DMN Blog: Troy Aikman has one problem with the way Cowboys cut T.O.
by Tim MacMahon
Troy Aikman believes in addition by subtraction, so he was on board with Jerry Jones' decision to boot T.O. from Valley Ranch.
But Aikman didn't like the way it was announced. He thought Jerry did his franchise quarterback a disservice by publicly vowing to make the Cowboys "Romo friendly" days before releasing T.O.
"I don't know that it's Romo friendly," Aikman said this afternoon. "I think maybe terming it better would be quarterback friendly, whether it's Tony Romo or anybody else. Based on saying, 'Hey, we want to make it Romo friendly,' I think that takes away from why the decision was made.
"I do know this: When you lose a guy like Terrell Owens, you're losing a pretty talented guy. The decision was apparently made that losing a talented player, there would be addition by subtraction because of some of the things that had gone on, whether it be in the locker room or during the course of the ballgame and some of the distractions.
"Time will tell, but with that decision, there's no question that it puts a lot of pressure squarely on the shoulders of Tony Romo, based on the way that decision was announced."
While Aikman has reservations about the Cowboys' remaining receivers -- especially Roy Williams -- he believes that letting T.O. go was in the best interests of the team.
"When there's pressure on an organization to try to make a player happy," Aikman said, "that is not how you win football games."
Count Aikman among those who believed that the circus atmosphere that surrounded T.O. took a negative toll on the team.
T.O. didn't publicly point fingers during the Romo/Jason Witten/T.O. triangle drama. However, he did blow up on the sideline in Pittsburgh. Romo and Witten each accepted blame for the interception that decided the game, while T.O. made sure the world knew that he was open on the play.
T.O. also blasted offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who happens to be Aikman's good friend, during a carefully orchestrated interview with NFL Network's Deion Sanders on the heel of a huge win in Washington. That sort of thing definitely didn't sit well with Aikman.
"I played with a guy who wanted the ball every play as well in Michael Irvin," Aikman said. "But there was never a confrontation between he and I on why he wasn't getting the ball, and he didn't always get a lot of balls in his direction. He understood why it was happening, and I certainly never had to read about it in the papers or he wasn't constantly asked by the media, hoping that they could get a sensational sound bite that would run on the evening news that night.
"I think there's just a lot of drama that gets taken out of the equation. There's frustrations within every locker room, but that's where it should stay, and I think how some of those things were handled presented a problem.
"Hopefully, whether it's Jason Garrett or Tony Romo or Jason Witten or any of the other players, they're just going to go play and recognize that from week-to-week we're going to do what gives us the best chance to win. I've always believed that if you win, that should be good enough. My career was based on that.
"I really don't have a lot of good things to say about anybody who comes out and vocalizes their displeasure because they're not getting more passes or more throws or more carries. To me, that's not what this game is about."
That's not what the Cowboys are about any more, either.
Troy Aikman believes in addition by subtraction, so he was on board with Jerry Jones' decision to boot T.O. from Valley Ranch.
But Aikman didn't like the way it was announced. He thought Jerry did his franchise quarterback a disservice by publicly vowing to make the Cowboys "Romo friendly" days before releasing T.O.
"I don't know that it's Romo friendly," Aikman said this afternoon. "I think maybe terming it better would be quarterback friendly, whether it's Tony Romo or anybody else. Based on saying, 'Hey, we want to make it Romo friendly,' I think that takes away from why the decision was made.
"I do know this: When you lose a guy like Terrell Owens, you're losing a pretty talented guy. The decision was apparently made that losing a talented player, there would be addition by subtraction because of some of the things that had gone on, whether it be in the locker room or during the course of the ballgame and some of the distractions.
"Time will tell, but with that decision, there's no question that it puts a lot of pressure squarely on the shoulders of Tony Romo, based on the way that decision was announced."
While Aikman has reservations about the Cowboys' remaining receivers -- especially Roy Williams -- he believes that letting T.O. go was in the best interests of the team.
"When there's pressure on an organization to try to make a player happy," Aikman said, "that is not how you win football games."
Count Aikman among those who believed that the circus atmosphere that surrounded T.O. took a negative toll on the team.
T.O. didn't publicly point fingers during the Romo/Jason Witten/T.O. triangle drama. However, he did blow up on the sideline in Pittsburgh. Romo and Witten each accepted blame for the interception that decided the game, while T.O. made sure the world knew that he was open on the play.
T.O. also blasted offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who happens to be Aikman's good friend, during a carefully orchestrated interview with NFL Network's Deion Sanders on the heel of a huge win in Washington. That sort of thing definitely didn't sit well with Aikman.
"I played with a guy who wanted the ball every play as well in Michael Irvin," Aikman said. "But there was never a confrontation between he and I on why he wasn't getting the ball, and he didn't always get a lot of balls in his direction. He understood why it was happening, and I certainly never had to read about it in the papers or he wasn't constantly asked by the media, hoping that they could get a sensational sound bite that would run on the evening news that night.
"I think there's just a lot of drama that gets taken out of the equation. There's frustrations within every locker room, but that's where it should stay, and I think how some of those things were handled presented a problem.
"Hopefully, whether it's Jason Garrett or Tony Romo or Jason Witten or any of the other players, they're just going to go play and recognize that from week-to-week we're going to do what gives us the best chance to win. I've always believed that if you win, that should be good enough. My career was based on that.
"I really don't have a lot of good things to say about anybody who comes out and vocalizes their displeasure because they're not getting more passes or more throws or more carries. To me, that's not what this game is about."
That's not what the Cowboys are about any more, either.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:17 PM
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