The Problem with Tony Romo is Jerry Jones !
Tony Romo the Hero, Tony Romo the Goat. It just depends on the week, the day or maybe the moment. This guy moves from the Penthouse to the Outhouse and back more times than I can count. With a career 1-4 play-off record and just one wild card win in 7 years, he still draws the full support of his owner Jerry Jones and it looks like the Cowboys will continue to ride him like an elevator, up and down and often stuck in between floors. What I don’t understand is why does he get that kind of cushion in his job. The fans are ready to crucify him, while the owner sits there and vilifies him.
There is nothing wrong with his career stats, he has a lifetime 64.1 completion percentage and he has thrown for almost 18,000 yds and 125 TD’s. He has size, toughness, ability and he has the full support of his front office and his coaches and players. It’s just that Tony finds as many ways to lose as he does to win. His losses or collapses if you will are epic, this latest one against the Detroit Lions is mind-boggling. After a brilliant first half by Romo and with his team up by 24 points in front of the hometown crowd, with 12.5 minutes to go in the game Romo throws 2 pick 6 ‘s and a third interception. What are you kidding me, all Tony had to do was hand the ball off the rest of the way – or even take a knee. How does that happen. Why didn’t his own guys just tackle him before he could throw the ball ? Where is the rational behind that, where is the Head Coach, who is calling the plays, where is Brash Owner Jerry Jones.
After 7 years though I think the Cowboys have to start thinking about where to go from here. One and done from the wild card spot doesn’t seem like it should cut it from the NFL’s most valuable franchise. Jerry Jones is an out-spoken owner and self-proclaimed leader. He has built a temple to football in Dallas and it seems like the fans have had enough of the Tony Romo show. It’s not like he has not had the chance to succeed its just that when he gets to the door he seems to flush it down the toilet. I think the jury is in on Romo and they have voted guilty as charged. The problem with Tony Romo is Jerry Jones. He is the guy who keeps betting the franchise on him and doesn’t bring anyone in behind him, making it an all Romo or nothing scenario and robbing the fans of any kind of hope for a different ending.
At some point you have to ask yourself is this the guy who can take us to the promised land ? If the answer keeps coming up no – isn’t it time to make other plans or are we going with the definition of stupidity here – meaning doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results.
What do you say Jerry Jones is the elevator going up or down or maybe just stuck between floors ?
In Battle of NY Football Teams – Jets Beating Giants at Debt
Here is an interesting fact that I noticed the other day. There are 4 teams in the NFL with debt to value ratios at 40% or higher. In order from lowest to highest it is the Miami Dolphins at 40%, the Detroit Lions at 43% , the New York Giants at 55% and the New York Jets at a whopping 66%. I am beginning to wonder about Woody Johnson as an NFL team owner and what the plan exactly the plan is for the Jets ?
I certainly understand that a new stadium and each owners share of financing the cost of building a new stadium is going to increase debt. However, there are teams in the league that have built new stadiums that don’t suffer the debt load that the Jets or even the Giants carry at this point in time. For example the Dallas Cowboys who are the highest ranked valued team in the NFL, have a debt to value ratio of just 11%. Remarkably, the community owned reigning Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers have a debt to value ratio of just 2%. So, success on the field is not tied to the amount of debt a team is carrying or the amount of money they are spending on their facilities or payroll.
The Jets are the 6th ranked team in terms of value this year at $1,144,000,000 dollars. That means at 66% debt the team is carrying a load of $950,400,000. The Giants are the 4th ranked team at $1,182,000,000 dollars. Which means at 55% debt they are carrying a load of $650,100,000 dollars.
With the minor exceptions of the signing of Plaxico Burress and David Baas neither team was able to compete in the free agency market, largely due to salary cap limitations. In case you are wondering the Philadelphia Eagles who were most active in the off-season and in working the salary cap, are the 7th ranked most valued team at $1,119,000,000 with a 16% debt to value ratio and pretty nice digs to play in. No excuses there for Jets and Giants owners to fall back on.
The Giants seem to have done a much better job of selling personal seat licenses (PSL’s) and they are beginning to burn down debt and free up salary cap room. Although, they need to do a better job of maintaining their free agents and keeping their players happy like Osi and soon Tuck but it looks like they are working through it. I would still question General Management and front office decisions about player personnel and I wonder about Jerry Reese’s ability to identify talent and over commitment to draft picks and the skills of their capologist. I also wonder about the extraordinary number of injuries their players suffer from year to year and what is at the root of that.
The question becomes then how did Woody Johnson get himself into his predicament. Has Woody Johnson in his desperation to become an elite NFL team completely mortgaged the future of the Jets at what is a crucial time in the franchises history. Has Woody drank the Rex Ryan kool -aid of big talk and super bowl promises every year nonsense ? Has he over invested in Mark Sanchez as the franchise QB? Did he provide to big of a guaranty to Plaxico Burress who is looking very much like a 34 yr old receiver who has been out of the game for 2 years ? Has he gambled on risky players like Braylon Edwards ? Why are the Jets not as good as the Giants in selling PSL’s ? Is he functioning with sound front office personnel and talent evaluation, or is he just throwing money at his team and at the stadium in his gamble to win a super bowl ? Their one an only super bowl win was in 1968. They have been to the AFC championship game twice in 09 and 10, but have come up empty and look like a team on downside. So many questions here.
Woody is a billionaire and a successful business man, I am just wondering if he is surrounding himself with the right NFL people.
Source: Forbes.com NFL team evaluations
There is only 1 Maurice Jones Drew
There are a lot of good running backs in the NFL, there are a few elite running backs in the NFL, but there is only one Maurice Jones Drew. At 5’7″ and 208 lbs he is the toughest, fastest, beast of a running of a back the NFL has seen since Barry Sanders. His 6th year in the league at 26 years old, he has rushed for over 1,300 hundred yards in each of the last 2 years while adding over 300 yds receiving in each year and piled on 27 touchdowns. He is productive, he plays low to the ground, he has the speed to go with the package and he plays hurt. He grinds out every play until after the whistle, he is impossible to bring down, he will get you yards after the initial contact, more yards after the second and third hit and is always the guy making the tackle if a fumble by someone else goes the other way. He is the consummate professional, and he has the talent and leadership skills to go with the package.
No matter how many times Jacksonville changes quarterbacks or offensive schemes, Jones Drew is there to make something out of nothing and he finds ways to keep his team competitive by carrying the offense around on his back. He is a monster of a player on the field and a team diplomat off the field. There is nothing more the Jaguars could ask of him, he does it all, he says it all and he keeps folks coming to the games and single handedly gets Jaguar Nation pumped up. He is in every sense of the word a franchise player.
Here is the problem I am having though, he is on the tail end of a 5 year contract and he is making short money for carrying that franchise around on his back. He played last year hurt and now he is back on track and surely headed to another pro bowl. Wayne Weaver needs to dig in his pockets and pay that man. MJD is to the Jaguars what Peyton Manning is to the Colts, Tom Brady is to the Patriots, and more than Adrian Peterson is to the Vikings, who is walking around with a 7 year, 100 million dollar contract. He deserves the big money. It is not his fault the Jags can’t muster up a supporting cast that can take the team the promised land, but without him there is no team.
I say do the right thing by him and the Jacksonville franchise and pay him the big contract NOW! There is only one MJD, make him a 100 million dollar back. He has made at least that for you and/or upped your franchise value significantly for the years he has been a Jaguar.
Just do it Wayne !
GO MOJO!
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