12/21/24
November 02, 2013
Tom Landry Died a New York Giants Fan: Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry was a New York Giants fan when he died, his widow Alicia Landry is quoted as saying in a new book. Landry was disgusted with how he and his family were treated by Jerry Jones, the Cowboys owner who fired him. Alicia Landry said after Jones bought the team and fired Landry, he took away the Landry family's suite at Texas Stadium and barred Tom Landry Jr. from continuing to buy season tickets. "It’s not the same Dallas Cowboys," said Alicia, who has not been to AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, to see the statue of her husband, who died in 2000.
When Landry was fired, the swift success Dallas had under Jimmy Johnson made me forget how good Landry had been even in his later years. He was fired after 7-9, 7-8 and 3-13 seasons. Before that, 8 of his preceding 10 seasons had 10 or more wins, and one of the others was a 6-3 short season. He also had a 20-year streak of winning seasons from 1966 to 1985.
Firing him was like a new owner buying the Patriots and dumping Bill Belichick after three losing seasons.
It's tough as a Cowboys fan to read that the Landrys washed their hands of the team (and had multiple reasons). But what makes it tougher is that under Jerry Jones the Pokes have only won one playoff game in 17 years.
posted by rcade at 03:49 PM on November 02, 2013
Firing him was like a new owner buying the Patriots and dumping Bill Belichick after three losing seasons.
I don't mind any coach being fired -- that's the way things go, and if you're 3-13, well, something was wrong. But Jones disposed of Landry, and he could easily have said, "Look, Tom, this isn't working out, and I'm going to find another coach, and I want you to lead the search and become Head Coach Emeritus or Chief of Operations or something like that with no power but that acknowledges your contributions to this team." But no, he had to be all Jerry Jones about it.
posted by Etrigan at 05:43 PM on November 02, 2013
One thing that still troubles me about the extended version of this affair is Barry Switzer getting a Super Bowl ring. I think at that point, Jones became convinced of his own genius and came to believe that he could hire darned near anyone to coach the team and they would be fine. He has certainly put that theory to the test.
posted by beaverboard at 06:00 PM on November 02, 2013
But no, he had to be all Jerry Jones about it.
He seems to have made enemies of the Landrys far beyond the decision to fire the coach. That's a terrible injustice.
Former Cowboy Pete Gent, who wrote a fictionalized version of his time on the team as North Dallas 40, had this to say about the coach: "The game never passed him by like a lot of people thought during his later years. All that happened in Dallas was that Murchison died. He would have coached a long time if Clint hadn't died. Tom could X and O with the best of them until the day he died."
(From the book I Remember Tom Landry.)
posted by rcade at 06:20 PM on November 02, 2013
If only Tom Landry was the GM of the Cowboys ...
posted by cixelsyd at 11:33 PM on November 02, 2013
You'd rather have a dead guy running the team than Jerry?
posted by rcade at 12:51 PM on November 03, 2013
Jerry's not dead?
posted by tommybiden at 03:11 PM on November 03, 2013
posted by beaverboard at 07:35 PM on November 03, 2013
Tom Landry always had good character ... something Jerry Jones never has had. I'm an Eagles' fan, and always wanted (and still want) them to beat the Cowboys, the way Jerry threw Tom and his family out like garbage was sickening.