Has the culture improved?

The news on Lucky Whitehead has me once again suspecting this organization's culture is back to being the country club it is so notorious for being. In the past, I think one could argue that the symptoms were present. People quitting on plays is an example. This team lacked heart under Phillips. And I do not totally blame him, but I definitely felt that his leadership style was not a good combination with Jerry. It was the main reason I was excited when Garrett took over. But maybe after the years of compromising and being marginalized by Jerry has taken its toll.

Or maybe I am just overreacting to a player being out at 3:30am? I had no problem, at first, with Zeke's dispensary tour stop in Seattle. But maybe the inmates are running the asylum...again!

No, I don't think the culture has changed. The Cowboys still seem to lead the league in knuckleheads who don't think about anything other than themselves.

Part of this is a youth thing. How many 22-year olds make correct decisions every time? But the Cowboys do seem to have more than their share of guys who make the wrong decision, don't they?

You could argue that the Cowboys also seem to get more than their share of media scrutiny, and that may be valid. But how many of the other 2,016 players on NFL rosters and practice squads were in an auto accident at 3:30 this morning?

What's very disturbing is that some of this questionable behavior comes from guys we've been told were solid citizens, the "RKGs" that are supposedly Jason Garrett's stock in trade. Leading up to the draft and just after we heard a lot about what a high-character guy we were getting in Ezekiel Elliott, but the stories about him the past couple of weeks suggest something potentially sinister lying under the veneer of his pleasant smile. Of course that may be too fine a point--after all, any high profile guy can be the target of a vengeful girlfriend, and marijuana IS legal in Washington, but in cases like this I always fall back on the Ninth Canon of Professional Responsibility for lawyers that I learned in law school: "A Lawyer Should Avoid Even the Appearance of Professional Impropriety". If we applied this canon to every situation in life, we'd be a lot better off.

With Elliott, you have to wonder if, where there is smoke (no pun intended) there is fire. Not EVERY high-profile player in the NFL has a woman alleging domestic abuse, so what does it suggest about his behavior in a relationship--or, at the very least, his choice of women?

I'm not convinced that Garrett is putting enough emphasis on "the right way" when it comes to off-the-field behavior. While there is NO coach who can completely enforce the behavior of 63 young men in his charge, I wonder if there are things he could be doing that he is not. The Cowboys supposedly have one of the best player support organizations in the league, and yet they still seem to have the highest percentage of players who go astray. Something isn't working as it should be.

As usual, good post '59.

For the record, I think the 'novelty' of a marijuana dispensary would be intriguing. The next time I am in Colorado, I want to go into one just to check it out. Though, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not a celebrity or football player (But heck, who knows what damage I could do even in my own humble existence.) I don't blame Zeke for his curiosity. I take more of the 22 year old consideration to which '59 alluded. Good point about his ex, though.

I don't think it's the media scrutiny, or anything else that skews perception. This team looks the other way, and pays for it. There is a joke that the reason a player was not drafted in the second round by the Cowboys is the player has neither a sordid past, nor is oft injured. Well...we know there is definitely fire for that smoke!

I really am starting to believe that the team's persona is Jerry's. His loose lips and cavalier attitude is the soil of the organization's garden, and that continues to show. Let me restate that...I've always believed that the team's persona is Jerry's. While most teams take on the personality of their head coach, Jerry's is just too overbearing. So can Garrett really do anything short of outright insubordination. Can he espouse his RKG mantra only to have Jerry hire the likes of Hardy and draft the likes of Randy Gregory? What is his credibility when he encourages sound judgement only to have the next set of viral pictures depicting Jerry with strippers? How can one preach discipline when the owner is circumcising mosquitoes, lauding glory holes and special sauce, and now shooting pigs from his helicopter?

What I am really starting to believe is that Jerry cannot be overcome.