The TV cameras took an obligatory shot of Jerry Jones’ luxury box Sunday night just seconds after Jordan Matthews had won a huge football game for the Philadelphia Eagles, but the Cowboys owner had already scurried for cover, like a cockroach when the lights go on.
Where were Jones’ sons, tissues in hand to polish his glasses? Or the army of yes-men he still employs, 19 years after his last championship? Or Chris Christie, the New Jersey governor who spent last year hugging and belly-bumping Jones and all of his toadies?
The luxury box was as empty as the Cowboys’ chances for success this season after an overtime win by the Eagles that will remain a sweet memory for many years to come, especially if coach Chip Kelly can find a way to sustain the joy of Sunday night.
In the end, the Eagles didn’t just win a game they desperately needed; they also killed the dark forces represented by Jones and his players. The Birds kicked a bully named Greg Hardy right in the teeth. They finally silenced the incessant chatter of loudmouth Dez Bryant. And – best of all – they made Jones himself run from view.
Yes, the good guys won in Dallas on Sunday night, but it was just as satisfying to know that the bad guys lost.
After the game, the owner was not available to discuss the loss or the photos of Hardy’s girlfriend that surfaced last Friday, photos that have disgusted most of America. (See more below.) Hardy was too busy removing his war paint to make himself available. Bryant had nothing pertinent to add, as usual.
There’s so much they could have said about their sixth straight loss – the bold decision by Kelly to go for it on fourth down early in overtime; the bogus pass-interference calls that gave them a chance to tie the game late; the field goal that clanked off the left upright and over the crossbar, saving the game for them at the time; and that final play.
Right after the fourth-down gamble worked (barely), Jordan Matthews made his ninth catch of the night – with no drops – on a crossing pattern that was the perfect call at the perfect time. Quarterback Sam Bradford said he told Matthews just before the snap that the young receiver would win the game on the play.
According to Bradford, Matthews spent hour after hour during the bye week working on catching and securing the football, seeking counsel from coaches and teammates and showing the character that Kelly requires of his players. Like so many of his teammates, Matthews is part of a culture that excludes bad acts like Hardy and Bryant.
In fact, I asked Kelly on Monday morning if he would ever keep a player on his team who did what it appears Hardy did in those photos. Kelly said he had seen the pictures, but he refused to entertain the question.
“It’s more serious than being on a team,” he said.
Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson were not so reluctant. After the game, both linemen said they were motivated to stop Hardy because of those photos, and they even admitted if there was a chance to add an extra shot or two during the game, they took it.
It has never been difficult for Eagles fans to hate the Cowboys, from Tom Landry to Michael Irvin to Jimmy Johnson to Tony Romo. The sight of that obnoxious blue star has always been more than enough to induce nausea and disgust.
Now, though – this season – it is easier than ever, with the likes of Hardy and Bryant and Jones fouling the landscape. That’s what was so thrilling about the end of the game on Sunday night, when they lost a game they had to win and then ran for cover.
Yes, the good guys won in Dallas on Sunday night, but it was just as satisfying to know that the bad guys lost.
***
Greg Hardy is a monster – and I’m not talking about the ferocious way he plays football. He did not belong on the field Sunday night in Dallas. He belonged in prison, surrounded by thugs just like him.
If you haven’t seen the photos yet of the welts and bruises Hardy left on the face, back, arms and feet of girlfriend Nicole Holder, take a peek. They are as nauseating as the man who brought him back to the NFL, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. The only question you will have is how anyone with a soul could enable that behavior.
When the photos finally surfaced last Friday – 18 months after the assault – Jones issued a shameless statement about second chances instead of throwing the defensive end off his team, the way the Baltimore Ravens did to Ray Rice last year. Jones and Hardy belong together, two people who have lost all connection to human decency.
The saddest part of this story is the attitude of the Dallas fans and media, who, with a few exceptions, have expressed no problem with Hardy being on the team, in their uniform, representing their city. It was my misfortune to appear on Dallas radio last week and to encounter first-hand the overwhelming sense of denial there.
The two babbling idiots who interviewed me – Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade of The Fan – expressed no concern at all about Hardy’s ongoing lack of emotion control, before retaliating with the tired old clichés about Philadelphia’s own fan misconduct. They were blind to the physical abuse of a woman, the tirades on the sidelines, everything.
And so were most other people in Dallas. Where were the local women’s groups on Sunday night protesting Hardy’s continued employment in the NFL? Where were the boos when Hardy made a play? Does anyone in Dallas have anything to say after seeing what Hardy did to his girlfriend?
Football is a wonderful diversion from all of the challenges of everyday living, until it becomes just another reminder of what’s wrong with reality. Take a look at those photos. Then provide a logical explanation for why, in a civilized society, Greg Hardy was on a football field Sunday Night, instead of in a jail cell.
***
Philadelphia does not have a professional basketball franchise, at least not in the conventional sense. 76er coach Brett Brown blurted out the truth last week after the fourth loss in their still-winless (0-6) current season.
Brown had inserted new point guard Phil Pressey into the game with 5:27 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Sixers down three in Milwaukee. Pressey had joined the team just before the start of the game, and had barely even met his teammates before joining them, in crunch time, on the court.
“I would have played him in the first half, but he was studying the playbook,” Brown said. “We do have a history of saying, ‘Nice to meet you. Start.’ . . . That’s just a part of who we are. We shake their hand and put them in a game.”
Whether the coach was aiming a barb at GM Sam Hinkie or just being light-hearted is open to interpretation. What is beyond debate is that the Sixers want it both ways right now. They want to charge full price for games, they expect to rake in all of the perks of being in the NBA, and yet they have no intention of even pretending to compete.
This is the third year of a tanking expedition that has brought Jahlil Okafur, Nerlens Noel and a lot of broken promises so far. It has also brought a record of 37-133, the lowest attendance in the NBA and absolutely no timetable for improvement. The Sixers want you to trust their plan. They would prefer that you ask no questions right now.
Well, here are a few anyway: In what sport does a team sign a player, shake his hand and put him into the final minutes of a close game? Is this really NBA basketball in the 21st century? Or has Philadelphia lost its basketball franchise?
And finally ...
• Donovan McNabb will serve a second stint in jail for DUI — this time for 18 days — but he still insists that he doesn’t have a drinking problem. OK, who’s going to step up and tell the former Eagles quarterback that when you go to jail twice for drunk driving, you have a drinking problem? Anybody?
• A brutal start by the Flyers has overshadowed the fantastic play by backup goalie Michael Neuvirth. Somehow, the Flyers lost six of seven while Neuvirth was posting a 1.81 goals-against average so far this season. After all the roster changes, how did this Flyers offense become even worse than last season’s?
• Gregg Popovich turned down a chance to attend Game 5 of the World Series last week, revealing that he finds sports “boring.” Oh, really? I’ll bet the five-time NBA champion is not at all bored every time he checks his bank account. He makes $6 million a year coaching the San Antonio Spurs.
• The first game of the World Series ended at 1:14 a.m. on the East coast and the final game was over at 12:36 a.m. If the geniuses running baseball think it’s smart to deny young people a chance to see the biggest moments, shame on them. Greed for TV money is slowly killing major league baseball.
• Temple’s latest money-grab – charging singers for the honor of performing the national anthem – is a disgrace. When Americans began the tradition before games, it wasn’t designed as another revenue stream for teams. It was an act of patriotism during. And that’s what it still should be today.