Stepping out!!

It's never easy being the man who takes over from the man.  You've got someone who comes to a team, does his thing and becomes a legend during his time.  The front office loves him, the fans adore him.  Then comes the time when he has to leave the stage.  Soooo, the next person coming in has to match, if not exceed the performance of the guy before him?  C'mon man.

Denver is still waiting for the next John Elway.  Miami is still waiting for the next Dan Marino.  Danny White, despite posting good numbers and leading Dallas to the playoffs, earned the nickname "The quarterback after Roger" (Staubach).  Quick!!  A show of hands if anybody knows who Cliff Stoudt is.  For the record, he's the guy who took over from Terry Bradshaw.  Even Steve Young had live in the shadow of Joe Montana, before finally stepping out after Super Bowl XXIX.  Truth is, it's just not easy.

Aaron Rodgers was considered to be a possible 1st overall pick during the 2005 NFL Draft.  San Francisco held the pick, but opted for Alex Smith instead.  I kind of wonder how that's working out for them now.  Rodgers endured a painstaking 4½ hour wait in the green room, before Green Bay picked him up with the 24^th pick.  It was widely believed that he would be the man to succeed Brett Favre when he eventually decided to retire (I still don't think he will).

One can only wonder what Favre is thinking

Everyone including Rodgers seemed to be thrilled at the thought of being mentored by Brett Favre.  Think about it, in the post-Lombardi era, there was no bigger icon in Green Bay than Brett Favre (well, maybe Reggie White, but you know what I mean).  The opportunity to learn from one of the game's greats would be priceless.  Turns out Favre was anything but thrilled about this "opportunity", saying he wasn't being paid to mentor the kid.

Fast forward to a few years later.  Favre "finally" decides to "retire", then somewhere along the way, changes his minds and returns to training camp wanting to reclaim his job.  Mike McCarthy proved he had what it took to make the tough call by saying "no" to Favre, signalling that the Packers were ready to move on with Rodgers at the helm.  Favre ended up being traded to the New York Jets and would eventually wind up the rival Vikings.


Beating Favre was a huge step in Rodgers progress
toward becoming his own man.

If all it took was a Super Bowl win for Rodgers to completely step out of Brett Favre's shadow, then consider this "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!"  The weight of Favre's legacy has been lifted off his shoulders; there is a new sheriff in town.  Whatever debt Green Bay owed to Brett Favre has been "paid in full".  Rodgers was arguably the best quarterback in the postseason.

Bart Starr still remains the greatest quarterback in franchise history; thanks to a 9-1 record in the post-season, his only loss coming against the Eagles in Philly (a place where Rodgers has already succeeded, and Favre didn't).  Luckily for Rodgers, he's not being compared to Starr, which is a good thing, because should he keep playing the way he is, he will in all likelihood break EVERY post-season franchise record.

Not bad for a guy who wasn't even recruited out of high school, and almost slipped into the second round because teams passed on him.

Big baller, play caller.

Jason Garrett officially became the 8th head coach of the Dallas Cowboys this week,  after having served the last three and a half seasons as the offensive co-ordinator.  We also know the "great" job that he did as the "interim" coach; leading the Cowboys to a 5-3 record after the horrendous 1-7 start, in a season they were expected to play in February's Super Bowl that will be hosted in Jerry's World.

In the offseason, Dallas extended Wade Phillips' contract by 2 more years, on the heels of a strong finish that saw them not only win a division title, but a playoff game for the first time since 1996.  After a reality check beatdown by the Vikings, probably the last good game by Brett Favre, you kind of hoped that they would come back stronger in the next season.

Now this isn't a secret to anyone familiar with football, and the Dallas Cowboys to be precise.  The only thing that Jerry Jones really, really wanted, was to hoist the Lombardi trophy at the 50 yard line in his own stadium.  Anything short of that, and Wade Phillips would be gone.  It didn't matter if Dallas went 16-0, won the NFC title but lost in the Superbowl.  It had to be this season, or else.

Wade was sent packing after a loss to the Packers

Wade Phillips is a different kind of cat.  He's not going to get on the podium and give you sound bites like Jim Mora, or maybe even Herm Edwards.  He's not going to rip into players on the podium or even get in their face on the sidelines.  And he's definitely not the "fire and brimstone" kind of a coach.  You can call his style maybe soft, or whatever.  Just don't expect to get much from this guy. 

I guess the players eventually just stopped responding, and went out there doing their own thing.  The season just started out as a joke.  When the offensive line wasn't busy holding, they were being penalized for false starts.  The secondary couldn't stop anybody, you had Mike Jenkins (a pro bowler the previous season) bailing out on tackles; this team was a comedy of errors.

While Phillips dismissal was imminent, the problem that I have with his replacement is this; who was the offensive coordinator during the team's 1-7 start?  And why is it that offensive production goes up, just after Phillips was fired?  Certain things don't require a trained eye and this is one of those things.  A few other columnists have brought this up on national TV, so I guess I'm not alone in wondering whether there was possible sabotage.  Whenever an offense sputters, the offensive coordinator is usually demoted or fired; but you can't fire a guy that's about replace you, especially when he's got the full faith and credit of the team owner.

Garrett made his career as a backup QB

What's done is done.  Garrett is the new sheriff in town and he has been charged with the mission of leading the Cowboys to success, much like he enjoyed during his stint as a backup quarterback.  He was on 2 Super Bowl winning teams and is fondly remembered for leading the Cowboys to a Thanksgiving day win over Green Bay in 1994.  He still retains his play-calling duties and has full control of personnel matters; so there isn't a player who will be on that team without his approval.

I'm sure if Jerry Jones could have had it any other way, maybe Garrett would have been head coach sooner, instead of the soap opera that unfolded when Bill Parcells had left.  However, if there is a team capable of playing out a soap opera, it can only be Dallas.