by Charles George
The outcome of our lives is often a series of choices we make. As we strive to reach our goals and live our lives, often there is adversity. It’s not always the adversity that prevents us from reaching our goals. We can’t always control what happens, but we can always control our thoughts and choices.
There aren’t many platforms bigger than the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys.
Dallas generates the most revenue of any team, is the most valuable team in sports, and gets the most television views. In 2023, NFL regular-season games averaged 17.9 million viewers. Dallas had the most viewers per game, with an average of 25.2 million.
This past week, the Cowboys failed spectacularly on one of the biggest stages, the first round of the playoffs. Dallas was the #2 seed, and their opponent, the Packers, was the #7 seed. The Cowboys played this game in their home stadium, where, over the last two seasons, they were 16-0.
Before halftime on Sunday, the score was already 27-0 in favor of the Packers. Nothing seemed to work in the Cowboy’s favor, except they never quit. They continued fighting into the game’s final seconds, even though they eventually lost 48-32. Thus, their season is now over.
In the moments and days after the game, I wanted to see the responses and decisions of the quarterback, Dak Prescott, the head coach, Mike McCarthy, and the owner, Jerry Jones.
After the loss, the sports media and fans screamed to replace the quarterback and head coach.
After the game, Dak immediately said, “If Mike McCarthy’s job is on the line, then mine is also. All of my success this season is because of him.”
Dak had one of the best seasons of his eight-year football career. He led the league in passing yards, and touchdowns. Plus, he was a leading Player of the Year candidate and earned All-Pro honors.
The Team’s Ultimate Goal
Jerry Jones’ goal is to win the championship again. It has been his focus since the mid-90s when the Cowboys won 3 out of 4 championships. But this goal has eluded him since. Now, at 81 years old, he feels even more urgency to win.
But was starting over the best decision for Jerry Jones to reach another championship?
Like most decisions, there are a lot of factors involved. There is the salary cap, new coaching philosophies, the time for players to learn new offensive and defensive systems, the current coach’s past success, etc.
Often, during adversity, there are seeds of opportunity. There are opportunities to improve, make adjustments, and begin again with more information.
On Wednesday, Jerry Jones released this statement.
“I believe this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals and the best step forward for us will be with Mike McCarthy as our head coach. There is great benefit to continuing the team’s progress under Mike’s leadership as our head coach.
Specifically, there are many layers of success that have occurred this season as a result of Mike’s approach to leading the team, both with individual players and with our team collectively. Mike has the highest regular season winning percentage of any head coach in Cowboys history and we will dedicate ourselves, in partnership with him, to translating that into reaching our post season goals. Certainly, Mike’s career has demonstrated postseason success at a high level, and we have great confidence that can continue.
Further, our loss on Sunday is shared by everyone here, not just Coach McCarthy. Our players. Our coaches. Our front office. Myself. There is accountability for our results. I am accountable for our results. The lens we use to view and evaluate Coach McCarthy is holistic. While we’re all disappointed with the result on Sunday and with our playoff record, I am 100 percent supportive of him as our head coach and ability to reach our goals.”
I could write an entire article on Jerry Jones’s statement, leadership, and mindset. The biggest takeaway is acknowledging the success under Mike McCarthy and then Jerry accepting personal responsibility and being accountable for the results, also.
Mike McCarthy’s Perspective on Loss and Winning
Yesterday, Mike McCarthy held a press conference about the loss and moving forward.
Here are a few of his quotes that stood out. We can all learn about improving our performance, even through adversity.
“The disappointment is not playing to your standard of play. You go through a whole regular season and you establish a standard of play, a standard of productivity, approach, and all of those things. One team played to their standard, and one team didn’t. Unfortunately, we didn’t.
So, I am very disappointed in our performance and just not playing to our standard.”
Here is another quote about winning. Winning and reaching goals are often achieved in incremental steps.
“We have established a championship program. It’s just not a world championship yet. We know how to win. We know how to train to win. We have the right people, but we have not crossed the threshold to win a playoff game. It’s extremely disappointing sitting hear talking about it. But I know how to win.
And we will get over that threshold. I have total confidence in it, and that is why I am standing here today.”
Whether the Cowboys will win another championship next year or in Jerry Jones’s lifetime is unknown. The league is designed for parity, to engage the fans the most, and ultimately lead to the overall success of the NFL, not one individual team.
As successful as Jerry Jones has been throughout his career, I believe his desire to win, and his leadership will ultimately lead the Cowboys to another championship.
At least, I am hopeful. If not, I will continue celebrating their success, cheering them on, and learning how to improve my mindset, leadership skills, and performance through their adversity.
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