Terrell Owens is an awesome receiver, I have never questioned his talent. But, anyone who watches football knows that TO’s mouth is bigger than his hands, and frankly, you can’t catch a football with your mouth!  I grew up a Dallas Cowboy fan, and used to like watch the cowboys play football but over the past few years I have totally lost interest and respect for their organization (all except for a few players like Felix Jones and Jason Whitten).

The fact that they have more talent on the field than any other team in the NFL and just can’t seem to get into the playoffs also reflects poor coaching in my opinion, and I feel like while Jones is handing out pink slips, he should probably hand one to his coach also. However, getting rid of TO is going to help out the organization a whole lot next year I believe.  I honestly can’t wait to see what happens next year…

IRVING, Texas – The Dallas Cowboys told wide receiver Terrell Owens Wednesday night he was going to be released, the club apparently ending more than two months of off-season speculation.

But as of 10:30 a.m. (CST) Thursday, no team official has confirmed numerous reports of his release, although several of Owens’ teammates said they received text messages last night from their teammate about the move. No press conference has yet to be announced to address not only Owens’ release but that too of veteran strong safety Roy Williams, who also has been informed of being released.

Following the disappointing end to the 2008 season a number of team sources told various media outlets the organization was split on the controversial receiver’s status. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones downplayed speculation the club was discussing a potential release of Owens. As recently as last weekend Jones was shrugging off direct questions about the reports.

"You and I both know that the one you’re asking about all the time, if I gave you the answer that you want to hear, then you would have already had it," Jones said during a Feb. 17 press conference to announce a George Strait concert to open the new Cowboys Stadium on June 6. "So the fact you don’t have it ought to tell you something."

As recent as last Thursday Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones would not comment on Owens’ status, and parried a question by saying, ""I didn’t say that anything like that, did I?"

Stephen Jones also disputed accusations he was trying to convince his father, Jerry Jones, to release Owens and that the two were at odds over the decision.

"That’s absolutely incorrect," Stephen Jones said. "That’s all I’ll tell you. That’s incorrect. We have our discussions but we never had – we’re on the same page, I can assure you of that."

Apparently the team decided Owens’ negative impact on the locker room weighed heavier than his three straight 1,000-yard, double-digit touchdown seasons. The outspoken receiver was often at the center of turmoil during his time in Dallas – from his first training camp with the team to the very end. Owens grabbed headlines for wearing a Tour de France-style cycling outfit while rehabbing a camp injury during his lone season with Bill Parcells in 2006, and most recently reports claimed he was irritated by quarterback Tony Romo’s relationship with tight end Jason Witten.

Heading into the final year of his initial three-year contract with the team, the Cowboys inked Owens to a four-year, $34 million extension last summer that included a $13 million signing bonus. Owens’ accelerated prorated signing bonus will count $9.6 million against the team’s salary cap this year, sending the team’s total of dead money for this season to nearly $15 million against the $127 million salary cap.

That number would soar close to $20 million with the expected release of strong safety Roy Williams, who would count another $4.4 million against the cap.

The Cowboys now have five receivers remaining on the roster. They traded three 2009 draft picks to Detroit for Roy Williams six weeks into last season, and still have five-year veteran Patrick Crayton, as well as two three-year veterans in Miles Austin and Sam Hurd. Isaiah Stanback is heading into his third year with the club.

Out Pattern

I know that there are probably in Denver with stronger feelings about this than I do but I sure didn’t see the firing of Mike Shanahan coming today, I really didn’t.  Sure, their season fell apart toward the end of the season, but who in the world are you going to get to replace him? 

Out of all of the bad coaches in the NFL, like the one in Dallas, why in the world would you want to fire a guy who has brought you two superbowls and numerous conference titles over the past 21 years??  This is certainly beyond me.  Again, I didn’t see this one coming…

I found this on ESPN.com:

The longtime face of the Denver Broncos will change.

The team announced on Tuesday that Mike Shanahan has been fired and will relinquish his duties as head coach and executive vice president of football operations.

In a statement, Broncos owner Pat Bowlen said: “After giving this careful consideration, I have concluded that a change in our football operations is in the best interests of the Denver Broncos. This is certainly a difficult decision, but one that I feel must be made and which will ultimately be in the best interests of all concerned.

Shanahan has coached the Broncos since 1995 and won back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1997 and 1998 seasons. But Denver has not made the playoffs in the last three years.

The Broncos collapsed this season, finishing 8-8 after having a three-game lead in the division. With the AFC West title on the line, the Broncos were routed by the Chargers 52-21 on Sunday.

“I appreciate the 21 years that Mike Shanahan has given to the organization as an assistant and head coach, and the two Super Bowl wins in that time,” Bowlen said. “His contributions hold a special place in Broncos history.”

Bowlen said that the team will hold a news conference on Wednesday morning to make the announcement, and Shanahan will speak shortly thereafter.

ESPN – Denver Broncos fire Mike Shanahan after season falls apart

Last night I watched the best football game I have seen in a while.  And no, it wasn’t a close game by any means, it was actually a blowout that probably could have been stopped early in the 3rd quarter for humanitarian reasons but it continued.  I DVR’d the game and watched it over again.

I grew up watching the Cowboy’s play ball, in fact I remember Staubach and Danny White leading the Boy’s onto the field w/ a team of men behind them.  I even had a pair of Tony Dorsett cleats that I used to wear to school w/ the little blue star on the side.  They were a man’s team, you never heard of any bickering between the players, it was kept under wraps. 

Today, you have guys like T.O. who’s mouth won’t close no matter how hard he tries.  Just about the only bright spot on the entire Texas team in my opinion is Witten, and he is just plain tough! While my reasons for disliking the Dallas Cowboys are complicated this story posted on the Star Telegram this morning summarizes a lot of my thoughts. 

The great thing about being on vacation is catching up on the old DVR. I have taped eight episodes of the fantastic NFL series America’s Game. It does an excellent job of chronicling past Super Bowl champions.

I watched the 2000 Baltimore Ravens on Christmas Eve. Trent Dilfer quarterbacked that team to a win over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.

Near the end of the program Dilfer said something that completely broke down why the 2008 Dallas Cowboys have been such underachievers with a 9-6 record going into Sunday’s final regular-season game.

“If I could preach to the world for 10 seconds,” said Dilfer, now retired from football and working at ESPN, “it would be substance over glamour. That team [the 2000 Ravens] had great substance.”

There you go, Cowboys fans. There is a problem at Valley Ranch. You can see that lots of glamour and the lack of substance has the Cowboys on the verge of missing the playoffs.

How sad that a team with so much talent is hoping to sneak into the postseason as a wild card needing a win in Philadelphia. Did I mention the Cowboys have lost their past eight regular-season finales?

Substance over glamour. Man, that’s just sums up what makes this franchise ill.

The owner-general manager craves glamour and wants it in his players and all around his team.

Jerry Jones granted NFL Films and HBO a second shot to feature his club on their training-camp reality show Hard Knocks.

Jones has a glamour quarterback in Tony Romo, who dates a celebrity singer/actress in Jessica Simpson. These days the opinions of Romo come in two selections: favorable or overrated.

Wide receiver Terrell Owens is a glamour receiver with issues.

Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware is leading the league in sacks and seems to jump offside every single week.

Cornerback Terence Newman is highly paid and seems to be injury-prone.

Linebacker Bobby Carpenter, a first round pick in 2006, is a bust.

Tackle Flozell Adams cashed in a new deal and went from a Pro Bowler in 2007 to average this year.

Ken Hamlin went from a great leader in the secondary playing for a new deal to a rich man whiffing on touchdown-saving tackles at the end of the loss to Baltimore.

Forty-year-old Brad Johnson stole money as a backup QB and produced a losing record while Romo was out with a pinkie injury.

People tune in to see America’s Team. The Cowboys are still a ratings hit. This season the fans have been treated to watching the most penalized club in the NFL. Atrocious special-teams coverage and breakdowns. Suspect offensive play-calling from the highest paid assistant in the game and a head coach who refuses to say a negative word about his players’ inconsistent performance all season.

Wade Phillips’ second Cowboys team has been described as “sloppy,” “undisciplined” and “overrated.” It’s sad, really, because Phillips is a good man who knows the game inside and out, but he might be overmatched as a head coach.

Unless this club can win Sunday and get on a postseason run, Phillips will go down as another Lindy Infante — a great coordinator, but a big disappointment as a head coach.

The Cowboys have too many good football players on their roster for Jones to accept this season’s performance. Changes must be made.

If Phillips is sent packing, Jason Garrett has not earned the head coaching job, because his performance as the offensive coordinator was average.

Arizona offensive coordinator Todd Haley should get another look as the head coach by Jones. He knows the Cowboys’ personnel from his time here as the receivers coach. If Romeo Crennel is let go in Cleveland, he would be the right man to run the defense.

Next season the Cowboys need to dump the glamour and add substance to the organization.

Newy Scruggs is the sports director at NBC

5.

Dallas Cowboys must cut out the glamour and add some substance | Dallas Cowboys | Star-Telegram.com

I just got finished reading an article on CNN this morning that the Super Bowl may have beaten last years ratings by 6%, here’s a link to the article (Super Bowl may have set ratings record – CNN.com).  I am not for sure about the ratings hike but I definitely know it was a much better football game in my opinion.  It might have been the best Super Bowl in modern memory.  I bet the spike in viewers had a lot to do with the Patriots undefeated streak moreso than anything the Giants may have done during the season, at any rate the Giants fought their way to an impressive victory.