When you have a season like the Dallas Cowboys did in 2008, scapegoats seem to be everywhere, to varying degrees. They are hunted down and railed against like dissidents in a dictatorship by press and fans, if for no other reason than filling newspapers.
But in almost every case, it’s not all that deserved. Sports are a complicated business, ripe with complex individuals balancing a primeval urge to win with a very modern need to A) provide for their family, and B) succeed in an ultra-competitive child’s game turned business. I won’t be using this time to criticize this system; it’s part of the deal for any athlete lucky or gifted enough to play professional sports.
So I can be glad that people like Drew Rosenhaus are around. Those arcane, derisive lawyer jokes seem to have all been created with Terrell Owens’ super-agent in mind.
And this morning, with his number one client packing for a cold, Buffalo winter, he decided to stray from the usual “we’re excited to be going to ----- city” stance to deliver this rueful and, kind of funny statement:
“It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that there was certainly a division of players and coaches and maybe even front office executives. I believe that the organization is going to regret this decision."
First, it’s vaguely funny that he used the word ‘division’ with regard to Terrell Owens. Yes, there was a division within the team, and regardless of what Jerry might have you believe, it is the reason his client is heading to the frigid northeast.
Second, I can’t help but be reminded of “The Simpsons,” and Sideshow Bob yelling, “You’ll live to regret this!” from the back of a squad car -- whether or not Drew Rosenhaus is as evil as Sideshow Bob is another debate. Rosenhaus did save a small boy’s life in 2005, but Sideshow Bob saved Bart and Lisa’s lives in the episode “Brother From Another Series”. We might be looking at a push. But I digress.
The idea that an agent knows what is best for a football team is either laughable or terribly loathsome. Rosenhaus went on to suggest that the Cowboys might have made the move to cater to the needs of Roy Williams. This may be true; but at this point, I would be for just about any move that makes the Cowboys look less like a circus and more like a football team.
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You can count Owens leaving, along with Drew Rosenhaus, as a solid step in the right direction in that light.
Now if someone could just convince Marion Barber to get a new agent, everything would be copasetic.