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The New Over-The-Hill Gang?

March 15, 2005

Older Cowboys fans will remember the swashbuckling ways of George Allen. When he was hired from the Rams to coach the Redskins in 1971, Allen immediately declared Dallas his enemy and told long-suffering Washington fans, who had endured endless and futile rebuilding efforts, “the future is now.” He then went on a a buying spree, trading handfuls of future draft picks for older veterans, who were dubbed “The Over-the-Hill-Gang.”

The plan worked. The ‘71 squad put Washington in the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. In ‘72, Allen’s gang beat the hated Cowboys in the NFC Championship.

The free agent efforts of Jerry Jones and Bill Parcells the past two weeks make me wonder if they are not channeling Allen in some late night Valley Ranch seances. The news that they are now interested in former Patriots CB — and Parcells draftee — Ty Law only adds to the belief that their motto for ‘05 and ‘06 is “the future is now.”

Of the four current offseason additions, only Anthony Henry is younger than 30. If Dallas acquires Darren Howard, that number will be two. But both are 28, which is prime time by NFL standards. If Parcells finds that Law’s injured foot is sound and convinces him to join the Cowboys, he will have four new old veterans on his squad.

To me, the phrase Over-the-Hill Gang always conjured up the aging cowboys in the movie The Wild Bunch. It didn’t fit a bunch of Redskins. Given Allen’s success, maybe it’s past time a new Over-the-Hill-Gang saddled up.

Written by Rafael Vela · Filed Under News | 15 Comments 

Knowing Their Limitations

March 15, 2005

In the film Magnum Force Clint Eastwood utters the sage advice, “a man’s got to know his limitations.” These words could be the slogan for the free agency period. For teams with a lot to spend, it’s wise to know a player’s limitations.

But the same could be said of players. They too, would be wise to know their limitations. Which makes the saga of Plaxico Burress so sad. Rated the top receiver in free agency by almost all pundits, he is still looking for work. He fired his agent the past week and hired hotshot Drew Rosenhaus in an attempt to pump up his market value.

Burress’ panjandrums probably won’t get him the big money he wants, for a very simple reason: while teams get abused in the press for overpaying players every spring, the NFL as a whole has become much better at assessing player value. You find far fewer teams getting into the deep salary cap trouble you saw five years ago.

And teams have reached a consensus on Burress — he’s not worth the big money. The evidence to support this is clear. Look at the receiving totals the past four years for Burress and Hines Ward, his receiving partner with the Steelers

  • 2001: Ward 94 rec. 1003 yards, Burress 66 rec. 1008 yards
  • 2002: Ward 112 rec. 1329 yards, Burress 78 rec. 1325 yards
  • 2003: Ward 95 rec. 1163 yards, Burress 60 rec. 860 yards
  • 2004: Ward 80 rec. 1004 yards, Burress 35 rec. 698 yards

    • These numbers should bring a clear analogy to mind for Cowboys fans: Ward is Michael Irvin, the guy who wears the hard hat and gets the first downs. Burress is Alvin Harper, who makes big plays and gets the higher yards-per-catch average.

    Dallas fans know well that Harper broke the free agency bank in 1995 with Tampa. They also know that Harper was a bust once he was counted on to be the number one. Burress’ problem is that he doesn’t know, or won’t accept that he’s not a Michael Irvin-class wideout.

    The Cowboys are in need of a deep receiver and there was some speculation that they would pursue Burress. But NFL GMs remember Harper too. Especially the one at Valley Ranch. That’s why the Cowboys are waiting for the draft to fill this need.

    Written by Rafael Vela · Filed Under News | Leave a Comment 

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