“The rah-rah speech is not going to win games for you,” Woodson said. “And I don’t care who’s giving it to you – you can bring Knute Rockne back. No one is going to motivate you between the lines. It’s about preparation the week of, and it’s about the top guys in that locker room and your role players understanding their role on that football team.”

Woodson said it was “shocking to hear that” Hatcher couldn’t think of one leader on the Cowboys’ team when asked. However, Woodson’s comments about Ray Lewis were the direct opposite of what Hatcher said. The Cowboys’ defensive end mentioned Lewis’ name when talking about the kind of leader Dallas needs. Woodson obviously disagrees.

Woodson was a defensive captain for most of his career and Dallas hasn’t had a true leader on either side of the ball since he retired in 2003. During the Cowboys’ Super Bowl runs of the mid-1990s, Woodson was subject to many leaders, none of which led with animated speeches.

“If a guy walked in late, you better believe Daryl Johnston was going to jump him for being late,” Woodson said. “If a guy fell asleep, you better believe Daryl Johnston was going to jump him. He was a role player who understood his role, but he was a leader and he was very well respected within that locker room.”

Johnston played 11 seasons in Dallas, accumulating 753 rushing yards and 8 touchdowns during that time. Needless to say, he didn’t put up a ton of stats, but he led by example, two of which Woodson pointed out.

Much was made of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo gathering his teammates for off-season workouts during the NFL Lockout and rightly so; Romo acted as a player-coach during those workouts that blossomed into full-blown practices. However, no one talks about him, DeMarcus Ware or Jason Witten jumping on teammates for being late or falling asleep.

Woodson hit the nail on the head with his comments; a player of Ray Lewis’ caliber is obviously a fantastic asset for any team and his speeches obviously work as the Ravens won a Super Bowl with him leading the way in 2001. Baltimore is a perennial Super Bowl contender behind Lewis, who leads by his work ethic and play on the field as much as he does with his mouth.

Woodson didn’t mean the Cowboys wouldn’t benefit from having a player like Lewis, but that Dallas needs a player that will lead by example and not just “rah-rah” speeches. Any player can give a big, animated speech before the game like Lewis does, but very few players can demand the respect from their teammates like he does from his actions.

“I wasn’t a rah-rah guy,” Woodson said. “I told guys the truth. I also told guys, ‘You don’t have to love me, but you’re going to respect me because of my actions.’ I think that’s what [the Cowboys] need.”

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Word on the street, if you will, is Spencer will draw several lofty offers from other NFL teams if he becomes a free agent. While the Cowboys are also deciding on whether to switch to a 4-3 defense, the deadline to use the franchise tag is March 5. Dallas must decide on which player to use the franchise tag soon.

The dilemma here is Dallas has no viable replacement for Spencer, but no one seems to know whether he’s worth keeping. If the Cowboys use the franchise tag on Spencer, he’ll be due $8.8 million in 2012, which is way too much for an average player who still hasn’t lived up to the first-round pick Dallas used on him back in 2007.

The Cowboys would be much better off letting Spencer walk or doing something similar to the NBA’s sign-and-trade tactic. For one, Dallas could get some secondary help via a trade for Spencer. Second, the Cowboys could draft Alabama’s Courtney Upshaw as Spencer’s replacement in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Finally, Dallas should use the franchise tag on receiver Laurent Robinson.

Spencer is replaceable; that’s a fact. Upshaw is about the surest thing there is in the 2012 NFL Draft after his illustrious college career at Alabama in leading the nation’s top defense to two national titles in the past three seasons.

Robinson will become a perennial Pro Bowler if he leaves Dallas. He’ll get a huge pay day from another team and become an NFL superstar beginning this season. However, he’s already said he’d be happy to stay in Dallas for less pay, even as the No. 3 receiver. Robinson completes the Cowboys’ offense and is Tony Romo’s most reliable red zone target. Dallas would be nuts to just let him walk away.

It’s a very simple formula, really; the Cowboys sign Spencer to an extension that another team agrees upon and then trade him for secondary help, draft Upshaw as his replacement and then keep Robison with the franchise tag. That scenario spells playoffs for Dallas regardless of whether the Cowboys switch to the 4-3 defense, which would greatly benefit the team. But again, what the Cowboys should do and what actually happens are two completely different stories.

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“Dude. I’ve got to be honest with you: That’s a good question. That’s a good question,” Hatcher said. “I really don’t know. It’s just another thing we really need … like the Ravens, we don’t have that. We’ve got the talent. We’ve got everything we need. I think we get like a Ray Lewis-type. Everybody buys into him. When Ray Lewis speaks, everybody listens to him. A guy like that, we really don’t got that. I think we definitely need somebody like that.”

Hats off to Hatcher for using a quality unit as his example. Although he was referring primarily to the Cowboys’ defense, Dallas’ offense suffers from the same ailment. The blame for the team’s record-setting fourth-quarter collapses in 2011 has been spread everywhere from quarterback Tony Romo to the secondary to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

However, teams that collapse late in games have no leadership; there’s no guy like Lewis that steps up in crunch time and sets an example for his teammates to follow suit. Romo might be trying to do that, but he’s not there yet and Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware never seems to make a sack when it matters most. He had a career-high four in a 34-7 loss to the Eagles back in October, but none of them changed the game one iota.

The Cowboys might soon have a leader in linebacker Sean Lee, but that can’t happen until he gets some help behind him in the secondary. No matter how good he plays, it will continue to go overlooked by everyone outside of Cowboys Nation as long as Dallas’ secondary continues to embarrass the franchise.

Hatcher hit the nail on the head by saying the Cowboys have no leaders. The team will continue to suffer disappointing 8-8 seasons until Jerry Jones improves the personnel in Dallas and that includes bringing in some leaders. Don’t hold your breath.

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Romo play quarterback for America’s Team, the most difficult position in all of sports. Romo is under more pressure than any other athlete in America and sometimes that gets the best of him on the football field. That’s certainly no excuse for his failures, late-game interceptions and such, but his off-season hobby isn’t to blame, either.

Millions of little boys dream of playing quarterback in the NFL. The vast majority that doesn’t make and those guys sit in their recliners on Sunday afternoons criticizing the players who are getting paid astronomical amounts of money to play the position they did in high school and maybe in college.

These men of all ages scrutinize NFL players more than anyone else because they’re envious. I should know; I’m one of them. However, we’re not able to put ourselves in their shoes. We have no clue what it must be like to be Romo or any other recognizable professional athlete.

Even some of those guys have no idea what’s it’s like to play quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. There are thousands of football fans who wish for Romo to fail like the millions more who wish for Miami Heat forward LeBron James to fail. This is simply due to the publicity and positions Romo and James hold. If Romo was the quarterback for most any other NFL team, he wouldn’t be held to nearly as high of a standard.

Every year about this time, Romo begins to play golf during the little amount of time off that he has. Every year about this time, everyone from sports radio talk show hosts to groups of elderly men at coffee shops verbally crucifies Romo for not spending his every waking minute with his head buried in a playbook.

Whether we like it or not, playing quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys is a profession just like any other. Romo gets paid to do a job for which he was trained just like truck drivers, welders, teachers, businessmen and doctors. No matter your profession, you get a day off every now and then. When you’re off, you don’t work; that’s a simple fact of life.

When Romo is off, he doesn’t work. Football consumes his life for 10 months out of the year, so he enjoys doing other things while he’s off. Now you might be thinking, ‘Well I pay money to see the Cowboys play and his golf is affecting that for me.’ You have a valid point, but think about it this way:

Do you scrutinize your waiter/waitress about what he does on his/her day off? Do you rant and rave about how your mail carrier should go over his route on Sundays after church instead of enjoying a nice afternoon of (yes, I’m about to say it) golf?

Look, I’m just as critical of Romo as anyone else and it makes my blood boil when he makes a game-changing mistake. I’ve called for his release after a bad game and then I’ve turned around and praised him after a good game like a bi-polar hypocrite just like every other Cowboys fan in America.

However, we would never know what Romo does on his days off if it weren’t for technology. Even though we do know what he does on nearly every day of his life doesn’t mean we have a right to attack him for it.

My father-in-law is an airplane mechanic and football players like Romo fly frequently. Although he’s an avid Cowboys fan, do you think Romo gives a rat’s rear end what my father-in-law does on his day off? Do you think Romo would criticize him for not studying the parts of air planes during his vacation? Of course not.

In Matthew 7:3, Jesus asks “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” In other words, mind your own business. Romo doesn’t verbally assault us for playing golf on our days off; maybe we should start taking a longer look in the mirror.

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In Kiper’s latest mock draft, he has the Cowboys taking Alabama safety Mark Barron with the 14th pick. However, he has Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick, Upshaw and DeCastro still on the board. That won’t happen.

That’s not to say Barron wouldn’t be a playmaker; he’s a ball hawk that can tackle as well. The Cowboys do need help at safety, but the glaring needs at cornerback, outside linebacker and defensive end should take priority.

Barron would make an excellent addition to the Cowboys’ defense, but taking him would prevent the team from filling bigger, more gaping holes on that side of the ball. There’s no way the Cowboys will pass on Upshaw, DeCastro and Kirkpatrick. With Kirkpatrick’s recent marijuana charge now dropped, he very likely will be taken by Dallas if he’s still available at No. 14.

Now if those three players are gone by the time Dallas is on the board in the first round, then Barron would be an excellent choice. Like I said, he’s a great player and he would single-handedly improve the Cowboys’ pass defense tremendously. However, that aspect of the Cowboys’ game is in a dire need of a shutdown cornerback.

Now if Cowboys owner Jerry Jones signs a top-notch free agent cornerback or two and a marquee pass rusher before the end of April, then Dallas could consider taking Barron if Abram Elam isn’t re-signed. But here’s a little secret: Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan likes Elam, so he’ll probably be back regardless of his performance in 2011.

With Barry Church and Danny McCray both very capable safeties, the Cowboys are actually in fairly decent shape back there. Church could easily start in 2012 and perform better than Elam or Gerald Sensabaugh, so that makes Dallas even more inclined to draft a guy like Upshaw at No. 14.

Again, Barron is a phenomenal player and he’d look great with a star on his helmet, but the Cowboys have way bigger fish to fry in the 2012 NFL Draft. However, what Dallas needs and what will actually happen are two different stories…

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There’s only one thing more important to Jones than publicity for his beloved Cowboys – his ego. Regardless of all the disappointing performances and chokes at the end of games by Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Jones has stood by and defended him to the Dallas media and fans. Not only that, but Jones has said on multiples occasions that Romo can and will win a Super Bowl with the Cowboys.

Regardless of whether you or Jones believes that, Romo will play in Dallas for at least the final two years of his contract. Even if Jones thinks Romo is hurting the team or he doesn’t give the Cowboys the best chance to win, he won’t pull him or sign a better quarterback like Manning because, quite simply, he won’t ever admit he’s wrong.

That’s why Manning won’t be a Dallas Cowboy. First of all, Manning wants to re-do his contract so he can stay in Indianapolis and retire with the Colts. Second, he’s only going to sign with a contender if he does become a free agent within the next month. Finally, the Cowboys can’t afford him.

Not literally; Jones has enough money to buy the Colts if that were allowed. However, the Cowboys have way too many areas on which to improve with the salary cap room the team has this offseason. Even if Manning does become a free agent and he wants to play in Dallas, Jones would have to trade Romo and that won’t happen.

Jones simply will not change anything at quarterback before Romo’s deal expires. Heck, Jones will probably give Romo another contract extension within the next two years and then he’ll be around beyond 2013.

Now, does bringing in Manning make sense? You better betcha. He has two, maybe three good seasons left in the NFL. Romo has two seasons left on his contract and he’s still unproven as a winner. The Cowboys could trade Romo to bring in defensive line and/or secondary help and then sign Manning, granted he becomes available. That would make the Cowboys’ offense the best in the NFL and Super Bowl-worthy.

Of course, that is assuming Manning can still play at an elite level after three neck surgeries last offseason. It’s a great daydream for any Cowboys fan as it would mean instant Super Bowl contention for the next two or three years, but it will never happen because of Jones’ ego. If you don’t believe that, you’re an ignorant football fan because Jones will never admit Romo wasn’t the right guy for the job. He’ll be the Cowboys’ quarterback until he leaves via free agency or retires and Manning will never play in Dallas, even though it would be the smartest move Jones ever made.

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Baker has ties to Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett; the two played football together at Princeton in 1987 and ’88 when Garrett was the quarterback and Baker was a receiver.

Now both men will be judged on how they can get current players to perform rather than themselves and Dallas desperately needs help in the secondary. While Baker was in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers’ pass defense ranked 10th, 7th and 21st in the NFL each season. Tampa Bay’s pass defense ranked higher than Dallas’ in each of those three seasons.

Henderson’s pass defense in Cleveland ranked 18th in 2010 and 2nd this past season, so both men have coached top 10 units in the past two years. That bodes well for the Cowboys, who gave up franchise highs in passing yards this past season.

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Welcome back Randy Moss!! You'll look good with that star on your helmet.

February 13, 2012 12:16 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@hatcher97

Jason Hatcher

Although he was lightning fast with good hands, Moss isn’t getting any younger. NFL receivers can’t rely on speed forever and Moss is by no means a good route-runner. That’s not to say he couldn’t still be an effective receiver for another year or two, but let’s be realistic. When he loses a step or two, his deep-threat ability will take a huge hit.

Moss’ raw talent may be some of the greatest of all time, but his off-field issues spell T.O. times ten for the leaderless Cowboys. Terrell Owens was productive on the field for the most part during his tenure in Dallas, but his constant drama and every-is-about-me attitude was terrible for Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo’s development.

Moss would be no different and perhaps worse. If someone is selfish enough to screw up what the New England Patriots had going in 2010, there’s no telling what he’d do in Dallas. This is a guy who pretended to moon the Packers’ crowd while in Minnesota the first time, admitted he takes plays off while in Oakland, got himself thrown off a Super Bowl-caliber team in New England and then was run out of Minnesota after insulting a local fan who provided the Vikings’ team dinner.

Besides, the Cowboys don’t need a receiver; Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Laurent Robinson (assuming he re-signs) are a top-five unit in the NFL. Add in tight end Jason Witten and Dallas would only be meddling with chemistry by bringing in Moss for Heaven knows how much of a yearly salary.

Moss would be horrible for Tony Romo. The Cowboys’ veteran quarterback really came into his own toward the end of this past season and it would be unwise for Jerry Jones to jeopardize that growth. There’s a chance Moss would be a tremendous asset for the Cowboys, but the risk of signing him is far too great for a team like Dallas to consider.

Of course, some pessimistic Cowboys fans will ask the question “what do the Cowboys have to lose?” As I’ve mentioned many times, this is a team built to win with its current core group of players. Bringing in Moss would likely destroy any chance Dallas has of contending during the Romo era.

Regardless if you’re a Romo lover or hater, you can’t argue the Cowboys’ offense is the team’s problem. With a healthy DeMarco Murray, the Cowboys will challenge the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots for the NFL’s top offense in 2012. Dallas doesn’t need to change a thing on offense except for bringing in some help on the offensive line.

Instead of considering the publicity stunt of signing Randy Moss and throwing away what little chance the Cowboys’ have of contending in the next few years, Jerry Jones should focus on drafting and singing solid defensive players to try and make two Super Bowl runs in the final two years of Romo’s contract. Bringing in Randy Moss would be a mistake for the Cowboys and Jerry Jones knows it as well as you and me.

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The Cowboys lack the talent at defensive end to succeed with a 3-4 scheme. Kenyon Coleman, Jason Hatcher, Marcus Spears and Sean Lissemore are all the right size to play the position, but only Hatcher halfway decent on the field this past season. Lissemore is improving and has great potential, but he’s not there yet. The best option is switching to the 4-3.

Dallas could then move All-Pro linebacker DeMarcus Ware to his natural position of defensive end and just do what he does best – rush the quarterback. Ware struggled in zone pass coverage in Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan’s first season in Dallas and would be better suited to just rushing off the edge.

Then the Cowboys wouldn’t have to have 6’5″, 310-lbs. defensive ends to work the 3-4. Dallas should cut Spears regardless of what happens, but a 4-3 would allow Ratliff to pair up with a bigger guy like Lissemore or Coleman inside.

Enter Upshaw, who played outside linebacker in Alabama’s 3-4, but could easily transition to the 4-3 opposite Bruce Carter with Sean Lee manning the middle. Huge 3-4 advocates like myself hate stuff like this, but it’s really the best option for Dallas.

Upshaw is every bit as talented as Spencer if not more and his possesses way more get-up-and-go. That’s the kind of player Ryan needs rushing the passer off a defensive end’s flank. Spencer improved in 2011, but he’s proven he wasn’t worth a first-round pick. It’s time to offer Upshaw the chance to prove he can fit that bill.

If the Cowboys stay with the 3-4, it will require better play at the defensive end position. Drafting Upshaw to replace Spencer would still be a good move, but Dallas would still lack reliable players at defensive end. Switching to a 4-3 gives the Cowboys an All-Pro in Ware on the other side and a viable counterpart in Hatcher on the other.

It will be tough for Ryan to move away from his beloved 3-4, but unless Jerry Jones gets him some better personnel at defensive end, there’s really just no other way around it. Upshaw will be a great addition to the Cowboys’ defense no matter what, but he’ll really excel in the 4-3 under Ryan.

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