From the moment T.O. put ink to paper, it was clear that the Dallas Cowboys were no longer being run by either Jones or Parcells, but by the Ringling Brothers. It was no longer a football team, it was a traveling troupe of eccentrics on display to satisfy the curiosity of onlookers. Jones opted for spectacle over success, and you could see on Parcells’ face, with every anguished press conference appearance, that he didn’t have the energy or the inclination to continue past this season.

T.O. wasn’t the only problem, of course. The quarterback situation became such a nightmare that for a brief period it blotted out the harmful rays given off by T.O. Drew Bledsoe began the season, but he was so immobile that Parcells had no choice but to play the Tony Romo card. That resulted in a spate of success, but it didn’t last, because in the end Romo proved to be the personification of the Peter Principle, and his season will be remembered in Cowboys’ lore for the field goal attempt that wasn’t.

The team’s secondary was also a major cause for concern, and unlike the Indianapolis Colts’ run defense, which was absent for most of the year but present when it counted, it never improved.

But the real issue was T.O., because he was the messenger who relayed to Parcells from Jones just who was in charge of the team, and what the priorities were. It might not have been so bad if Owens had been the one-man gang he purports to be. But he dropped footballs at a rate that was alarming for a receiver of his caliber, which indicated that it wasn’t simply a matter of a good player going through a rough patch but rather a guy who didn’t care that much. His feeble excuses afterward didn’t help, either.

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And it was T.O.’s incessant me-first behavior that eventually wore Parcells down. Everyone around the Cowboys assured the media that the media was creating a problem that didn’t exist. But it wasn’t the media who said, “Why am I here?” in complaining about a lack of passes thrown his way, and it wasn’t the media who fell asleep in meetings or spit in DeAngelo Hall’s face.

When Jones handed T.O. a contract worth $25 million over three years, including a $5 million signing bonus, he not only said, “Checkmate” in a chess match of wills with Parcells, he also doomed his club to more of T.O.’s antics and turmoil, because now with Parcells gone he has to retain the wide receiver to save face. And although Owens said nice things about Romo, you can be sure the fuse has been lit, and it’s only a matter of time before T.O. explodes over Romo’s shortcomings next season.

It may seem as though Jones won, but it’s a Pyrrhic victory at best. Yes, Jones gets to keep control of his team and the services of Terrell Owens. But Parcells gets to keep his dignity and his sanity.