Uncle Herman

In northwest Louisiana, back in the late 1800's, in a part of Desoto Parish known as the Dollette Hills (pronounced "doley"), there wasn't a dense population. Small communities dotted the landscape, but they were sparse. Very few businesses existed, and many of those were what we'd call saloons. In the early 1900's, my grandfather had settled there and was raising his family there. His sister who lived nearby was also raising her family in that area.

This was the badlands. Where the bandits and bank robbers would hide out from the authorities. These guys were bad and tough and strived to become badder and tougher. None of my bunch were involved with the bank robbing, that I've been able to discover, anyway, but they grew up in that neck of the woods. Folks down in that area weren't considered sissyboys by any means.

My grandfather had a nephew named Arthur Robbins. Arthur had just turned 18 years old when this event occurred. And for the first time was able to go to the saloons legally. Arthur was a man of small stature and had a speech impediment, but that didn't deter him from deciding he would go to the saloon to celebrate his 18th birthday.

So he went. The music was playing and people were drinking and having a good time. Suddenly, the door opens loudly and a man steps in and in a loud voice proclaims "I'm the baddest, toughest man in North Louisiana and I'll whip anyone's ass who says any different."

Well, the crowd backs up against the wall, with no one challenging the man at the door. Arthur, being of small stature, ducked under a table hoping to stay out of the melee that was sure to come. It almost got completely silent for just a moment in the nightclub. From Arthur's vantage point under the table, he saw a pair of legs scoot a chair back and straighten up as the owner of those legs stood up. Arthur heard a voice say "No, I don't think you are the toughest guy in North Louisiana."

Then, from the door, Arthur heard the man at the door say "Oh, Mr. Hendricks, I didn't see YOU here!! And he backed out of the door and left immediately.

The man that belonged to those legs was my dad's brother, Herman Hendricks. Apparently my uncle had quite a reputation in an area where bad was really bad. And tough was really tough. This is a true story and definitely part of family lore now.

Now, what does that have to do with football? Nothing directly. It has to do with swagger. The man at the door walked in with confidence. And swagger. It might have been alcohol induced, but regardless, he had it until he saw Uncle Herman standing there. Before he saw Uncle Herman, the entire population of the nightclub was scared of the man at the door. Except one. When Herman stood up and spoke, the swagger changed. The man at the door lost his confidence and his swagger and did the only smart thing he could think of. He left. From other things I know of Uncle Herman, it was a wise decision. He was tall and lanky, but loaded cross ties by hand for a living.

Uncle Herman had a couple things going for him in that scenario. He had a reputation established. And he had the skills to back up that reputation,

Here's where the Cowboys come into this story. The Cowboys have twelve Pro Bowlers on the team. And other players that are rock solid. The talent and skills are there for the most part. The Cowboys dominated the NFC through 12 games this past season, losing only one of those, and that was to the Patriots. There was little doubt who THE team to beat in the NFC was. And December got here, and something happened to the Cowboys. I don't know if it was loss of concentration, loss of confidence, injuries, an ongoing curse, or what, but the general concensus is they sucked during December. They're like the guy standing at the door. Their swagger left. And the Giants proved to be the tall lanky one in this scenario. The one that said "No, I don't think you are the team to beat in the NFC."

Now, next season will get here, and the Cowboys will be the former NFC East Champions. And regardless of the outcome of the SuperBowl, the Giants will be the NFC Conference Champions. They are THE team to beat as the season begins. The Cowboys, because of the late season collapse will have to play their entire season and a couple playoff games before anyone takes them serious next season. Imagine having to go into the 13th game of the season still unable to have confidence in your own team, or have others have confidence in your team. Unfortunately, that's the scenario that the Cowboys have now created for themselves.

Now, champions stand up and speak loudly and with conviction. Not necessarily with words, but with actions. The only thing that will overcome the personna the Cowboys have created is for them to come into next season and dominate. Not like they did last year, but like the 1992 Cowboys did. Like the Bears did in the 80's. Like the Steelers did in their day. Like the Patriots do today. The Cowboys need to step on the field and strike fear into the other team. That isn't going to happen in the first few games. They don't have that reputation yet. As Yogi Berra said years ago, "this game is 50% physical and 90% mental." It's time for the Cowboys to stand up and say to the Giants and the rest of the world "No, we ARE the team to beat and today's not looking very good for you". And back it up with action. It's time for some earned swagger.

Rod