Remember this past off-season when Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was trumpeting the talent of Miles Austin for weeks on end?
Austin was a restricted free agent at the time, entering his fourth season, looking for a decent paycheck. Jones was unusually effusive in his praise for Austin, even though the player was due for a new contract.
Then the New York Jets came courting in April and came close to signing Austin, which surely appealed to the New Jersey native.
Keep in mind, Austin was no barnburner at the time — he’d only caught 13 passes the year before.
Jones ended up signing Austin to a one-year $1.54 million contact.
The season began with Austin on the bench and the Cowboys tottering early, but he jumped past Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton on the depth chart, made himself the team’s No. 1 receiver in spirit if not actuality, helped Tony Romo turn the team around, and yesterday was announced as the team’s only wide receiver chosen for the Pro Bowl.
Jones gets a lot of crap for his general manager foibles.
Give him credit on this one. He saved the season by clinging onto Austin last April.
Naturally, the New York media is crying about a blown opportunity, such as in this New York Daily News article “The One That Got Away.”
Here’s the only way to respond to that:
indeed!!!!
On the subject of the Pro Bowl, I can’t believe Andy Lee is the NFC’s punter over Mat McBriar.