I look at the Cowboys floundering now, and can't help but question the way that they handled Murray. I realize that better football minds than mine wrote him off as too expensive relative to his projected, future performance. However, it seems to me that letting him go sent a very powerful message to the rest of the team. In effect, a man is nothing to the front office unless he fits its definition of a superstar. In that kind of environment, does anything motivate a player other than fear of being cut from the team or going unsigned? If that's the case, then I don't see how they can keep a group of players together that can meld into
a true team, a group that's devoted to a purpose broader than their individual finances.
IMO, Murray was the kind of player that's needed at the core of such a congregation. Well says the Dallas braintrust, "to heck with that, let's cut him loose." Good enough, but how can the organization form the bonds of loyalty and commitment between player and team that are essential to success
if key, veteran players are treated like cattle? Does the rest of the league operate this way, or is it just Dallas? Sorry for the rant. I've followed the Cowboys for over fifty years, and the Jones' era has troubled me at times. Not infrequently, Jerry and son strike yours truly as being rather worse than "too clever by half," always looking for a gimmick that'll yield the family another championship. Fear and greed, now there's the ticket.
-Moe
