From meager beginnings to America's Team

Fred Goodwin, CMA · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 75

From meager beginnings to America's Team

474965.html>
http://tinyurl.com/32fel4

Friday, Feb 15, 2008
By RAY BUCK

The 1960 Cowboys opened for business on a song and a prayer ... and 22
players taken in the expansion draft.

These acquisitions were older players, injured players, expendable
players. They occupied the bottom nine spots on the rosters of the 12
existing NFL teams.

But the fledgling Cowboys couldn't be picky.

The lifeblood of their first NFL season would have to come from these
108 names. (No wonder the '60 Cowboys went 0-11-1.)

"We got 24 hours to make our selections," recalled Gil Brandt, the
Cowboys' longtime personnel man before Jerry Jones bought the team in
1989. "Remember, we got a team too late to get in on the college draft
that first year."

There hasn't been an NFL expansion team, before or since, to not have
the benefit of a college draft.

[excerpted]

Archived from group: alt>sports>football>pro>dallas-cowboys

bushlyed · Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 13

On Feb 15, 7:21 pm, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
> From meager beginnings to America's Team
>
> > 474965.html>http://tinyurl.com/32fel4
>
> Friday, Feb 15, 2008
> By RAY BUCK
>
> The 1960 Cowboys opened for business on a song and a prayer ... and 22
> players taken in the expansion draft.
>
> These acquisitions were older players, injured players, expendable
> players. They occupied the bottom nine spots on the rosters of the 12
> existing NFL teams.
>
> But the fledgling Cowboys couldn't be picky.
>
> The lifeblood of their first NFL season would have to come from these
> 108 names. (No wonder the '60 Cowboys went 0-11-1.)
>
> "We got 24 hours to make our selections," recalled Gil Brandt, the
> Cowboys' longtime personnel man before Jerry Jones bought the team in
> 1989. "Remember, we got a team too late to get in on the college draft
> that first year."
>
> There hasn't been an NFL expansion team, before or since, to not have
> the benefit of a college draft.
>
> [excerpted]

And unfortunately back to meager

Voice-of-Reason · Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 8

bushlyed wrote:
> On Feb 15, 7:21 pm, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>> From meager beginnings to America's Team
>>
>>
>
> And unfortunately back to meager

I would have to argue that 13-3 is a little less meager than 0-11-1...

trw343 · Joined: 04 Jan 2008 Posts: 33

"Voice-of-Reason" wrote in message $Ch6.10179@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
> bushlyed wrote:
>> On Feb 15, 7:21 pm, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>>> From meager beginnings to America's Team
>>>
>>>
>>
>> And unfortunately back to meager
>
> I would have to argue that 13-3 is a little less meager than 0-11-1...

What a moron.

LOL

Voice-of-Reason · Joined: 14 Jan 2008 Posts: 8

trw343 wrote:
> "Voice-of-Reason" wrote in message
> $Ch6.10179@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
>> bushlyed wrote:
>>> On Feb 15, 7:21 pm, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>>>> From meager beginnings to America's Team
>>>>
>>>>
>>> And unfortunately back to meager
>> I would have to argue that 13-3 is a little less meager than 0-11-1...
>
> What a moron.
>
> LOL
>
Hmmm...I would say the person who thinks 13-3 (two of those losses
against the toughest division in the NFL) is meager is not very
intuitive...but I don't think I would call them a moron...

trw343 · Joined: 04 Jan 2008 Posts: 33

"Voice-of-Reason" wrote in message $Ch6.474@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
> trw343 wrote:
>> "Voice-of-Reason" wrote in message
>> $Ch6.10179@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
>>> bushlyed wrote:
>>>> On Feb 15, 7:21 pm, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
>>>>> From meager beginnings to America's Team
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> And unfortunately back to meager
>>> I would have to argue that 13-3 is a little less meager than 0-11-1...
>>
>> What a moron.
>>
>> LOL
> Hmmm...I would say the person who thinks 13-3 (two of those losses against
> the toughest division in the NFL) is meager is not very intuitive...but I
> don't think I would call them a moron...

txLOLtx

observer · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 196

"Voice-of-Reason" wrote ...
> trw343 wrote:
> > "Voice-of-Reason" wrote in message
> > $Ch6.10179@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
> >> bushlyed wrote:
> >>> On Feb 15, 7:21 pm, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
> >>>> From meager beginnings to America's Team
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>> And unfortunately back to meager
> >> I would have to argue that 13-3 is a little less meager than 0-11-1...
> >
> > What a moron.
> >
> > LOL
> >
> Hmmm...I would say the person who thinks 13-3 (two of those losses
> against the toughest division in the NFL) is meager is not very
> intuitive...but I don't think I would call them a moron...

Technically, even after playoff records are included,
the AFC South ended up with the best overall record
in 2007. Of course, the end game, the New York Giants
ended up the best NFL team.

For the Cowboys to transition from their longest-ever
playoff winless streak -to- a team capable of winning
most games after Thanksgiving -and- at least one play-
off game after the regular season ends, something must
change.

GM? Not going to happen.

Owner? Nah.

Head Coach? Not likely this year.

Assistant Coaches? Changes have been made, but whe-
ther or not those changes will improve the end season
results, unknown.

Players? There's some opportunity for free agent acqui-
sitions and draft picks (22 & 28 + 2nd, 3rd, & 4th rounders)
that may improve the Cowboys' late season performance,
-but- it remains to be seen how well the Cowboys will
measure up in making pivotal decisions in those areas.

With the primary constant (as owner/GM) remaining, -and-
with yet another late season fall-off (the latest in a long
series of post-Thanksgiving struggles), optimism will likely
be viewed as premature unless -or- until the Cowboys actu-
ally win more post-Thanksgiving games than they lose, and
until they actually win a playoff game (ending their NFL
record-tying 6 playoff game losing streak).

---

bushlyed · Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 13

On Feb 16, 2:37 pm, "observer" wrote:
> "Voice-of-Reason" wrote ...
>
>
>
>
>
> > trw343 wrote:
> > > "Voice-of-Reason" wrote in message
> > >$Ch6.10179@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net...
> > >> bushlyed wrote:
> > >>> On Feb 15, 7:21 pm, "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote:
> > >>>> From meager beginnings to America's Team
>
> > >>> And unfortunately back to meager
> > >> I would have to argue that 13-3 is a little less meager than 0-11-1....
>
> > > What a moron.
>
> > > LOL
>
> > Hmmm...I would say the person who thinks 13-3 (two of those losses
> > against the toughest division in the NFL) is meager is not very
> > intuitive...but I don't think I would call them a moron...
>
> Technically, even after playoff records are included,
> the AFC South ended up with the best overall record
> in 2007. Of course, the end game, the New York Giants
> ended up the best NFL team.
>
> For the Cowboys to transition from their longest-ever
> playoff winless streak -to- a team capable of winning
> most games after Thanksgiving -and- at least one play-
> off game after the regular season ends, something must
> change.
>
> GM? Not going to happen.
>
> Owner? Nah.
>
> Head Coach? Not likely this year.
>
> Assistant Coaches? Changes have been made, but whe-
> ther or not those changes will improve the end season
> results, unknown.
>
> Players? There's some opportunity for free agent acqui-
> sitions and draft picks (22 & 28 + 2nd, 3rd, & 4th rounders)
> that may improve the Cowboys' late season performance,
> -but- it remains to be seen how well the Cowboys will
> measure up in making pivotal decisions in those areas.
>
> With the primary constant (as owner/GM) remaining, -and-
> with yet another late season fall-off (the latest in a long
> series of post-Thanksgiving struggles), optimism will likely
> be viewed as premature unless -or- until the Cowboys actu-
> ally win more post-Thanksgiving games than they lose, and
> until they actually win a playoff game (ending their NFL
> record-tying 6 playoff game losing streak).
>
> ---- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Contrast the last seasons to the Landry/Jimmy Johnson years.

I have never seen a team as well prepared as a Tom Landry play-off
team. Remember the 1982 NFC Championship game against San Francisco;
there is no way the Cowboys should have made that game even close but
Tom Landry's preparation was impeccable and his decision making during
the game was outstanding (remember the field goal he grabbed when many
would have gone for a first down/TD). The calmed the team, gave them
points and confidence.

Landry and Johnson had the team at their prime at the END of the
season. Always. Look at the 1975 Minnesota playoff game or the 1981
game at Atlanta when Atlanta should have gone to the Super Bowl. Both
of these were in rebuilding years.

Admittedly, Johnson had teams that were so talented there was no way
they should have lost (but so did Wade Phillips against the Giants).
But so did Switzer and he found himself 21 points down to SF in the
Championship game before that idiot got his finger out of his ass.

Fred Goodwin, CMA · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 75

On Feb 16, 7:03 pm, bushlyed wrote:

> I have never seen a team as well prepared as a Tom Landry
> play-off team. Remember the 1982 NFC Championship game against
> San Francisco; there is no way the Cowboys should have made that
> game even close but Tom Landry's preparation was impeccable and
> his decision making during the game was outstanding (remember the
> field goal he grabbed when many would have gone for a first
> down/TD). The calmed the team, gave them points and confidence.

It's worth remembering that even Landry-coached teams lost opening-
round playoff games at home in 1966 (to the world champion Packers),
in 1969 (vs. the Browns), in 1976 (vs. the Rams), in 1979 (Rams
again), and in 1983 (those pesky Rams again -- I saw that horrible
game).

> Landry and Johnson had the team at their prime at the END of the
> season. Always. Look at the 1975 Minnesota playoff game or the
> 1981 game at Atlanta when Atlanta should have gone to the Super
> Bowl. Both of these were in rebuilding years.

Its true that Landry emphasized winning in December, and getting on a
roll going into the playoffs. But let's not ignore history while we
look back through rose-colored glasses.

The '67 Cowboys were 1-2 in regular season games in December; the '82
Cowboys were 2-2 in Dec-Jan before entering the playoffs; the '83
Cowboys were 1-2 in Dec, losing the the last two in a row before
losing to the Rams at home in the divisional round; that pitiful
performance was repeated in '85 (the Cowboys last playoff run under
Landry), going 1-2 in December before losing to the Rams on the road
in the divisional round.

Re: Landry's game management: his lifetime record speaks for itself.
Still, there were times in critical games when Landry let things get
away from him, either calling the wrong play or making the wrong
substitution.

Having WR Bob Hayes in on 4th and goal against the Packers in the '66
NFL Championship is just one example. The TE, Frank Clarke should
have been in the game instead of Hayes, to block down on the blitzing
LB. Clarke could have chipped him then gone out into the pattern of
Meredith's run-pass option.

Instead, Hayes gave a "look-out" block, LB Robinson blitzed free, and
Meredith had no chance to get the desperation pass to the receiver (in
this case, Hayes). Landry controlled the substitution packages and
forgot that he had Hayes in the game.

Admittedly, that's just one example from the Cowboy's first ever
playoff game. Nonetheless, Landry had the habit of throwing his
players under the bus when things did not go according to plan. If
the Cowboys lost, the problem was never his coaching, game-planning,
play-calling or clock management -- it was always a lack of execution
by the players.

That's one of the reasons (in addition to the lack of support from
fans and the Dallas media) that Meredith quit after the '68 season
after only nine years in the NFL.

Look, I'm the biggest Tom Landry fan there is. As a person, he was a
saint as far as I'm concerned. But ask the players who were there at
the time, and they'll tell you Tom didn't always have things as under
control as he wanted us to believe.

Olin · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

"Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote in message @64g2000hsw.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 16, 7:03 pm, bushlyed wrote:
>
>> I have never seen a team as well prepared as a Tom Landry
>> play-off team. Remember the 1982 NFC Championship game against
>> San Francisco; there is no way the Cowboys should have made that
>> game even close but Tom Landry's preparation was impeccable and
>> his decision making during the game was outstanding (remember the
>> field goal he grabbed when many would have gone for a first
>> down/TD). The calmed the team, gave them points and confidence.
>
> It's worth remembering that even Landry-coached teams lost opening-
> round playoff games at home in 1966 (to the world champion Packers),
> in 1969 (vs. the Browns), in 1976 (vs. the Rams), in 1979 (Rams
> again), and in 1983 (those pesky Rams again -- I saw that horrible
> game).
>

There's little use in recalling the truth of the past. It's all been covered
up and Landry is rising, once again, to sainthood among the fans who
regularly called for his head damned near every year he coached in Dallas.
Yes, they lost games they should have won too, and yes they had players who
wandered off the reservation, sometimes a looooong way off the reservation.

It's just too easy to blame Wade Phillips, or Jerry Jones, or Tony Romo and
his girlfriend, or Roy Williams, and completely forget 13-3 OR that two
receivers dropped at least three sure touchdowns in a four point loss.

Yeah, Crayton and Fasano are part of the favorite goat parade, but the truth
is, Romo, that QB who pays soooo much more attention to his girlfriend and
soooo obviously wasn't "prepared," simply hit the two of them in the hands
twice (for drops) and threw a perfect strike on a fade route that Crayton
GAVE UP ON.

But hey, it's all Wade's fault... or Jerry's fault... or Romo's fault... or
Roy Willy's fault and those Giants never did nothing to put themselves into
a position to win that game at all. Wade, Jerry, Romo and Roy just handed it
over to them and, oh yeah, Tom Landry never made a mistake in any game he
ever played in or coached.

Fred Goodwin, CMA · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 75

On Feb 17, 4:41 pm, "Olin" wrote:
>
> There's little use in recalling the truth of the past. It's all been
> covered up and Landry is rising, once again, to sainthood among the
> fans who regularly called for his head damned near every year he
> coached in Dallas.

I was one of thsee who complained that the game had passed Landry by,
and I think we were right. But I was also very disappointed that
Jerry bought the team and hired Johnson right out of college. I'm
pleased to admit I was wrong about the JJs, but even though I thought
it was time for Landry to go, when it actually happened, I had a hard
time dealing with it.

Olin · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

"Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote in message @e60g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 17, 4:41 pm, "Olin" wrote:
>>
>> There's little use in recalling the truth of the past. It's all been
>> covered up and Landry is rising, once again, to sainthood among the
>> fans who regularly called for his head damned near every year he
>> coached in Dallas.
>
> I was one of thsee who complained that the game had passed Landry by,
> and I think we were right. But I was also very disappointed that
> Jerry bought the team and hired Johnson right out of college. I'm
> pleased to admit I was wrong about the JJs, but even though I thought
> it was time for Landry to go, when it actually happened, I had a hard
> time dealing with it.

Wholeheartedly agree that the game had passed Landry by at that point in
time. Frankly, I did not much care who bought the team, as Bum Bright may
have been the least concerned and/or interested owner in the history of
professional sports, so anything at all was gonna be an improvement.

But that's not specifically what I was referring to. You cannot point to a
single moment in time where there was not a group of fans and no few
sportswriters calling for his head during his entire stay in Dallas, not
even after Murchison tried to quiet 'em all down with that ten year contract
extension.

I didn't much care for the way he got fired either, but recall this... Bum
Bright tried to make it a condition of sale that HE get to fire Landry
personally, and Jones said no, it was his problem. He then proceeded to
handle it badly, but not without help from Tom.

If you were managing a company and the new owner was coming to town to take
over, which would you do... stick around to see if you still had a job, or
go play in a golf event? Landry chose golf and was in Austin while Jerry was
looking for him.

Even after all that settled down and Jerry decided that everybody was right
and that Tom Landry deserved a spot in the Ring of Honor, Landry dismissed
him so many times that even his closest friend told him that HE was starting
to look like the bad guy.

Yeah, Jerry could have handled it all much, much better, and he's admitted
that several times. Thing is, Tom could have helped in that process and as
far as I know he never admitted that at all.

Fred Goodwin, CMA · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 75

On Feb 17, 7:52 pm, "Olin" wrote:

> Yeah, Jerry could have handled it all much, much better, and he's
> admitted that several times. Thing is, Tom could have helped in that
> process and as far as I know he never admitted that at all.

Indeed -- like I said, Tom wasn't always the saint he's made out to be.

Olin · Joined: 06 Aug 2007 Posts: 37

"Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote in message @60g2000hsy.googlegroups.com...
> On Feb 17, 7:52 pm, "Olin" wrote:
>
>> Yeah, Jerry could have handled it all much, much better, and he's
>> admitted that several times. Thing is, Tom could have helped in that
>> process and as far as I know he never admitted that at all.
>
> Indeed -- like I said, Tom wasn't always the saint he's made out to be.

Never intended to say that YOU had said such. Others have, and my whole
point was that it's useless to argue with them.

The past is always better than the present or the future, never mind that
13-3 has happened exactly twice in the Cowboys' history... even if it wasn't
always.

DoctorElefant · Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 83

On Feb 17, 7:52 pm, "Olin" wrote:
> "Fred Goodwin, CMA" wrote in message@e60g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
>
> > On Feb 17, 4:41 pm, "Olin" wrote:
>
> >> There's little use in recalling the truth of the past. It's all been
> >> covered up and Landry is rising, once again, to sainthood among the
> >> fans who regularly called for his head damned near every year he
> >> coached in Dallas.
>
> > I was one of thsee who complained that the game had passed Landry by,
> > and I think we were right. But I was also very disappointed that
> > Jerry bought the team and hired Johnson right out of college. I'm
> > pleased to admit I was wrong about the JJs, but even though I thought
> > it was time for Landry to go, when it actually happened, I had a hard
> > time dealing with it.
>
> Wholeheartedly agree that the game had passed Landry by at that point in
> time. Frankly, I did not much care who bought the team, as Bum Bright may
> have been the least concerned and/or interested owner in the history of
> professional sports, so anything at all was gonna be an improvement.
>
> But that's not specifically what I was referring to. You cannot point to a
> single moment in time where there was not a group of fans and no few
> sportswriters calling for his head during his entire stay in Dallas, not
> even after Murchison tried to quiet 'em all down with that ten year contract
> extension.
>
> I didn't much care for the way he got fired either, but recall this... Bum
> Bright tried to make it a condition of sale that HE get to fire Landry
> personally, and Jones said no, it was his problem. He then proceeded to
> handle it badly, but not without help from Tom.
>
> If you were managing a company and the new owner was coming to town to take
> over, which would you do... stick around to see if you still had a job, or
> go play in a golf event? Landry chose golf and was in Austin while Jerry was
> looking for him.
>
> Even after all that settled down and Jerry decided that everybody was right
> and that Tom Landry deserved a spot in the Ring of Honor, Landry dismissed
> him so many times that even his closest friend told him that HE was starting
> to look like the bad guy.
>
> Yeah, Jerry could have handled it all much, much better, and he's admitted
> that several times. Thing is, Tom could have helped in that process and as
> far as I know he never admitted that at all.

I find it interesting to see what you guys have to say about the
Landry firing. I was never a Cowboys fan, but I was always happy for
Landry when they won, and I lived in Dallas when this went down.

To me, with a resume that included 20 consecutive winning seasons,
Landry could have gone golfing on Jupiter and not had to worry about
his job. I understood that the word was the new ownership wanted to
bring in their own people, but I didn't understand how in the world
Jones didn't come up with some better plan to change coaches. I really
expected Jones to kick Landry upstairs or talk him into retiring, but
I was totally shocked when I heard he was just fired like some common
coach, and how it seemed to be done through the press more than in-
person.

--------------------------------------------------
DocE

"The future ain't what it used to be." -Yogi Berra
--------------------------------------------------

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