This 1 word perfectly describes the Dallas Cowboys

There are several words in the English language that can be used to describe the state of the Dallas Cowboys, but only one word is actually needed.

Undisciplined.

The rot starts at the very top and works its way down through the entire organization. The sad truth is that this has been the case for decades now.

Think back to the late 1990s, after the Jimmy Johnson team that won three Super Bowls began to retire or move on to other teams.

Check out A Football Life: Troy Aikman, where they show a clip of Aikman ripping the coaching of the Cowboys under Barry Switzer. It’s one of the earliest examples of what I’m talking about.

Of course, the starting point was Jerry Jones’ mouthing off about “500 coaches” after the Cowboys second-straight Super Bowl win over Buffalo.

That undisciplined moment may have cost the Cowboys at least two more Super Bowl victories. It is with Jones himself where the rot begins.

All Hat And No Cattle

It’s a common refrain in Texas. “That boy is all hat and no cattle.”

That should be branded above anything that lists Jerry Jones as the Dallas Cowboys General Manager.

In the quarter-century since Jones’ ego sent Johnson packing and the players Jones personally selected after Johnson’s departure took over, the Cowboys haven’t won anything.

Yes, a few divisional titles have been won, but the true measure of a franchise is how it fares in the playoffs. Since the end of the 1995 season ended with a Super Bowl win, the Cowboys haven’t even won a single divisional round game.

That’s brutally bad. And that’s all on Jones’ work as the GM.

A Bad Record

His decision-making is bad.

His drafting record overall? At best, a “C” grade offset only by a few hits he’s managed to make here and there.

Like they say, even a blind squirrel finds an occasional acorn.

His trading record is dismal. Somehow, when he does get one right, the Amari Cooper deal in 2018, for example, he still finds a way to screw it up.

Signing a damaged goods Michael Gallup to an extension while trading away Cooper for a fifth-round pick that turned into a nothingburger ring a bell?

He passes up a solid pick in the draft and then, because he can’t handle being wrong, and thus won’t admit it when he is, refuses to sign that same player in free agency.

Derrick Henry ring a bell? Maybe you’ve heard, he’s leading the NFL in rushing this year.

Saquon Barkley was also available to be signed, and Jones passed on him too.

Barkley is only second in the NFL in rushing this year.

But Jones insists Henry wouldn’t have been a “fit” in Dallas.

Both Henry and Barkley have more rushing yards this year than the entire Cowboys’ team. Good work, Mr. General Manager Jones.

An Undisciplined Front Office

A disciplined GM would recognize that what he was doing wasn’t working, acknowledge it, and make corrections.

Especially if the Cowboys had a disciplined owner. But they don’t and GM Jones keeps blundering on.

He overpays players, many of whom he’s in a bidding war against himself for, that shouldn’t be getting the money he’s doling out.

He lets players go that should be kept on because he personally doesn’t “value” that position – see Hitchens, Anthony, et al.

Nor does he ever learn from past mistakes to avoid making them over and over again.

Further evidence of his lack of discipline was on full display recently when he went onto a local radio show and threatened to have the hosts fired for questioning his decisions.

He has yet to apologize for that incident. Nor has anyone in the front office appeared to have stepped up and told him he was wrong about that, and an abundance of other things as well.

And that’s not the only area the front office has failed to step up and say something.

You’re telling me no one mentioned during the construction of AT&T Stadium how bad an idea it was to have a wall of windows facing west would be?

No one mentioned the possibility of putting up something to block the blinding sun glare from striking the field during a football game?

Apparently not, and that comes as no surprise. They are taking their cues from the boss and acting as undisciplined as their leader.

It isn’t just the GM and the front office personnel confronting the media on podcasts and social media either.

The players are now taking their cues from leadership and joining in on the fun.

No Accountability On The Field

After the loss to the 49ers, Trevon Diggs didn’t even bother to change out of his uniform before checking his Twitter/X account. Reading something not to his liking, he charged outside to confront the reporter who posted it.

Frankly, he showed more fire and effort there than he had all game from this viewpoint, but that’s another post for a later time.

Frankly, the confrontation was unprofessional and unnecessary.

Or in other words, undisciplined. But Diggs is not the only guilty party.

Tyler Guyton committed three blatant holding penalties against the Giants earlier this year. He then spent a week whining about it.

Micah Parsons seems more interested in his podcast than his playing career.

Now that he’s the highest paid player in the NFL, Dak Prescott is putting more attention to detail on his new house and his commercials than throwing the ball to the guys in the same color uniform.

Think back over this last quarter-century. Remember all the bone-headed plays, mistakes, and mishaps that shouldn’t have happened if the culture of the Dallas Cowboys was more disciplined.

There are far too many. And that’s why we are approaching 30 seasons without a championship in Dallas.

Fixing The Problem

An absence of discipline. That is, sadly, the culture of the Dallas Cowboys in the 21st Century.

The responsibility for this toxic culture that is preventing the Cowboys from getting back to the Super Bowl starts at the very top.

The ideal solution is for Jones to sell the team at the end of this season.

This would allow new ownership to step in, install a new GM, and do a complete overhaul to the point that less than five players would still be on the roster when the 2026 season kicks off.

Since that seems unlikely, the other option would be for Stephen Jones to get his father to admit that, at 82, he’s lost a step. This allows a GM to be hired with full authority to fix this mess.

Or we’ll have to wait for the Grim Reaper to step in while we suffer for a few more years and hope Stephen Jones isn’t as stubborn as his old man.

Either way, the solution is new ownership, with a new front office dedicated to being disciplined, and demanding the same from the coaches and players.

Sooner or later, it will happen. Until then, my brother and sister Cowboys fans, we’re doomed to wander the NFL’s Sinai.

Unlike Jerry Jones, we’re a little more disciplined. We know we’ll eventually see the Promised Land.