The Magic Carpet

By Matthew Storey

Did you ever love a person who was really, really HOT. You couldn't take your eyes off them, and the more you looked, the more you liked. Right away, without even realizing what is happening...you start assigning desirable traits to them, and fit them into your favorite fantasies and life scenarios... sigh...

Franchise QuarterBacks can be a lot like that for a fan. Ask a Cowboy fan the best thing about life in the 1970's, the list won't hit many spots before, #12, Roger Staubach, comes into the conversation...accompanied by a glassy look back and a smile.

Roger and the Cowboys were the best team for a few years, but they were also the team who 'couldnt win the big one', but on January 16, 1972, that all changed, the Heisman winning, square jawed scrambler with the big arm and big will stopped being the 'crush' and became 'The Man'. Cowboys 24, Dolphins 3, Super Bowl VI to the star and Roger on his way to immortality and an eternal spot in your heart.

There was another Super Bowl, two 4 point losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers juggernaut who laid claim to the Decade, and then the concussions took Roger the Dodger away from us, too soon.

But there was hope, a younger QB with a rocket arm of his own. Danny White was going to be 'The Man' now and the Championships would continue to flow between the Red River and the Rio Grande. White threw Touchdowns, threw for big yardage and Cowboys chewed up NFC rivals each Regular Season like the '70s squads had.

NFC Championship Game in 1980 versus the Eagles? Cowboys and White favored, Eagles win.

NFC Championship Game in 1981 versus the 49ers? Cowboys and White favored, 49ers and 'The Catch'.

NFC Championship Game in 1982 versus the Redskins? Cowboys and White favored, Redskins win.

There were other games for White, Pro-Bowls, passing records, lost playoff games.

No Cowboy fan thinks of White. A crush that faded when it became apparent there wasn't any there, there.

Then, the Dark time...

A new owner, a new coach, a 1st Round QB arrived.

Learning pains. Progression. Three Super Bowls in Four years with his best play in the one year they did NOT win.

Troy Aikman was the crush who went to 'The Man', never wavered, never failed to come through.

Ask a Cowboy fan who met the love of their life and had two kids in the '90s what they remember about that time?

Troy, Emmitt, Michael. Oh, and...them.

Once again, the concussions took The Man prematurely, the rules got changed, the team got weaker, a decade passed...

The Cowboys got a new crush, and he hasn't yet finished three full seasons on the job.

But he's got it goin' on, for sure. Passes fly around to waiting receivers, pass rushers fly by, unable to get a hand on him, the defense parts like hot butter when he is in charge. Speaks well, throws big, wins late.

He took the job, wowed the league, went to the Playoffs, had a win right in his fingers...

..and dropped the ball, the kick wasn't to be, the Cowboys lost a Playoff game they dominated.

It's cool, we said. He isn't a HOLDER, he's a QB!

And so he is, the next season was a revelation, 13-3, #1 seed, domination of the Giants for a half of the playoff game...complete collapse in the 2nd half, a loss to a team they'd beaten twice.

Wags talked about Blondes and Cabo. Nobody talked about 'choke'...

Last year was THE year with THE man. He got hurt, they struggled late, they MISSED the playoffs after being the consensus #1 coming into the season. In the final game, with everything on the line, the QB and team were dominated by a team they'd dominated months earlier, by a Defense they knew and Romo looked lost...

He said the right things afterward...

And then, yesterday, Sunday night against the Giants, the new Cowboys stadium debut, the only true test in the early part of their schedule, a chance to open a season 5-0 and have a stranglehold on the NFC East going into the bye, week six.

Tony Romo was the focus of the offense in previous years, Running Backs were the contrast, Running Backs were hurt. Tony threw it and if he could avoid turning it over, we won.

But yesterday, with a running game that can only be dreamed about and a Defense that could not be run against, Tony Romo finally had a chance to be a QB who didn't have to be heroic, only to manage the game, limit mistakes and let his team roll.

He couldn't do it. He threw the ball over his Running Backs and into the hands of a bystander Defender for a INT/TD, he threw the ball behind his Tight End, off his foot, into the hands of a bystander Defender for a INT/FG, he threw the ball so far over the head of a wide receiver and into the hands of a bystander Defender for an INT/FG, so FAR over his head it was described as a 'punt'. With Marion Barber running over people, Felix Jones running around them and Tashard Choice running through them and receivers all over the field, Tony Romo just could not manage himself. In a big game, the big talent was a liability instead of a winner.

Again.

And, as with Danny White, after awhile it stops hurting. High expectations built on reasonable probability are the ones that get fans off, the ones that make being a fan such a glorious expectation. Once a player has repeatedly performed at a lower level than the worst you could have imagined, those expectations evaporate and are replaced with 'faith' - which is a code word for 'no idea how this guy is ever going to come through, but we are stuck with him and have to believe or go crazy!'

Tony Romo is a good guy. He said all the right things, he usually does.

'...we'll keep clawing and going forward and I'll improve and I'll fix this. We'll be better tomorrow. I'll be better. We'll go forward'.

And you still believe, because he's only in his 42nd NFL Start this week and he has all the tools....

But, somewhere in your heart, you've detached. The losses in big spots have become so commonplace that the victory, if it comes, will be more about relief than joy.

Tony Romo came to Dallas and we thought we had Roger or Troy, Sunday night, we got Danny.

But we can dream...sometimes a dream is all you have, what you don't have, as a Cowboy fan is a compelling reason to remain engaged with the 2009 Cowboys. Head Coach Wade Phillips seems earnest, for sure, and he knows what he is doing. But, after 30 years of NFL experience, he has never won, at all, and his team continues to underperform in every big spot, with big turnovers, big penalties, crucial mistakes. Maybe it ISN'T his fault, but that is what happens...Romo means us well, will thrill for weeks and put us back in position...but what then?

This is a team who can grab our interest in only one way, and that won't be here for three months.

Until then, the NFC season has become a formality, a non-event. In week two!