10 D-FW leaders you can count on
You simply can't ignore the irony. It's too delicious.
Your Cowboys, a team with eight captains – that's not a misprint – didn't make the playoffs, in part, because they're devoid of leadership.
They certainly have talented players who work hard and play hard, and they have players like DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten who rank among the game's best at their positions.
But when the season was falling apart and the team was in disarray because the players were blaming each other for the most disappointing season in franchise history, no one spoke up and told the truth about the situation.
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Maybe, they didn't know how. Or they were more concerned with being politically correct. Or they weren't sure what to say or how it would be received.
Funny, though, since the end of the season all we've heard is player after player after player voicing complaints and opinions.
The Cowboys' performance and their subsequent whining led me to wonder about the importance of leadership, and who are the best leaders among our pro teams.
It's a difficult question because there are so many different ways to define leadership.
This much is clear: A leader doesn't have to be the best player. He doesn't even have to start.
Leaders can lead with their words or their work ethic or their performance. They must inspire their teammates and make the team better.
T.O. is the Cowboys' most charismatic leader, but he's more concerned with his statistics and production than the team's success. And his stature has usurped power form Tony Romo and Witten, affecting their ability to learn.
Those are among the reasons, Jerry Jones spends a portion of each day trying to figure out whether his team is better with or without the petulant receiver.
Leadership doesn't require pregame speeches or postgame soliloquies, but it does require accountability. Leaders don't hide when the team loses, and they accept responsibility for losses – even if the blame should probably be placed elsewhere.
"You can't win without it," Stars coach Dave Tippett said of leadership. "If you don't have leadership, you don't have direction. You can't win in a team sport when everyone is going in their own direction.
"You have to have a common focus. You need leaders to mold common focus."
Every season, no matter the sport, has an ebb and flow to it.
Teams with strong leadership can endure the difficult times like the Stars did during the Sean Avery saga, which is one of the reasons they have ascended from the bottom of the Western Conference to the thick of the playoff race.
It's why the Mavericks have overcome a dreadful start with a new coach and the scars from embarrassing playoff failures the past three seasons to be 10 games over .500 at the All-Star break.
It's why the Cowboys fell apart in December, culminating with a 44-6 loss to Philadelphia in a game they had to win to get into the playoffs.
"Each team has to stay a certain course – win or lose," Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. "If it's not having immediate success, then leadership can keep people focused on what's important."
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