From: bubba@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Gary Beason)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro
Subject: Re: Cowboys?
Date: 30 Jul 92 08:28:47 GMT
Organization: Purdue University


>>>1) He led an aging Dallas Team to 3 straight NFC championship games.
>>>Granted, he didn't get one win, but the team has to take some
>>>responsibility.  If Troy can do anything approaching this, I will be
>>>more than a happy Cowboys fan.
>>
>
>Well actually, by the time he retired and lived through several lean years 
>in Cowboyland, Danny had dropped to just below Roger on the alltime passing 
>list. Roger retired as numero uno alltime in the ratings ... Danny took over 
>the lead for a while (inheriting BJ Dupree, and later Cosbie, Drew, Tony D., 
>Tony Hill and CO. didn't hurt him here) ... Danny only lead an aging DEFENSIVE
>Cowboy team... the offense was one of the most potent in league history. Witness
>that they regular won offensive shootouts with the great San Diego clubs and 
>the highly explosive Green Bay teams. And who could forget that they slugged 
>it out with San Fran right down to the last drop in '81.  Don't gimme this 
>he lead an aging team crap. Tony D. was a third year man when he took over. 

Uh, last I heard the defense is still part of the team, so it's still
an aging team.  (If I wanted to be *real* cuss, I could argue that all
teams are aging, but that would inane and barely funny.)  As I
remarked in an earlier posting, Danny didn't have as much to do with
the '81 loss to SF as much as the defense.


>Drew was in his fith, Hill in his fourth, Cosbie was new, the O-line was 
>freakin GREAT!!! Golden Richards and Butch Johnson gave him great backup 
>receivers.. Sorry, Danny will get no votes from me on this one. 

Hate to be picky but Richards was gone by that time.  I think he left
for Chicago in 79 or 80.  

Great offensive line?  By '82, that was dubious.  I recall Philly and
the 'skins causing havoc in the Dallas backfield, particularly in '83.
It was a good offensive line, no doubt, but it was aging.  By '85 or
'86, I think Dallas was one of the oldest teams in the league, but I
won't bet on that.

>
>I wholeheartedly agree  ... Roget' the Dodget' and Sir Francis found ways to 
>win. Until somebody put a vastly superior team in front of them... they both
>did what it took to win. Danny and Kramer and later Wilson were all losers. 
>They'd always manage to throw three or four INT's in the big game. 
>
>

I won't speak for Kramer . . . I wouldn't want to.  How can Danny
throw that many interceptions and still achieve such a high ranking?

Danny was no Roger, but I remember some GREAT games by Danny--how
about that '80 playoff game vs. Atlanta?  or the game vs. Chicago?
What about those shootouts you mentioned?

The point ice and I are making is . . . give Danny some respect,
Cowboy fans.  Danny was treated by a stepchild by the media, the fans
and then Tom Landry.  Yeah, I was frustrated by some of Danny's
mistakes, and yeah, he threw a couple of costly interceptions in the
games they lost.  But they won some big games--like those other
playoff games--because of Danny.

Shit, like ice said, give Danny a little credit--THREE STRAIGHT NFC
CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES.  That means that Danny led Dallas to wins in at
least 6  other BIG games to get there.

I think Danny would have been a different player for a different coach
or a different set of fans.

But I think Skip Bayless made a good observation--Danny can be hot and
win some big games, but when he's bad, he's bad.

Hmph.  Maybe we should start another thread about Dallas fans. Does
anyone remember how the fans screamed for Roger's head his last couple
of years?  Or during the mid-80's when Mt. St. Landry wouldn't change
his defense to a different alignment as the fans wanted?