Dallas can land Brady. But to do that, the Cowboys must do what New England could not despite all of its on-field achievements: treat Brady with respect.
“All quarterbacks have big egos,” remarked NFL commentator (and former player) Shannon Sharpe on a recent broadcast of Skip and Shannon: Undisputed. “The bigger the quarterback, the bigger the ego,” he said. Well, Patty Mahomes shone his star last Sunday night, and that’s leading the speculation that another star may be on its way–not a new star per se, mind you, but a star wearing a helmet with a star.
Courtesy: ClutchPoints
A cryptic post from Tom Brady on social media last week is leading to intense speculation about his return to New England next season. Many do not believe he will, calling it a “too little, too late” situation.
Why did it finally take New England 21 years to offer Brady, arguably the best QB of our generation, a market salary contract? Brady has never received more than $23m per year. That puts him far below other notable, and lesser accomplished, free agents who’ve scored long-term contracts worth well over $30m yearly.
Perhaps it is Coach Belichick’s intransigent mindset of “everyone equal,” which may ultimately lead to the New England coach’s biggest failure–losing Brady at the end of his career. Sharpe, who in my opinion has wisdom well beyond his yardage, also relayed a pithy quote from his college coach: “I treat everyone fairly, but not everyone equally.”
Is that the real method for long-term success? Or, even more exigent, is that how the Cowboys can woo over Brady?
Jerry Jones, perhaps more than any other team owner, has been popularized for his incessant quest for excellence. Jones is never soft-spoken about priding himself and his team on delivering the best product. There is only one flaw, though. His attempts to reach it always fall short. Thus, his “desperation for excellence” may be a more apt descriptor.
Jones’s behavior in recent years is telling. First, there was the Tony Romo situation. Jerry believed in Tony until he didn’t. (Enter Dak). Until that turnaround, however, Jerry pronounced to the world his unequivocal faith in Romo as the man to lead his ‘Boys to the “Promised Land.” While that never happened, Jerry gave Romo a prodigious amount of support. Once Jerry deemed Romo a mark of excellence, Jerry never gave up. Why? Jerry never gives up on excellence.
Courtesy: Blogging the Boys
The next case is Jason Garrett. Whether or not you feel his head coaching skills were worthy of such a long tenure, Jones definitely felt so. And even while the floor was caving in on Jason, Jerry’s support stayed unwavering.
The third case in point is Dak. Dak’s 13-3 rookie year season was not lost on Jones. While he could have easily justified bringing back Romo after his fill-in’s great performance, Jones seems to be mesmerized by visible shows of success. Once Jones moved his support to Dak–as with others–the inertia lingered well after the sexiness wore off.
The most recent case is the hiring of Mike McCarthy as a new head coach. After all of Jerry Jones’ hard-line rhetoric about scrutinizing job candidates, does it surprise anyone that Jones hired McCarthy at their first meeting? McCarthy is a Super Bowl-winning coach (2010 Packers) and, unlike Garrett, he molded Aaron Rodgers, an MVP quarterback. Jones desperately wants a Super Bowl trophy, and an MVP quarterback wouldn’t be bad to have either.
When Jones believes (and sees) with his own eyes that he found the right person, he is caught hook, line, and sinker. Jones cannot but help fall for his ideal of perfection. Then, once he makes up his mind, he remains unflinchingly loyal–even when the initial excitement starts wearing off. Perhaps in his emotionally-charged decision making, driven by desperation, Jerry Jones is a victim of his high expectations.
Enter Tom Brady. While Jones has been helplessly fending off critics in the last couple of decades for presumably bad decisions he has made, Brady has been winning Super Bowls–six to be exact. That’s more rings than the entire Dallas franchise possesses (N=5). Nobody exemplifies excellence more than Tom Brady.
Consider Jones’ goal-statement for his team, spoken upon signing McCarthy last month: “[We want] someone who’s got a proven track record of winning, not only consistently, but at the highest level….a focus on improving, a team builder… [who]…also has the experience of taking an NFL team to the biggest stage — the Super Bowl — and completing the job.” (Nfl.com, January 8, 2020). Could this foreshadow an important upcoming quarterback announcement?
Or, even more confessing: “You’ve got a choice,” Jones said. “You can get in that foxhole with somebody that has never been…in a foxhole. You can get in there with somebody who’s been shot at. Or, you can get in there with somebody’s been shot at, hit, and is still going. That’s the one I want in there with me.” (Nfl.com, January 8, 2020)
Is Jones’ foxhole a metaphor for a possible future Super Bowl event, perhaps led by a fox from Foxboro?
Jerry Jones’s treatment of his current quarterback (Dak) is nothing short of noncommittal. Terrell Owens, former NFL wide receiver who also played for Jones, concurs: “[No contract extension] leads me to believe [Jones] truly doesn’t believe in Dak.” (Bleacher Report). On the other hand, Tom Brady resonates with uncommitted team owners with an eye for excellence.
Is that enough to bring Brady to Dallas? It’s worth noting that Jerry does not just admire Brady, he is desperate for Brady. Jerry is so competitive, such a perfectionist, and so driven for his organization to embody success in “excellence” that he would take the winning pieces from his New England arch-rivals in a heartbeat.
Although he’s not big on new risks, his loyalty to proven players has no limits. Tom Brady is the most proven player ever. Even if Tom cannot compete equally with Dak’s arm these days, Tom brings the spirit of excellence and winning from New England.
Courtesy: blacksportsonline.com)
We know that Jerry is all about the mental game as much as the physical. One of his favorite ideas ever–coming from former Coach Garrett (and before him Bill Parcells in 2003)–was removing every rookie’s star off his helmet until that player made the squad. Each player had “earned” his star.
Jerry wants the players to work their way up, not be handed their reward on a silver platter. But a big help in working your way up is having a great mentor, someone who can “make it real,’ someone who can say, “I can get you there, because I know how,” or “I’ve been there and done it without all this talent, so there’s no excuse for this loaded team not to.”
Jerry showed he leaned that way in hiring a Super Bowl-winning coach a la McCarthy. It makes sense that his next stop is a proven Super Bowl-winning quarterback.
Now we’ve seen why Brady would be so valuable to Dallas, and what he could bring to Dallas. But what can Dallas give to Brady? Let’s see what Brady needs.
A good O-line. (Dallas √ plus)
Weapons. (Dallas √ plus)
Respect: Dallas will pay Brady what he wants (“why waste it on Dak for the same price as Brady?”), and what New England is only now willing to pay as a last-second “Hail Mary.” Beyond money, Dallas can offer a coach who, unlike Belichick, will be fair without needing to treat him equally.
Equality is for democracies, but not for star athletes. But the line is tricky. Too much giving in (especially early in their careers) breeds resentment from others. Too little giving in, even after years and years of greatness, shows rigidity. Belichick wants to show that his system is bigger than any one player, but sometimes flexibility is the greater good.
Belichick may keep his system, but his system won’t keep Brady.
The most revealing clue of how McCarthy will work as a head coach came as his admission of a lie during his interview for the job: “I told Jerry I analyzed every Dallas snap of the entire year,” he said. “I didn’t, and I just said I did because it sounded good to get the job.” We all know (or hope) McCarthy won’t fudge the work when it counts. But McCarthy, like Jerry, is willing to let the possibility of reward justify his taking a risk to get there.
Signing a 42-year-old Brady is a risk, but the kind of risk Jerry gravitates towards. Will the most proven QB of our generation be able to bring his tradition of excellence to Dallas? Jerry’s mind may have already been won many rings ago.
Jerry Jones has no doubt always been dreaming about having the equal to a “Dallas” Tom Brady. And now it makes no sense to pass on the @RealTB12. Dallas can land Brady. It’s not a solar impossibility. But to do that, the Cowboys must do what New England could not (despite all of its on-field achievements): treat Brady with respect.
Postscript: Post-Super Bowl Las Vegas oddsmakers give Brady a 67% chance of returning to New England next season, while Dallas has only a 3% chance of acquiring him. Despite what anyone predicts, there is still only one real decision-maker in Dallas who calls all the shots.
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David Sherman is a freelance author who is studying to pass his medical licensing boards. He aspires to work with athletes, develop academic talent in high school students, and fight disability injustice everywhere.
