Staff Blog
The Dallas Cowboys Just Can’t Help Themselves
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| Boys Will Be Boys |
| via thesmokinggun.com |
There’s an old fable that tells the story of the frog and
the scorpion. Scorpion, hoping to cross a stream, asks Frog if he will carry
him across the water. Frog, skeptical about putting himself in such an exposed
position, asks how he can be sure that Scorpion will not sting him. Scorpion
replies that if he were to sting him, they would both drown. Satisfied by the
explanation, Frog agrees and lets Scorpion onto his back. Halfway across the
stream, however, Frog screams out in pain, realizing that Scorpion betrayed
him. “Why did you sting me, Scorpion?” he asks. ” Now we will both drown.” “I
can’t help it,” explains Scorpion in his last breath. “It’s in my nature.”
The point of the story is that, at the end of the day, we can’t escape who we are. You’re going to show your true nature, even if
it kills you. This was one of the themes of this week’s column on the Bird. The lack of run-game personnel and the game-calling decisions aren’t fixable problems — they are as much a part of Andy Reid as his red hair or the fact his veterans never quit on him. The Eagles’ nature is tangible — and really hard to change.
It was a point that I hope worked for the Birds — but it’s probably more aptly applied to the Dallas Cowboys. That team has followed up an regular season filled with bickering and drama with an offseason filled with more of the same. No one seems to know if T.O. is returning to the team; Troy Aikman is taking shots at Tony Romo; reports are coming that no one respects each other in the locker room; and Jerry Jones seems to believe the solution to all of these problems is signing Ray Lewis, who, as Johnzo (h/t Ford) pointed out this mornin, has a little bit of history with a current Cowboy. On top of all that, the team has handed a roster spot over to Michael Irvin, who will run a reality TV show to determine the newest Cowboy. Seriously.
The Hall of Fame receiver is launching a reality TV show in which 12 “football neophytes” will compete for an impressive grand prize: a spot on the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp roster.
“I don’t know if you can walk upon any group of guys that wouldn’t say they dreamed of playing in the NFL when they were playing in their front yard,” Irvin told the Associated Press on Thursday. “So we’re going to take a group of guys from their front yard, dwindle them to one and give that guy the opportunity of a lifetime.”
The Cowboys confirmed that one of their 80 roster spots will go to the show’s winner. The NFL did not immediately return a call.
No word on if a criminal record will be a prerequisite for entry.
Side note: I know the easy joke is to make the same “they’ll never change” statement about the Giants and gun violence, but from all early reports, Taye Biddle did nothing to provoke his attack and should be treated solely as a victim. We know he’s a Giant, but we wish him the best in his recovery.
