Forget whiners — Parcells’ tough style worked
Complaints about Tuna omit that Dallas not ‘very good before he got here’
 Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images The Cowboys' failures last season can't be laid at the feet of ex-coach Bill Parcells, writes columnist Jim Reeves. |
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DALLAS - Now we know why Tony Romo botched that snap in Seattle last January, the one that kept the Cowboys from winning their first playoff game in more than a decade.
It was The Boogeyman’s fault.
You know...The Boogeyman, a.k.a. Bill Parcells, also known as Tuna.
I’m making this assumption, not because of anything Romo has said — he’s actually one of the few Cowboys who hasn’t piled on Parcells lately — but because almost everyone else at Valley Ranch is pointing fingers at Big Bad Bill these days.
It’s amazing how brave everyone has suddenly become with Parcells is 1,500 miles away and no longer employed by the Dallas Cowboys. No one would say squat the last four years and if he so much as scowled, players ran for the nearest hole like a scalded rat.
Now that Parcells is gone, back to his home in Florida or visiting his old neighborhood in New York, the rats are chattering and playing the blame game.
Suddenly, Parcells is the reason Julius Jones became nothing more than an average NFL running back.
Parcells is why Marcus Spears wouldn’t know a sack if he was a grocery store bagger (which is not a bad idea after the fruitless season he had last year).
Parcells is obviously why Roy Williams couldn’t cover receivers.
Even Terrell Owens’ twice-surgically repaired finger has improved enough for him to wag it vaguely in Parcells’ direction when T.O. broke his self-imposed 48-hour silence at the end of the Cowboys’ first mini-camp of the off-season Sunday.
The popular theme: Everything was Big Bill’s fault, from the lack of a running game, to Spears’ zero sacks, to a too-conservative defense, to T.O.’s league-leading 17 drops.
“I could have played better, but I’m not the one to really harp on why I had the season I did,” Owens told reporters Sunday. “I’m not going to say why had the drops I had.
“I know the reason, but I didn’t take the time out to make that an excuse.”
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