Cowboys Report Card: How Did Players Grade Jerry Jones & Dallas in NFLPA Survey?

Cowboys Report Card: How Did Players Grade Jerry Jones & Dallas in NFLPA Survey?

FRISCO - The NFL Players Association has released its league-wide “report card” ... with players doing the grading of their teams.

What is being judged? Everything from the food in the cafeteria to the leg room on the plane to how their families are treated by their organization.

And how did your Dallas Cowboys fare? Let's look at the grades, some NFL comparisons ... and some of the ways the info is getting twisted to fit pre-fab notions about owner Jerry Jones and "America's Team'' ...

The category-by-category breakdown of how Dallas did in each category.

Treatment of families: A-minus (4th out of 32) - The Cowboys were No. 1 in this area last year. ... and this is where some "negative spin'' can apply. It's being pointed out that this number is part of Dallas' overall drop, from No. 5 last year to No. 12 this year, the most precipitous fall of any team in the NFL.

But ... a) Is No. 4 and an A-minus still good? And b) What did the team do differently this year in its "treatment of families'' than it did last year? And c) Did Dak Prescott's brother, Micah Parsons' brother and CeeDee Lamb's mom get to vote?

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Food/Cafeteria: B (11th out of 32) - The Cowboys took first place last year. Again ... how did the food change? (P.S.: The Star features a gigantic and comfortable private restaurant setting ... while there are still some NFL teams that don't even offer meals!)

Nutritionist/Dietician: B (11th out of 32) - We are probably missing something here, but we had no idea "an individualized nutrition plan'' was important enough to be an entire category of its own, separate from "Food/Cafeteria.'' Oh well.

Locker room: A (2nd out of 32) - We've been in lots of locker rooms. If there is one better than Dallas', we'd love to visit it! 

Meanwhile, there is Washington, where players testified that not only is their locker room tiny ... but it's also the site of the occasional sewage leaks.

Training room: C-minus (26th out of 32) - It seems players complained of a shortage of full-time trainers and physical therapists. At least this seems fixable.

Training staff: D-plus (30th out of 32) - The players here apparently feel the training staff “only slightly contributes” to their success. Yikes.

But ... Dallas earned an A- in this category last year. Nope, we're not certain what's changed.

Weight room: A (5th out of 32) - Yup. We've been in there. It's glorious.

Strength coaches: B-plus. (17th out of 32) - The team’s strength staff ranked first last year with an A-plus. So as we ponder again, "What's really changed from a year ago?'' ... we wonder: Is it the players who've changed? New roster member with different (higher) expectations?

Team travel: C-minus (22nd out of 32) - This is valid and it's a tough one. The Cowboys travel on an American Airlines charter. There are of course not 100 first-class seats. So yeah, a lot of 6-4, 280-pound men are pretty much screwed.

It might help that a few years ago the Cowboys dumped the idea of the suit-and-tie dress code. Maybe a little.

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Head coach: A (9th out of 32) - Well, lookee here! Mike McCarthy was rated as being “very willing” to listen to his players and is well-regarded for his managing of his players’ schedules. But ... but ... Why are there consistent reports from the same media outlets, over and over, that the Cowboys don't like McCarthy? You'll have to figure that one out for yourself.

Ownership: B (19th out of 32) - And finally, a tricky one. Jerry Jones scored an 8.6 out of 10 from his players - but it seems as though the grade is based on an owner's "willingness to invest in the facilities.''

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So ... a) Which owner offers better facilities than Dallas'? Is there really such a thing? And b) Shouldn't "quality of ownership'' be about more than "facilities''? And c) Maybe next year questions in this category should be about the owner's willingness to spend, about his personality and personal involvement with players, and about his overseeing of the now-much-debated "culture issue.''