 AM
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