Change Is a-Comin' to the Dallas Cowboys? Yeah, Right

Times are getting tough, and the Dallas Cowboys are supposedly going to get tough.

Management that is.

After another December collapse, owner/GM/emperor Jerry Jones and head coach Wade Phillips announced there would be cultural changes at Valley Ranch. Henceforth, players would be held accountable for their actions. Business would be all about football.

It was a Barack Obama speech adapted to football. "Change is a-coming, so-called 'America's Team!'"

But the first 100 days of the revised Jones-Phillips administration signals more of the same policy failures of the past 13 years.

In the past month, the Cowboys have taken four actions—they released Pacman Jones, fired defensive coordinator Brian Stewart, and announced two new reality-TV shows for later this year.

The Dallas Cowboys are about football in 2009!

Pacman, the latest in Jerry's infatuation with big-name players despite the past failures and indiscretions, was released only when ESPN's Outside the Lines informed the Cowboys that it was going to air video of Pacman at the Atlanta strip club where he was alleged to have set up a shooting of two men.  Trial is scheduled for later this year.

On CBS national TV, just days after his release, Pacman said he expected to be back with the Cowboys next season. When host James Brown asked if Jerry Jones had made any off-camera intuitions to Pacman that he would be willing to re-sign him, Pacman answered "Yes."

Pacman's release had more to do with avoiding negative publicity than it did with his locker room distractions, suspensions, lack of conformity to plans on special teams, or his lack of production.

Stewart, who was stripped of defensive play-calling duties in midseason by Phillips, was fired,along with the special teams coach. Stewart was expendable, someone on whom all blame could be placed.

Linebacker Brady James, talking on KTCK 1310-AM "The Ticket" in Dallas on Monday, defended his teammates through most of the interview, but near the end, scoffed at the firing of Stewart.

"They fired (Brian Stewart), but he wasn't the problem," James told host Norm Hitzges.  "What did (firing Stewart) do?...Nothing has changed."

Multiple reports after the season pointed to a lack of discipline within the organization. James said he wasn't aware of, or concerned about, players being late for meetings without consequence.  James also denied there was a "locker room problem."

Then, his words pointed out an "on-field" and "upstairs problem."

"When you go to a guy (about a performance problem) and he does the same thing or doesn't listen to you, and (coaches and management) don't back you up, what can I do?" James asked, rhetorically.  "I can only deal with what they put out there."

It was a clear indictment of the Jerry Jones' administration.

When coming into the NFL, Jerry Jones sat at the feet of Oakland Raiders' owner Al Davis, the founder of the "Just win, baby!" philosophy. Problem is, the Cowboys aren't winning—and haven't won a playoff game in 13 years.

The Cowboys are so intent on this commitment to cultural change that they have signed off on a 2009 training camp reality-TV show involving former receiver and Dallas radio host, Michael Irvin.

This week, receiver Terrell Owens—he of the constant distraction—is beginning filming on a VH1 reality-TV series to air this summer. Where Jerry Jones should be making serious decisions about T.O.'s future status with the Cowboys, he's helping generate T.O. an after-football spotlight. He certainly hasn't had enough of the spotlight during his career.

Nothing like eliminating distractions to concentrate on football.

A week after being pummeled by Philadelphia 44-6, QB Tony Romo was off to Los Angeles with girlfriend Jessica Simpson. Three weeks later, in his home state of Wisconsin, he repeated his postgame comments to a local paper that he would have "a good life" whether or not he ever won or made it to a Super Bowl.

When that news reached Dallas, two days later, Romo was telling The Dallas Morning News that he would be re-examining his leadership role on the team. He would change, he said. Immediately.

At least President Obama told the American people that change would not happen overnight.

Keep watching, America. At this rate, the Cowboys next will be featured on National Geographic's Seconds from Disaster.