Tag Archives: Dallas Cowboys

NFL

Gregory, Randy

Card: Sage 2015 Artistry  (28/100)
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

There is no denying the talent that Randy possesses. At Nebraska, after just two years he quickly climbed up the school’s charts to 9th place with 17.5 sacks.  He’s got a lanky frame at 6’5″ and at 235 he’s got a ways to go to grow into it. The Cowboys took a shot on Gregory with the 60th pick of the draft. Obviously he slipped down and off some draft boards due to his off the field issues. During his rookie year in 2015, Randy suited up for 12 games in between suspensions, posting just 7 tackles.  In 2016, Cowboys fans got excited when Gregory recorded 8 tackles and a sack in the first two games. – Then he got suspended during the suspension ending his 2016.

It’s not that Randy Gregory can’t catch a break. It’s that he keeps blowing every chance he gets. In April of 2017, the talented Randy Gregory failed his 7th NFL drug test since 2015 and has since blown off league officials. Time will tell how long the Dallas Cowboys or the NFL will be patient with him or how soon Gregory will go down as a high risk draft bust, but on 5/16/2018 Randy reapplied for reinstatement to the NFL.

NFL, Pro Football HoF

Jones, Jerry “Jerrah”

mem jerry jonesAcquired: IP 1991, Westlake Dallas Cowboys Scrimmage

Leaving the Dallas Cowboys autograph event at Westlake way back in 1991, I caught Jerry climbing up the bleachers. He was sucking in the limelight and gleefully signing things for fans and children. He gave me his autograph on this drawing I did- which is laughable now looking back.

Jerry purchased the team back in 1989 and immediately made waves. He fired longtime coach Tom Landry and brought in his own crony- longtime friend and former teammate at Arkansas, Jimmy Johnson, to coach the team. Johnson and Jerrah worked well together and had to take their lumps after making bold predictions of the franchise’s future winnings. Still after a 1-15 season, the team was able to right the ship slowly but surely. Jerry and Jimmy did well with in the draft, and made a killing on the Herschel Walker trade. The Cowboys won their first Super Bowl at the end of the 1992 season and followed this up quickly with another title in 1993.

Jerrah made bold predictions about how he could win without Johnson, and Jimmy at that point had enough and was ‘forced out’. Jones brought in Barry Switzer to coach the team. Switzer indeed did bring the Cowboys another title after the 1995 season. Switzer himself left the team after he was busted with a gun in his bag at the airport. The team has gone through various other coaches since then: Dave Campo, Chan Gailey, Wade Philips, and Jason Garrett.

Jones has received more and more criticism as the year goes on, much of it warranted. He does have the title of General Manager, and is one of the most hands on owners in all of sports. His appearance has also changed with more and more plastic surgery, and his frequent appearances on TV and in commercials don’t help either. Many fans feel that Jerrah only cares now about making money, charging fees to take tours off of the new stadium while the team is mired in mediocrity, and liken him more and more to the late Al Davis everyday- an owner that took Jones under his wing early on.

Jerry’s strength lies in his business skills and acumen when it comes to doing what’s best for his franchise.  He’s been able to get a new, amazing stadium built in Dallas, leveraged contracts with vendors to identify with the Cowboys’ brand, and mentored a lot of players with how best to use their money after retirement.  Although I am hard on him, admittedly, I must give credit where credit is due, and it is probably on the merit of the above, that he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2017 class as an owner. Jerry is also quite good to fans and honors all TTM requests through the Cowboys organization.

NFL

Weeden, Brandon ‘Weeds’

Card: Topps Valor 2013  (#68/70)
Acquired: 2017, Ebay

Brandon Weeden. What an interesting road it has been for him, and so, a fortuitous one for him and the Houston Texans. Weeds took a different approach to the NFL, as he was a baseball player first that was drafted in the second round of the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft by the Yankees. He pitched in the minor leagues with them, then later the Dodgers, the Royals, and after the 2006 season quit the sport all together to focus on football, enrolling at Oklahoma State where he was a 2 year starter. He posted some impressive numbers, and set school single game and season records for the Cowboys.

He’d become the oldest player selected in the first round (28), by the Cleveland Browns in 2012. The Browns have been a cesspool for quarterbacks since they returned to the NFL.  He’d beat out Colt McCoy for the starting job and after a rough start posted a club rookie record 3,385 yards passing- nevermind his 14 to 17 TD to INT ratio or his 5-10 record. The winds of Cleveland blew fiercely and the 3rd new head coach in 4 years (Rob Chudzinski) was not impressed by Weeds.  After 5 ineffective starts, Brandon was unceremoniously benched for Brian Hoyer.  Although Brandon was on pace to improve in only his second season as a starter in the NFL, it was obvious his time was short with the Browns. During that season with Cleveland, Brandon threw a 95 yard TD to lead the NFL.

It was a new world in 2014 for Brandon. Considered a part of Pat Shurmur or Rob Chudzinski’s aborted regimes, new head coach Mike Pettine cleared house.  Weeds signed with the Dallas Cowboys to compete with Kyle Orton for the backup job behind oft injured Tony Romo. Beating out Orton in camp, Weeden saw some limited playing time during his first season with the team. The Cowboys considered him a lucrative insurance policy for Romo.

The wheels fell off the Cowboys in 2015. With a season ending injury to Tony, Brandon assumed the role as the starting quarterback during week 2. After posting a 0-3 record as starter for the Cowboys, Brandon quickly found himself on the outside looking in, when Matt Cassel replaced him in the lineup- largely to the same results.  It must have been difficult for Weeds, as the coaches and ownership paid him plenty of lip service both in the clubhouse and in public- nonetheless, he was cut in mid-November.

The Texans have had a hard time keeping a quarterback upright for a full 16 game slate going back to 2012 (Matt Schaub).  2015 was no different. Ironically former Brown Brian Hoyer won the job in camp fighting off the imploding Ryan Mallett. The legend TJ Yates returned after the team had enough of Mallett, but after Hoyer was placed in concussion limbo, the team scrambled to find a backup for Yates. Enter: Brandon Weeden.

I remember when the Texans signed Brandon the following day after being cut by the Cowboys. Honestly, I was terrified.  He was a heartbeat away from being the Texans starting quarterback if Yates was injured. Houston controlled their own destiny to winning the division but was involved in a dogfight with the Colts.

It’d be in that game, in Week 15 against the Colts at Indianapolis- a place that the Texans had never won, that Weeden would finally come alive. With Yates tearing his ACL early in the game, Weeden came in and deftly executed the offense. He went 11 of 18 and threw for a TD to Jalen Strong early in the 4th quarter. The Texans, won 16-10 and took the driver’s seat for the division that the Colts had held nearly all season.  The following week the Texans dominated the hapless Titans 35-6. Weeds threw for 200 yards on 15 of 24 passing, including 2 passing TDs and a rushing TD. While he’d return to the bench the following week as Hoyer finally cleared the concussion protocol, Brandon Weeden cleared his little place in Texans lore that season- and earned a fair amount of respect from me.

Brandon in 2016 did not see any playing time behind the erratic Brock Osweiler or Tom Savage.  He’d be among the Texans final cuts before the season began in 2017 as many teams were only electing to keep 2 quarterbacks on their roster. A few weeks later he’d find a home and join the Tennessee Titans.