farg Dallas! Thread

[ice grillin you]

its real in the field son

[phattymatty]

i would be great if parcells actually rapes TO at some point this year.

[PhillyPhreak54]

From the Dallas Cowboys website writer

IRVING, Texas - The day, Sept. 24, 2000. The place, Texas Stadium. The game, Dallas-San Francisco, once the marquee matchup of the '90's - the class of the NFL.

Oh the shame.

"It just wasn't right," Cowboys linebacker Darrin Hambrick said afterward.
No it wasn't. None of it. Disgraceful.

The behavior was appalling. So disrespectful, lips became seriously pursed. Jaws locked, molars grinding together. Sickening is what it was.

Couldn't believe it, just couldn't believe it. Neither could the owner. In all his born days, Jerry Jones never thought he would witness such. Neither could the first-year head coach Dave Campo, the career assistant who thought he had seen it all in his day. And neither could many of the Cowboys players, some of their disbelief turning into latter-game anger.

Had nearly forgotten this ugly incident, but was reminded by the Cowboys' signing of one Terrell Owens on Saturday. Yep, it all started coming back, every bit of it - all the ugly details.

For this was the day the Dallas Cowboys fans, in their own stadium, lustily booed Troy Aikman. Not a catcall here and there. Not an isolated incident. But the majority of the 64,000 people present that afternoon booing - and I mean booing - Troy Aikman every time he stepped on the field, from the very first possession before he had even taken a snap from center to the very last.

Worse, this despicable action was premeditated. There's the picture in the paper of the man boldly standing holding this sign: "Bench Aikman." He didn't just make the sign in the stands that day as the Cowboys began falling further and further behind the hapless 49ers in the eventual 41-24 loss to their previously winless counterparts from the West Coast, who had lost 14 of their previous 15 games.

Worse than all this, the so-called Dallas Cowboys faithful had the nerve to start chanting - during the game, with Aikman on the field - for Randall Cunningham. Seriously. Randall Cunningham, of all things, the Philadelphia Eagles former quarterback who landed in Dallas for only that season, picking up another year's pay as a backup - who in the end, didn't really want to back-up those final games when Aikman suffered his final NFL concussion.

That's right. A whole bunch of you sanctimonious, supposedly card-carrying Cowboys fans now want to turn in your blue star because Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells have welcomed Owens into the fold with a three-year, $25 million contract. How could they, you are screaming on the radio and in e-mails here on DallasCowboys.com, after how Owens disgraced, disrespected, dissed the entire Cowboys franchise by twice posturing on the midfield blue star after scoring touchdowns.

Please.

You want to talk about disgrace, do you? How about the Cowboys fans that day booing a quarterback who had led the franchise to three Super Bowl victories in four years? Booing the quarterback who helped resurrect a downtrodden franchise into the Team of the 90's? Booing the quarterback who would land in the team's esteemed Ring of Honor and then become a first-ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer?

What, you forgot? Selective amnesia?

Nice.

The poor guy, in his 12th NFL season, had suffered a concussion in the season opener. Was not allowed to play in Game 2, a Cowboys' 32-31 loss to Arizona, nor Game 3, a 27-21 win over, who else, but Washington, about the only team the Cowboys could beat during those lean years.

But when Aikman returned in Game 4, the boo-birds were out in force, turning on the quarterback who had given them so much to cheer about for a quarterback who had spent his career trying to beat in the brains of the Cowboys.

Guess all the fans cared about was winning. No loyalty whatsoever. No regard for feelings. No respect.

Traitors?

"The fans are terrible," Hambrick would go on to say.

Aikman, though, class to the bitter end. He would soft-shoe the entire ugly scene, saying that came with the territory. In fact, he said he had mentally prepared for such reactions before the game. Hey, he knew the Cowboys had won the last game under Cunningham's guidance and had nearly won the previous game.

Yet, that's how you treat the team's Hall of Fame quarterback.

So pardon me, but give me a break on the Owens thing, on how he can't be forgiven for raising his arms to the sky after scoring those two touchdowns and racing to the midfield star. On how it's an insult to lifetime Cowboys fans for bringing him into the fold.

Come on.

Yeah, yeah, what he did that day, rubbing it in with his all-about-me celebration, was rather self-absorbing and classless. Probably even childish, especially the second time when the all of one-yard touchdown grab gave San Francisco a 41-17 lead with just 4:05 remaining in an already-decided game.

And he paid for his actions, 49ers head coach Steve Mariucci suspending him one game, which cost T. O. $24,294, then admonishing him by saying, "It disturbs me when the integrity of the game is compromised."

But you know what, the integrity of the game already had been compromised. Emmitt Smith had already returned to the star of a little get-back celebration right before halftime. Darren Woodson, miffed at a non-call, got himself tossed from the game in the fourth quarter and then set the land-record for helmet toss before he left. Then George Teague, heralded as a hero, belted Owens after the second celebration, touching off a near brawl at midfield.

And before the field was cleared of all this debris, there were Campo and Mariucci at midfield apologizing to each other for the actions of their teams.

In fact, afterward former Cowboys special teams coach Joe Avezzano, who was then in his 11th season with the Cowboys, shook his head in the locker room, saying, "It was embarrassing that a Dallas-San Francisco game would display so many inappropriate actions."

He meant T.O.

He meant Teague.

He meant Emmitt.

He meant Woody.

He probably meant the Cowboys' defense allowing Charlie Garner, about in his rocking chair, to rush for 201 yards.

And you know what? I know for a fact he meant the booing of Troy Freakin' Aikman by the Cowboys fans.

Ya'll booed, those of you who were at the game. Booed Aikman as if that were Ryan Leaf out on the field. You wanted the guy who had been laying tile for a year to quarterback your team, and when they needed him at the end, he feigned some silly injury, forcing Campo to play Anthony Wright, not only to mop up the Washington game when Aikman was drilled the final time in the NFL, but to start his first two NFL games in the final two against Washington and then on Christmas night at Tennessee. That's who you wanted instead of your quarterback.

So give me a break.

If you want to distance yourself from the Cowboys for signing Owens because of how he acted in Philadelphia, fine. If you want to quit buying tickets to the games at Texas Stadium because you refuse to watch Owens play, fine. If you want to throw away all your Cowboys memorabilia because Owens has been a bad teammate and disruptive force in both San Francisco and Philadelphia, be my guest.

But don't come in here with this weak stuff about the star incident. Please. That was 5½ years ago. Owens wasn't the first guy to rub-it-in and he won't be the last. Man, good thing there wasn't free agency back in the 70's. You guys might have torpedoed a taterskin had Tom Landry had the audacity to sign one here.

Guys, this is football, not a civil war. This is big, big bidness, not some petty Hatfields and McCoys struggle. If the guy who owns that midfield star can forgive and forget, then what's your problem?

Just be careful labeling Jerry Jones a win-at-all-costs owner. On this day, Sept. 24, 2000, a whole bunch of you were as bad, if not worse. No allegiance. No regard for feelings. Short memories. Just win for me.

Ya'll booed Troy Aikman.

Owens, he was almost comic relief on a pitiful day in Cowboys history.

But calling for Cunningham to replace Aikman, that's what I'll most remember from that day. And that's shameful.

[PhillyGirl]

5 1/2 years ago?

Did that writer forget TO on the star in the endzones in 2004?

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

His point still stands, though.  Cowboys fans are classless hicks.

[BigEd76]

Don't know if it was mentioned already, but apparently there's some whispers that the first NBC Sunday night game will be Dallas @ Philly...

[SunMo]

IGY called it as Monday Night, but Sunday night is the same thing anyway, in fact it's better now, being that it's on network

[MDS]

could be. were not opening up the season on thursday, but it wouldnt shock me for the nfl to jump all on the TO train.

[Feva]

It'd honestly shock me if we didn't open against Dallas in a primetime game... and if the 2nd game isn't a FOX nationally televised game.


SHOCK, I say!!

[Feva]

Beautiful article by Clark Judge

Same old rap: We've really been here before with T.O.     
March 22, 2006
By Clark Judge
CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer

   
My bad. This time I honestly believe Terrell Owens means what he says.
 
Let's face it, everyone deserves a second chance, and Owens seemed earnest when he opened his news conference by thanking God, by promising to behave with his new teammates and by pledging allegiance to his new quarterback.

Oh, wait a sec. I apologize. This text is two years old. I was looking at transcripts of the news conference introducing him as a Philadelphia Eagle, not a Dallas Cowboy. It's easy to get confused because the two sound so ... well, so familiar.

There's T.O. sitting next to Eagles' owner Jeff Lurie on March 16, 2004, and there's T.O. sitting alongside Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones two years later. And there's T.O. opening his remarks two years by "thanking God for the opportunity Mr. Lurie has given me;" and then there's T.O. opening his remarks in Dallas by giving "all honor and praise and thanks to God for this opportunity."

OK, so the guy knows a good line when he rehearses one. Nevertheless, I'm with him when he says he's a changed man; that "my character has definitely been an issue as far as whether I'll fit in or how I will mesh with the coaches and my teammates. I understand that."

Uh-oh, I pulled a Billy Buck. That was the text from Owens' news conference two years ago. I wish someone would separate these danged transcripts. Let's fast-forward to last Saturday when he pledged to "be a better teammate, a better person, a better man in life" and said he "couldn't be more elated to be here."

Now that's what I'm talking about. And that's what Dallas fans want to hear.

Owens is the game's most misunderstood player, with his listeners eager to jump to conclusions and misperceptions about the poor guy. Nobody ever seems to get things straight unless he corrects them, which is why I'm glad he cleared the air at Valley Ranch.

"This is America's Team," he said. "I'm a star among stars. My main focus is to win ball games and win a championship."

Right on, T.O. I haven't heard anything that sincere since ... OK, since the Eagles signed him. But anything worth doing is worth overdoing, right? That's what Todd Rundgren once wrote, and maybe T.O. absorbed a little Todd when he was in Philly. So could you take us back to March of 2004 one more time, please, and read the record back?

"I'm definitely feeling like I'm going to fit in real nice," he said. "My heart was in Philly and trying to get here. I was trying to get over that next hump and trying to get to the Super Bowl. ... I feel like I'm in a winning organization here. I just want to come in and add to the puzzle. Maybe I am the missing link. We'll soon see. I have that much confidence in myself and my abilities."

Similar, but not the same. Satisfied? He wasn't a star among stars then. He was just a complicated All-Pro receiver looking to catch a break; not the disruptive force he was made out to be by the media. And some of his coaches. And some of his teammates.

"I know what's expected of me," he said. "I won't let you down. (The owner) talked to people that know me on a personal level. He knows who I am -- not the person you read about."


Shoot, there I go again. I switched the two texts. Sorry, folks. That was T.O. from last Saturday, and, man, did he sound as good as he looked. But, as I was saying, it was two years ago that he pleaded for patience from his new fans and new teammates, and it sounded like this:
 

"This is a new beginning for me. It's a fresh start. Right now, I've got a clean rap sheet, so to speak. ... In my last two or three years it was some up and down times for me. But I've been able to weather the storm. I feel like I've always been able to come out on top, no matter what the situation was. No matter how bad the picture they wanted to paint of me, I feel like I always stood by what I had to say, and I always came out on top. I just put all that behind me."

Now don't bring up Donovan McNabb. He couldn't handle T.O. because he just didn't understand him. Simple as that. But Owens' new quarterback, Drew Bledsoe ... now that could be a different story because he's dealt with difficult situations. Look how he handled his unexpected demotion in 2001. Class. Pure class. And look how he got along with Terry Glenn and Keyshawn Johnson, for crying out loud.

He already said he's looking forward to playing with his new receiver, and his new receiver said he can't wait to get a load of Bledsoe.

"Watching (him) play has surprised me at times," said Owens. "Even if he's coming out of the pocket he's looking downfield to make some things happen. I've talked to him. He basically called me to wish me well in the situation. I think everybody was aware of what was going on and me trying to get here."

I don't believe it. I did it one more time. That was Owens on McNabb, not Bledsoe, and I'm tired of getting these two transcripts confused. Even I'm beginning to wonder whom T.O.'s talking about now. That's why I'm relieved to hear that he has a new book that will straighten out this mess, once and for all.

It's called Ineligible Receiver: The Real Story of My Journey from the Super Bowl to the Sidelines. Just please, please, don't let me confuse it with Catch This! Going Deep with the NFL's Sharpest Weapon. He wrote that one two years ago, and he closed with that Philadelphia news conference that keeps getting in my way.

"I'd have to prove myself once more to the doubters," he wrote, "and to those who said that I would bring more problems to my new team than I was worth. I've got just two words of advice for all of you: Watch me. Watch me, and see if history repeats itself."

You tell 'em, T.O.

[Tomahawk]

I just listened to his rap song on his homepage. I hate me.

[MDS]

Ha. Vanderjerk!

[JTrotter Fan]

Boy, i can't wait til TO and Vanderjackoff get into a fight in the locker room or better yet, on the sideline.  Cuz i know Vanderjagt will throw a punch and then it's on.  Bitch fight on the field!!  Thank God it happened to Dallas!  Pointing and Laughing Hysterically!!

[PublicEnemy_81]

I just listened to his rap song on his homepage. I hate me.

He should have let A.I. write his lyrics for him.

Hopefully his Rap Career will end in a hail of gun fire.

[phattymatty]

eagle fan responds to TO's rap

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ9UMwFe5PU&search=terrell%20owens