Six years later, nothing has changed for Jerry, Cowboys

Jason Garrett and the 2019 Cowboys: mediocre, as usual
(photo from insidethestar.com)

    The great majority of my Facebook posts are positive ones. I make an exception for one subject matter: Jerry Jones.
    Wrote this blog piece six years ago; it is just as pertinent today (the day after an inglorious 26-15 Thanksgiving Day loss to the Buffalo Bills) as it was then. Nothing changes with Mr. Jones and the Cowboys. 
     It has been a mediocre football organization on the field -- making gazzilions of dollars -- for, oh, 23 years. 
     It is all about Mr. Jones' enormous ego, nothing else really matters. It is all about Mr. Jones getting his say in front of any camera he can find.
     He is a generous guy, and his family is generous. But -- as Randy Galloway used to write in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram -- he is a football idiot, and Jason Garrett is a good guy and always has been a mediocre head coach. 
      It is, simply, not nearly as good a football team as the enormous buildup it always receives.
---
https://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2013/07/you-cant-believe-what-jerry-says.html?fbclid=IwAR3Bo-Aj0NWEbQzo4aGSoQRud0pjQjv7xgeOPz8oXdRU4DdaA9V1p3ObJHE

Good for Romo ... but good for CBS?

Tony Romo going to CBS-TV
 (photo from Getty Images)

      Two words in the news this week to stir up readership and controversy: Tony Romo.
      This won't be as much fun as writing about our grandchildren, but if I am correct, it will draw more reaction than my previous post did.
      As I said in an e-mail and Facebook post Tuesday when the news broke, Tony Romo's retirement from football and the Dallas Cowboys is the smartest decision he's made in the game.
      Is it smart for CBS-TV to hire him? I'd say yes. Is it smart for CBS to make him the No. 1 analyst on its NFL games, alongside lead play-by-play man Jim Nantz? Not so sure about that.
      From the reactions of some of my friends on Facebook, they are happy to see Romo replace Phil Simms. OK, but let me return to that in a little bit.
      Before I go any further, here is my view on Tony Romo as the Cowboys' quarterback: It does not bother me that he is no longer there.
      I was fine with Dak Prescott replacing him last season, albeit because Romo -- again -- was injured.
      (Of course, Dak has a "hometown" edge with me. Haughton is just outside of Shreveport-Bossier; I have many friends there, and covered many a game at "the home of the Bucs" -- as Billy Montgomery and others used to say -- early in my sportswriting career.)
      On Romo: I was a fan, but I was never crazy about him. Probably I have plenty of company in this regard -- he often drove me crazier than I already am.
      Sure, his career statistics look great and he was an exciting, talented quarterback -- mobile, strong arm, great leader.
      But I can hear the great, late Jerry Byrd Sr. loudly proclaiming this about certain Cowboys players and the team in general: "LOSERS!"
      Maybe they were being politically correct, or being nice -- or maybe naïve -- but when I saw that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett each referred to Romo as "one of the greatest players in franchise history," I had to shake my head: No!
      I can give you 20 greater Cowboys players, and it wouldn't take me long.  
      Romo wasn't exactly a loser, but he was never the big winner. No Super Bowls, only two playoff victories and four losses. Lots of nice (regular season) victories. Lots of big losses.
      Exciting, yes. He often made the big play and brought them from behind to win, and  he too often made the stupid play -- or throw, interception -- and ... lost. The losses weren't totally his fault, but he had a large share.
      He was, as I noted earlier in the week: (1) the modern version of Craig Morton and Danny White (old Cowboys fans know what I mean) and (2) unlucky. 
      Romo (bad) luck: A fumbled snap on the PAT hold (Seattle playoff, 2006), dropped passes in an upset loss of Giants' proportions (playoffs at home, 2007, when the Cowboys were the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs and had beaten the Giants twice in the regular season) or the Dez Bryant last-minute "no catch" call at the Packers' 1-yard line (2014 season playoff loss at Green Bay). 
      Part of that, too, as he grew older were the injuries and surgeries -- the back fractures, the broken collarbones (plural), the seasons he missed almost completely (and his replacements were more than inadequate, if that's possible). 
      I was -- and I am -- skeptical that he could play much more without being injured again. The hit he took in the preseason game vs. Seattle last August wasn't exactly crushing. And he was out for weeks while Dak moved in and became a rookie sensation. Dak was fun to watch.
      So, yeah, at age 36 (37 on April 21), with a growing family, I think it's damn smart for Tony to not play any more football. 
      Maybe, as Joe Ferguson -- who knows something about being a quarterback in the NFL, and an older one -- suggested, Romo could have asked Mr. Jones to cut his salary substantially and remained as the No. 2 QB, ready to play if Dak couldn't. 
      But Tony's ego probably wouldn't allow that. Not when, say, the Houston Texans or Denver Broncos were willing to pay him substantially to be their No. 1 QB.
      The TV networks, and especially CBS, solved Tony's career decision. If they're offering huge money to be an NFL broadcaster, why go out there and risk another back injury, or even a permanent disability?
      Look, I always admired the way Romo handled himself on and off the field. He owned up to the losses; he wasn't an excuse maker. He was, I believe, cooperative with the media -- although I have a media friend who thought he was a basically boring interview. He was loved by and nice to his fans.
      Maybe he will be an outstanding TV analyst. CBS must think so, and other networks were interested.
      The ex-Cowboys who went into TV announcing is a good list, starting -- of course -- with the great Dandy Don Meredith. 
      Troy Aikman certainly has made the move from QB to outstanding analyst. He is one of the few I will listen to, although Joe Buck -- his play-by-play partner -- to me is growing as thin as his hair.
      Back to Phil Simms. Never had a problem with his announcing, but apparently a lot of people do. Certainly admired him as a quarterback; his story -- small-college QB star to Super Bowl winner -- was similar to our man, Mr. Terry Bradshaw.
      So for CBS to push aside Simms -- although CBS said it wants to keep him on its network team -- for Romo is puzzling to me. And one thought I had is that Peyton Manning is not interested because Peyton, seems to me, would be an excellent TV personality. He's done a few commercials, and few talk football better than he does.
      Hope it works for Romo and CBS. Stepping into the No. 1 role right away, Tony will have to learn quickly. At least when he became the Cowboys' No. 1 QB, then-head coach 
Bill Parcells had him go through a waiting period.
       It will help him that Nantz is the smooth, professional longtime "Voice of CBS Sports," and seems to be a class act.
When Bradshaw broke into broadcasting, he first was paired with Verne Lundquist. That hardly could have been better. 
       Here is one thing: With CBS, Romo will get to take part in a Super Bowl. And sitting in that broadcast booth, he's not liable to be tackled.             
           

A knee injury, USC ... and then Dr. Dossett

      (Third in a series)
      College football did not turn out as well as Drew Dossett had hoped it would. A damaged left knee cut short his career at the University of Southern California.
      Dr. Andrew Dossett's medical career has been a huge success, and still is, as we've expressed.
      So why USC when, in 1978 and early 1979, he could have chosen to attend college on a football scholarship wherever he wanted?
     He knew he would follow a pre-med curriculum, being a doctor had been in his mind for years and he had the grades it would require. So football was a factor -- and Southern Cal had been the national champion (split with Alabama) in '78.
     But why not LSU, which -- as always -- wanted any blue-chip prospect in Louisiana to stay near home? Sure, the Tigers could use a 6-5, 230-pound inside linebacker who could run and tackle, and was tough ... and smart.
     "Charlie Mac [McClendon] was a lame-duck coach," Dr. Dossett recalled earlier this week, and that proved true (1979 was the last of his 18 seasons as LSU head coach). But there was another reason.
     USC provided a "chance to punch out of the South, and I took it. I wanted to broaden my horizons. I knew I wanted to return to the South eventually [to live and work]. But I was never going to LSU."
     But he would be back on the LSU campus soon -- on the opposing team's sideline. 
     As his senior football season at Jesuit High in Shreveport ended, in the Class AAA state semifinals, and recruiting heated up, he had offers from "every major university in the South, Notre Dame, UCLA, USC ... "
     LSU was not even on the "visits" list. That included Ole Miss, SMU, Baylor, Texas, Oklahoma and Southern Cal.
     "USC seemed like the right school," Dossett remembered. "I was interested in the city (Los Angeles) and the academics, and it was a good football program."
     Actually, it was better than good. The Trojans had a talent-laden roster (see below); a bright, young, personable head coach (John Robinson); a coaching staff that, Dossett recalls, "was pretty remarkable"; and a history of success, including Rose Bowl victories under Robinson in 1976 and '78.
      The '78 team's 12-1 record included a 24-14 victory over Alabama in Birmingham. Two games later, USC lost at Arizona State 24-14, and that cost it a unanimous national title.
     After the season, USC was voted No. 1 in The Associated Press poll, but the United Press International poll made Alabama No. 1 and USC No. 2. ("The coaches voted for Bear Bryant, imagine that," Dossett noted.)
     Still, Drew loved what he saw and felt at USC, and he signed the scholarship papers.
     Two months later, his football future was badly shaken.
---   
      Playing volleyball in a P.E. class at Jesuit, "a freak accident" shattered his left knee. Torn ACL and a number of other problems -- Dr. Dossett, orthopedic expert, can detail them.  
      It looked as if there was no way he could play as a USC freshman in 1979 ... but he did.
      Dr. Billy Bundrick, the best-known orthopedic surgeon in North Louisiana, did the reconstructive surgery. Six months later, Drew Dossett was a special-teams regular for the Trojans.
      He would have preferred to redshirt, as many college freshmen do in athletics. But that particular year, Drew said, the NCAA rule was that freshmen could not redshirt.
      "They [the NCAA] twice came to our house to check out our recruiting process," Dossett said, "and they told us about the rule. I didn't want to waste a year, so I worked hard at the rehab -- three workouts a day -- and I was back. But I felt like I was only at about 70 percent."

Drew Dossett, University of Southern
California freshman linebacker-special
teams player, 1979 (USC photo)

      He was a young player among an accomplished, talented team.
      USC had four eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame players -- offensive linemen Anthony Munoz and Bruce Matthews, cornerback Ronnie Lott, and running back Marcus Allen. Tailback Charles White was the Heisman Trophy winner that year; Allen, his fullback, won it two years later at tailback. 
      The entire secondary -- Joey Browner, Dennis Smith, Jeff Fisher (future NFL coach) and Lott -- played significantly in the NFL. There were familiar NFL-players-to-be -- tight end Hoby Brenner and offensive linemen Keith Van Horne and Brad Budde.
      The coaching staff, among others, included three notable future Dallas Cowboys assistants -- Norv Turner, Paul Hackett (later also the USC head coach) and Hudson Houck.
      Turner, still coaching in the NFL, remains a good friend of Dossett's ("when our daughter was in college in San Diego, she rented one of his houses"), as does Houck, who is in a group with Dr. Drew that annually attends the Masters.
      Munoz was 6-6, 280 pounds -- "the biggest guy ever," Dossett recalls. "Now that's the tight end [in the NFL]."
      Matthews provided Dossett a light moment in their freshman year -- a reminder that he was from the South.
      "I was walking across campus one day, and I saw Bruce," Drew recalled. "He asked where I was headed. I said, 'I'm fixin' to go to lunch.' He said, 'Wait, fixin' to? What is that?'
      "It was the first time I realized that wasn't proper grammar."
---
      USC did not lose a game that season. Because it was his only season, Drew Dossett never played in a losing game at USC. But there was one tie. It was costly.
       Ranked No. 1 nationally for six weeks in a row, the Trojans had a 21-0 lead on Stanford at halftime. Then, as Dossett remembered, Turk Schonert -- subbing for John Elway at quarterback -- hit enough passes to save a 21-21 tie for the Cardinal.
       USC won the rest of its games, including a 42-23 rout at Notre Dame, and the Rose Bowl, 17-16 against Ohio State and gambling QB Art Schlichter.
       But Alabama went unbeaten (12-0) and was voted national champion, the last of its six national titles under "The Bear." USC finished No. 2.
       One game was special for Dossett, USC's fourth game that season -- Sept. 29 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge. He told his teammates how raucous the crowd could be at LSU, and the game that night proved him right.
       It remains a legendary one. (See links below)
http://www.lsusports.net/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=204803448
http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2009/09/players_and_fans_cant_forget_t.html
          The Tigers were ranked No. 20 and big underdogs to No. 1. But LSU's defense was dominant for three quarters and was trying to protect a 12-3 lead.
       But the Trojans' famed toss sweep took hold and two fourth-quarter TD drives won it for them.
       Many LSU people have not forgotten a "phantom" facemask call on a third-down incomplete pass that helped keep alive USC's late 79-yard drive for the winning touchdown that came with only 32 seconds remaining.
       It was arguably the best game of McClendon's last season at LSU (7-5 record), although the Tigers later lost only 3-0 to Alabama in a heavy rain. 
       His left knee hurting, Dossett decided to take his redshirt year in 1980. When he hurt it badly again in spring practice in 1981, the USC team doctors "retired me." They told him, as he would tell Michael Irvin and Prince Fielder years later, that it would be in his best interests to not play again.
       "I was OK with that," he said. "I was scared to play. I was a shell of myself. The knee was unstable. I didn't feel like I had a leg under me."
       So he turned to academics, for good.  He graduated in four years with a degree in exercise physiology, summa cum laude with a 3.92 grade-point average. 
---
       He always wanted to be a doctor. When he was still in grade school, a visit to a young, smooth Shreveport orthopedics doctor, Carl Goodman, inspired him. "I told my mother, I want to be like him," Drew recalled.
       After USC, the road to a profession began at highly recommended University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. A huge jump in out-of-state tuition caused a year's delay as he established Texas residency.
       Once he finished med school, he did an orthopedic residency in the Parkland Hospital chain. Then, recommended by Dr. John Conway -- who had been the Texas Rangers' team doctor for 15 years -- and following his route, he returned to Los Angeles for a one-year fellowship in spine surgery, studying under Dr. Robert Watkins at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic.
      Watkins, Robert Kerlan, Frank Jobe (developer of Tommy John elbow ligament replacement surgery) ... big names in athletics injury treatments.
      Jobe, Drew says, in fact offered him a job. But the aim was to return to Dallas.
      Watkins inspired his choice to be a neck/spine specialist. "I thought I wanted to be a sports medicine doctor," Dr. Dossett said, "but from a technical standpoint, the neck/spine surgery was much more difficult" and the challenge was appealing.
      Now his reputation is established, and growing, and the Carrell Clinic Spine Center opened on Oct. 3.
 ---
       Dr. Dossett's left knee continued balky and tenuous for years. "I could dunk a basketball off either leg when I was a kid," he said, "but after I hurt it, I could never dunk off my left leg again."
       After 10 operations -- 10 -- a knee replacement five years ago was a relief. He's in shape, saying, "I've been 225 to 230 pounds since I was 16, my wife has me eating the right things, and I exercise [stationary bike] on a regular basis."
       Better yet, he can play as much golf as his busy schedule permits. With an 8 handicap, he's a good and willing player.
       He remains in touch with his old friends from Jesuit/Loyola College Prep, such as tonight's 40th anniversary state championship reunion in Shreveport.
       "He is the man," said John James Marshall, the senior quarterback of the 1976 Flyers. "To think that in a field like that, he's that good. He's that in demand. He has athletes from all over the nation coming in to see him."
       LCP assistant principal Tony Rinaudo, like so many others associated with the school, is an admirer.    
       "He is a genuine person, a classy person," said Rinaudo. "He always was like that as a student, and he still is."
       Marshall says the key to Dr. Dorsett's success is "he was driven. Drew wanted to be the best at whatever he did."
        At Jesuit, Marshall added, "He knew he was good. The talent was there, but he wasn't braggadocios, he got along with everyone. You knew he was going to make something of himself.
       "... Even after he got hurt at USC and had to quit football, he just turned to academics and then medicine, and made the very best of it.
       "... I'm a big, big fan of his. I've liked him since he was a sophomore.
        "He is very driven."
 ---
        The Cowboys' connection with Shreveport-Bossier includes cornerback Morris Claiborne (Fair Park High/LSU) and, from Haughton (in east Bossier Parish), the rookie quarterback, Dak Prescott.
         "Nice young man," said Dr. Dossett of Romo's current (and maybe permanent) stand-in. Drew said when he introduced himself to Prescott, he told him that Haughton was Jesuit's main rival when was a Flyer in the 1970s. "He laughed at that."
         Prescott, he added, "is up to the challenge. He is one of those guys who gets it. The game's not too big for him."
         He declined to offer an opinion on the Romo-or-Prescott question. "That's for other people," he said. "It's not my responsibility."
         Helping Romo -- and many others -- mend and prepare to play, that is his task.
         And it's not time to tell Romo that he need not play any more. "It's an L1 fracture, and it's healing properly," Dr. Dossett. "Once he's healed, he'll be fine." 
         So you might spot Dr. Drew at Cowboys' games in the bench area among the big guys. Hopefully you won't see him on the field. If you do, you know the hurting Cowboys are in good hands.


Before the 2014 baseball season opener, Dr. Dossett and his staff
wished the Texas Rangers well. (Facebook photo)

Still a star, not on the field but in his own field

April 22, 1995: Texas Rangers outfielder Juan Gonzalez, who will miss up to three weeks because of a herniated disc in his lower back, was re-examined by the team's spine consultant in Dallas. Dr. Drew Dossett reported that Gonzalez made improvement but still has soreness.
---
August 21, 2002: Cowboys receiver Raghib Ismail will have neck surgery today to repair damage from a collision with a teammate last week in practice. ... Dr. Dan Cooper described the injury as a huge herniated disk. ... Ismail will have the disk removed and the two vertebra around it fused together. The operation will be performed by Dr. Drew Dossett, who was responsible for the same procedure on many pro athletes, including former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston.
---
August 10, 2016, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: An emotional Prince Fielder announced on Wednesday that his 12-year baseball career is over after doctors recommended that the slugger stop playing after a second cervical spinal fusion surgery. Dr. Drew Dossett of Dallas, the Rangers’ spine specialist, confirmed the recommendation and performed surgery July 29.
---
September 1, 2016, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: (headline) Tony Romo likely to be out first 8 weeks for Cowboys. (in story) The compression fracture to Romo's L1 vertebra must fully heal before Dr. Drew Dossett clears Romo's return.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article99446612.html#storylink=cpy

***

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/mlb/texas-rangers/article94910092.html#storylink=cpy

      Dr. Andrew Dossett -- Drew to those of us dating to Shreveport in the late 1970s -- doesn't need or want the type publicity his profession brings.
      He'd just as soon athletes remain healthy.

A too-familiar scene: Dr. Drew Dossett (left) escorts Cowboys
quarterback Tony Romo to the dressing room after a 2015 season
 Week 2 injury (broken collarbone) in Philadelphia.

      But he is ready to serve as team physician -- and the neck-spine-back specialist -- for the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers. And that's just a small part of the job.
      He is a big man, in every sense -- as a husband and father and friend, professionally, and physically. At 6-foot-5 1/2 and 230 pounds, he even stands tall on the Cowboys' sideline among the giants now playing in the NFL.  
      Dr. Dossett is trim enough to look as if he could still play football. Then again, he is 55 years young.
      "The [NFL] players are Tarzan," he says and then jokes,  "I might look like Tarzan, but I am more like Jane."
      He can empathize with the athletes and their injuries. He was quite a football player in his day, those late 1970s -- a star linebacker at a strong program in high school (Jesuit of Shreveport), an All-American, one of the nation's top recruits, and then for one season in college with one of the country's top teams (Southern Cal).
      When Dr. Dossett has to tend to the injured athlete -- say Tony Romo -- he knows the feeling. Devastating and repetitive injuries to his left knee took him out of football before his sophomore season at USC. Visions of perhaps playing in the NFL one day were gone.
      He's in the league, though, through medicine. And it is easy to say he's in a select league of knowledge and respect in his specialty nationally.
      If there are athletes -- high school, college, pro -- with back, spine or neck issues, anywhere in the South or anywhere period, good chance they will be treated by Dr. Dossett of Dallas. 
      Cowboys and Rangers fans might know this: He has operated on Romo twice, Prince Fielder twice, Bobby Witt, Rusty Greer, Jay Novacek ... and that's just a partial list. Roy Oswalt, then pitching for Philadelphia, came to Dallas to be checked by Dr. Dossett when he was having issues.
      Not long after beginning his residency, he joined the Rangers as assistant team doctor in 1994. He's been to spring training regularly.
      And his first prominent athlete he treated: "When I just started my practice, I cut my teeth on Juan Gonzalez." 
      Then the Home-Run Derby champion, owner of a new contract from the Rangers, $30.7 million -- huge for the time -- the young outfielder  "ruptured a disk in his back tying his shoes in spring training," Dr. Dossett recalled. Rehab worked, preventing an operation, and Gonzalez went on to further stardom in Texas (two-time American League Most Valuable Player).
      Another Rangers' star, a Hall of Famer, he treated: catcher Ivan Rodriguez. "Pudge had back issues," Dr. Dossett said. "I took care of Pudge for a long time."
      He was a consultant with the Cowboys for three years, then became one of the team doctors -- with W.B. Carrell Clinic partner Dr. Dan Cooper, the lead Cowboys' physician -- in 1999.

Dr. Drew Dossett

      He has been a consultant with the Dallas Stars since 1996, and with the Dallas Mavericks, and the New Orleans Saints, Houston Texans, Texas A&M, Baylor, etc.
       He is one of Shreveport's great success stories, similar to Terry Bradshaw (from football to broadcasting and entertainment) but not as well known.
       And while he might not even be the best-known orthopedics doctor from North Louisiana treating athletes -- that is Birmingham-based Dr. James Andrews, who pole vaulted from Homer High to LSU to renown as a surgeon -- Dr. Dossett is nearing the level of Dr. Andrews' acclaim.
---
      Do a search on Facebook for "Dr. Andrew Dossett" and you will find a dozen thank-yous for his work -- surgery and rehab -- in treating people who were hurting, severely limited in movement, and maybe faced with the threat of paralysis. There are notes from a rodeo bronc rider, a barrel racer, and ordinary folks. 
       "Most of my time is spent treating people like you," he said earlier this week. "Athletes, the high-profile cases, might be 5 to 10 percent of my work, but 90 percent of the heartbreak is with everyday people."
       Dr. Cooper, a specialist in reconstructive knee and shoulder surgeries, said Dr. Dossett gives the Cowboys "a nationally recognized expert in athletic spine injuries, with lots of credentials. There are only two or three guys like him in the country. That's a value that we can really rely on."
        Plus, Dr. Cooper added, "Number one, he is a true friend, a loyalist as someone working under me [with the Cowboys], especially in the early days when I joined the team.
        "Drew taught me about football. He knows the game, how it is to train, the weight room. He totally gets the culture of what it takes, and he conveyed that to me in the early days. He understands the coaches, understands the players, what it takes to rehab after an injury. A lot of people don't realize what it takes. Drew gets it."
       "You don't play football for your health," Dr. Dossett said. "Nothing about it is healthy. The mass and velocity of the game creates such a force, and the players are just so much bigger, stronger and faster today."
       More potential work for the doctors.
       But his loyalty is to the profession, not entirely to the team or the athletes.
       One of the first Cowboys players to hear from Dr. Dossett that it would be in his best interests to end his career, after the 1999 season, because of a spinal injury was Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin. This past August, the same message was given to the large Rangers first baseman, Prince Fielder.
       "Drew understands the gravity of it," Dr. Cooper said, "and he has the fortitude to tell people what they need to hear. Some might try to talk him out of it, but he won't waver."
       About Irvin, Drew offers what he calls a "Dossett-ism": "Never make a decision that ends both of your careers." (Think about that.)
       On Fielder, "You have to do what's best for him, and in this case, it was that he not play anymore. You have to look after the best interests of the player, not the best interest of the team."
---

Drew Dossett, Jesuit High
School linebacker

       Dr. Dossett will be with the Cowboys for their Sunday night NFC East showdown with the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium. But he will spend Friday and Saturday back in Shreveport to see his mother and to attend the 40th anniversary reunion of his high school's state championship football team.
       The school, founded in 1902, was all-male Jesuit High when Dossett attended (1975-79) and is now coed Loyola College Prep, still located on Jordan Street as it has been since 1938.
       In the 1976 season, linebacker Drew Dossett was a developing star, for most of the season the only sophomore starter on a senior-heavy team. With an almost unyielding defense -- eight games in a row without giving up a touchdown -- the Flyers went 14-0, joining the 1967 team as unbeaten state champs.
       His loyalty to the school and to his teammates is one reason the reunion is happening, just as it did in 2006 at the 30-year mark.
       John James Marshall was the senior quarterback of the 1976 team, later a talented sportswriter at the Shreveport Journal (full disclosure, we were co-workers there, 1982-87) and then the paper's final executive sports editor. He is back at the school dealing in media relations, publications and alumni functions.
       The '76 team had a 30-year reunion in 2006, and Dossett was an instigator of that, Marshall said. "In mid-September [this year], Drew called and said, 'Are we doing this again?'  
       "We think the world of him," Marshall added. "He always cares about the school, he calls, he stays connected."
       Going to Jesuit, Dr. Dossett explained, "was the most formative thing I've ever done. No question about it. The Jesuits (Catholic order) have been educating kids since 1515. It is the most egalitarian education you could ever receive.
       "It is about being fair, about doing the right thing, making the right decisions, even if it is, say, at 3 a.m.," he added. "If you're fair, if you do what's right, it works out."
       He is such a believer in the Jesuit teaching that four sons -- he and wife Natalie, married for 10 years, have a combined six children (four his, two hers) -- attended Dallas Jesuit High School.
       More education: One child is a sophomore at University of Georgia, one is a freshman at University of Alabama, there are graduates of Georgia, University of San Diego and University of Colorado, and the oldest son is a graduate of the Naval Academy and a Navy SEAL, with an MBA from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) who now works for Google.
       The Dossetts lived in the Bluffview area of North Dallas. But we know Dr. Drew is also at home with the Cowboys, Rangers, etc., and this weekend, back home in Shreveport, where his journey began.
        Next: A football star, a career cut short            

At the end of the day ... stand up, sit down

       Let's see: Colin Kaepernick, sitting, not standing ... Anthony Weiner, doing what (again)? ... Rick Perry, dancing ... Hillary's e-mails and the Clinton Foundation ... Trump and his daily blurtations ... Tony Romo's back ... Ryan Lochte, lying (no, dancing).
    Lots to be angry about, isn't it?
    We can be angry every day, if we choose to be. I'd like to choose to not be angry; done enough of that in my life.
    So I'm going to laugh at all this craziness.
    But, hey, it's college football season. That we can like.
    (But some people -- I can't divulge names -- are so anti-football, period, that we can't discuss it here. I'll leave it at that. It's OK.)
    Quick hitters ...
    -- Colin: Plenty of you are plenty upset about his national anthem sitdown. Fine. Frankly, in my opinion, he can do what he wants. He wants to make a statement, he has to take the criticism that comes with it. (Borrowing these thoughts from a friend.)
      What the hell does he care? He's making $11.9 million this season.
     The way I see it, he isn't playing football worth a darn, so he has to find a way to call attention to himself.
    He has succeeded. He's not the first to protest this way   and he probably won't be the last.
      A friend re-posted an nbcsports.com story on Facebook in which Jackie Robinson, in his 1967 autobiography, wrote, in part: "... I cannot stand and sing the anthem. I cannot salute the flag."
      Jackie Robinson is revered in baseball.
      Look, I think it's disrespectful, and I always would stand for the anthem and the flag. But it's America; he has the right to protest, and at least it's a peaceful protest. We've had too many bloody, angry protests.
      But to call him names, to call anyone names, I'm just not into that. It makes me question your (lack of) respect.
      Here's what I think happened: New 49ers coach Chip Kelly said to him: Colin, you are playing like crap. Go take a seat on the bench. And he did.
       If I was a 49ers fan, I'd be PO'd about that six-year, $126 million contract they gave him two years ago. That's $21 million a year average; that's today's sports world. Salaries so overblown, athletes so overblown. Where are our priorities?
        -- I have a solution: The Cowboys need a quarterback, or at least an experienced backup (to our man from Haughton, the rookie and now-starter Dak Prescott). So Kaepernick goes to join "America's Team." Now that's a laugh.
        Hey, Jerry Jones likes to take chances.
        -- Tony Romo: Three plays -- three preseason plays -- and that might be it for his 2016 season. Sure, they're saying he'll be back. Want to bet $27 million on it? 
        Taken from a Cowboys' web site press release on Romo's contract in November 2014: "Romo's base [salary] is only $8.5 million for 2016, but with 2015's restructure it places his cap hit at $27.1 million; so no way Romo  is not the Cowboy starter in 2016."
          Oh, yes, there is. Back fractures. 
          -- I'll say it again; I said it last year: I do NOT care about the NFL anymore, not even about the Cowboys. Not the Saints, either. Don't intend to watch one second of play this season. (Yes, I've at least partially joined my no-football companion.)
         And here is one major reason why: I was asked by a Facebook friend to check on tickets for a Cowboys' preseason game a couple of weeks ago. I was given a list of ticket prices. One word: outrageous.
       My take: Paying -- any amount -- to see an NFL preseason game is the biggest ripoff in American sports. Period.
        I don't care about the NFL.
        -- Oh, wait, a couple more Romo thoughts:
        (1) We like Romo; we do. But let's face reality: Colin Kaepernick came within a few yards, and one completion, of leading his team to a Super Bowl championship. Romo hasn't come close to the Super Bowl ever.
        (2) Yes, Romo has been a talented, exciting player, and he's handled all of the ups and downs as well as anyone can. And, yet ... In the best imitation of Danny White, he's had the most star-crossed career for what has become a star-crossed franchise.

Not watching, no longer an NFL fan, but I will root for this kid --
 Dak Prescott, of Haughton, La. (photo by Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports)

        (3) Not watching, but silently really rooting for Dak Prescott. I'm partial to Shreveport-Bossier athletes, and I have fond memories of many trips for visits and games to Haughton, where Dak went to high school. Still have lots of friends living there. 
        -- Speaking of The Star, here's a real true-to-life outrage item: Frisco, Texas, voters turned down a 13-cent property tax increase that would have funded pay raises for the school district's teachers and help hire new teachers. It means some coaches in the district might lose their jobs. 
      Stupid. 
      I have a Facebook friend, a newspaper friend, who angrily -- curses! -- denounced Frisco voters and pointed out that a couple of years ago they happily approved $115 million to contribute "to the richest sports franchise on the planet" for  the building of The Star, the Cowboys' superstar office/training complex that just opened in Frisco.
       Another friend, an old Woodlawn High friend who is a longtime teacher in the Frisco district, posted in a more genteel manner how she felt "physically ill," "sadness" and "heartbroken" about the vote, but how much she still loves teaching her students.  
       Entertainment over education? Never should be that way. Especially if it's the NFL and Jerry Jones who benefit.       
      -- My sportswriting buddy, O.K. Davis, tweeted recently that the most overused cliché in interviews these days is "at the end of the day." He's right. See how many times you hear it or read it today?
      -- I was told to not use an Anthony Wiener joke. Can't help myself. Has there ever been a more (in)appropriate name for this -- uh, behavior -- than Wiener?
      -- We've loved watching Dancing With The Stars for years. This might be the season we don't watch. The cast of celebrities was announced this week, and we're dismayed.
      We know Rick Perry should do very well dancing to his right. We know Ryan Lochte will dance around the truth.
      Dancing around the truth brings us back to Donald and Hillary. Oh, never mind. At the end of the day, we don't want to comment. 
        -- Outstanding first weekend of college football matchups: LSU-Wisconsin, Southern Cal-Alabama, Clemson-Auburn, UCLA-Texas A&M, Oklahoma-Houston, Notre Dame-Texas, Ole Miss-Florida State ... and, yes, Louisiana Tech-Arkansas.
        We'll start with a major vs. mid-major matchup tonight: My Smith family's Tennessee Vols at Rocky Top Stadium vs. App State.
         Our youngest grandson, Eli Smith, almost 2, now repeats phrases when prompted. When I asked him to say, "Go Vols," he quickly said, "Go Vols." When I asked him to say, "Go Tigers" ... silence.
         What the ... ?
         I do have two grandsons who know how to say "Geaux Tigers," and they've seen Mike the Tiger and they've been in Tiger Stadium, and they can mimic the LSU band. So there.
         At the end of the day (tonight), I'll be watching college football ... without the other person who lives here. Might even stand up for the national anthem. Thank you.