Dumping Hardy, McClain helped Cowboys chemistry
FRISCO, Texas — Cowboys coach Jason Garrett believes his team’s chemistry is superior to that of last year, to which your deaf chocolate lab would know, but it’s the why that no one agrees upon.
Or wants to admit publicly. While winning will forever remain the greatest “team bonding exercise,” dumping a loser never hurts — looking at you Greg Hardy and Rolando McClain.
The decision not to bring back the talented, and self-destructive, Hardy for a second season might have hurt this team’s statistical sack numbers but helped in other areas that cannot be quantified on a stat sheet (this is why you should never completely trust analytics).
It never hurts team morale to jettison a starting player who blows off practices, like Hardy. And meetings. And doesn’t return phone calls from coaches. And is a terrible influence on already troubled defensive end Randy Gregory.
It never hurts team morale to dump a player who doesn’t want to practice, and can’t successfully negotiate the rigors of a league-mandated drug list, such as McClain.
While no one can question their respective talents, the success of the 2016 Cowboys should force owner/GM Jerry Jones to admit that taking on these talented losers is never worth the hassle.
That Charles Haley will forever remain Jerry’s lone unicorn because, while the Hall of Fame defensive end might have been a hassle, he wasn’t a loser.
Of course, Jerry admitting such a reality is about as likely as the sun rising in the north.
Jerry does not believe the subtraction of Hardy has had any effect on this team this season, and will forever remain adamant that winning builds camaraderie; the rest does not matter.
It’s the chicken/egg question in roster building — does winning build chemistry or does chemistry build winning?
No one knows for sure, but what 2016 should tell Jerry is that it’s always better to dump the loser.
“Chemistry builds players and it’s a huge part of your success,” guard Zack Martin said Wednesday.
Inside the Cowboys’ locker room is a four-point “Player’s Creed” that the team has talked about throughout this season.
“It’s everything. It’s about how we live our life every day in this building,” running back Zeke Elliott said of this creed. “I guess you could call it the backbone of this team.”
Coach Process has asked the media not to take pictures, or report the exact verbiage, of this creed; to do so would be like revealing the secret ingredient to Kentucky Fried Chicken.
But unlike the secret ingredient to the bucket of extra crispy, there is nothing too out of the ordinary from the Cowboys player’s creed. It’s a collection of sports cliches about being a selfless teammate in an effort to win a game.
Who cares if the creed is corny or something straight out of a junior high locker room? Despite the money, this is still sports and this creed is obviously working.
The players have done the thing a coach covets more than anything else: They tossed all individual desires into the toilet in an effort to win.
“It’s the guys we have — one,” Elliott said. “And two, we make an effort to spend time outside the building (together). The more time you spend the closer you get.”
Much like the Cowboys of 2014, this group behaves and plays professionally. They do seem to actually like each other, something that’s never a given in any locker room.
And while the question of Tony Romo’s status was a distraction, the Cowboys never did have to deal with the negative energy of Hardy, or the random, unpredictable behavior of a Ro McClain.
Guys like this are only worth it if they are very good. You will notice the moment Terrell Owens was no longer able to get open consistently in 2008 the Cowboys dumped him because he was no longer worth the drama.
The Cowboys made no attempt to sign any such personality, or player, this offseason. They were not replaced by angels. Still, the players they do have might not possess the talent of a Hardy or a McClain, but they do take their jobs seriously and the results speak for themselves.
Granted, it helps when players like Sean Lee (knock on wood), the entire offensive line and Zeke have been mostly healthy, and God decided to give the Cowboys Dak Prescott, too.
History shows that teams function better when the players get along and like coming to work.
History shows that guys like Hardy and McClain may work out for a short while, and accumulate some seductive statistics, but in the end are not worth the hassle because they are losers who bring down a locker room.