You can't tamper with the truth

Updated: November 28, 2005, 7:47 PM ET

Email Print Share

By Mark Kreidler
Special to ESPN.com
Archive

Who do you respect more, the man who looks at 2-8 and says he sees great things or the man who looks at 2-8 and says, even if only just one time, "It is what it is"?

Who do you really want to hear from, the guy who says he has all the love in the world for tomorrow's opponent or the guy who says, "I hope we drill them, with pain and suffering"?

Jerry Jones answered a question honestly. Is that so bad?

Let me ask it another way: Why can't Jerry Jones say he wouldn't mind discussing a little Terrell Owens in the Cowboys' future?

Where's the harm? What is "tampering" in the NFL, anyway? Is that like bribing a witness in a court case or breaking the seal on the Skippy jar? Is anyone seriously arguing that since Owens is the Eagles' "property," then Jones' comments, vague and generally directed as they were, constitute an unacceptable breach of transactional protocol?

Judging by the Eagles' affrontery in filing a quick complaint with the NFL's Department of Trivial Rules Interpretation (or whatever it's called), the answer is yes. Wow: Did Jones really just foul the water for any other team that might come calling on Owens? If so: How, exactly? By making Owens sound somewhat still remotely desirable?

What Jones said -- that with a player known for the things Owens is known for off the field or in the locker room, there are associated risks for any team that takes him on, but Jones has never minded giving something a chance to work -- couldn't be more benign. On top of which, it's the truth. On top of which, there's no company secret that the Cowboys and Owens might be able to find a way to work together -- Dallas and Denver, in fact, were two teams mentioned right off the top as being fairly well suited to taking on Owens in some contractural form or other.

Breaking news? Nope. All Jerry Jones did was answer a question. Do they still arrest for that in the NFL?

I've a nagging feeling that, in the end, Owens and his agent/advice slinger will wind up striking a deal with whoever comes the strongest, not who comes first or kisses and tells in the papers. Let's dispense with that part of the equation: T.O. will go get whatever is the best situation he can wrangle, period.

No, it's the larger question that jumps up here -- and, for the record, it's also the more ridiculous: Why can't Jerry Jones tell the truth? When did that become unfashionable?

It'd be so lovely to quit pretending, even if it's only once in a while. If a dozen different reports put the Cowboys and Owens together as a potential match and Jones responds with, "I don't want to get accused of tampering," that improves the overall situation not one bit. It reduces the rumor and speculation factor by absolutely zero, because Owens and the Cowboys are still an intriguing fit. The gossip'll still swirl.

I'd rather hear the man say what's on his mind than to equivocate or waffle for fear of having Paul Tagliabue take a few grand out of his pocket -- and you can tell Jones wouldn't mind telling the whole truth, just as Nick Saban didn't mind telling the truth about Miami's season not long ago. Saban basically noted that the Dolphins aren't really postseason contenders and ought to be focused on next season. What, there's a leaguewide need to conceal this evidence? The Dolphins fans didn't get that much already?

This just in: Tell me the truth. I can handle it. Promise.

Jones' case is probably the silliest recent example of sports' increasing tendency to bottle up actual conversation that features honest, uncalculated thought. There is no tampering, of course, because there can be no tampering -- at the end of the day, the Eagles don't want Owens around anyway. It is surely stretching the bounds of credibility to suggest that Philly needs to guarantee that Owens isn't being actively thought about, in theory, in answer to a radio question, by the owner of another team.

It's remarkable that the NFL would even consider Philly's complaint in this case. Those who've read Jones' full comments in his radio interview know the man did everything but a handstand while trying to avoid specifically discussing Owens. The closest Jones came was to admit that, historically, he hasn't been totally averse to taking a risk on a guy with baggage now and again.

That much, at least, came close to being the honest truth. In a semi-related development, Oakland running back LaMont Jordan came into his 4-7 team's locker room after Sunday's 33-21 loss to Miami, looked at a group of reporters and said, "I know this much: We're the Oakland Raiders, and we're not going to the playoffs."

You know what Jordan committed with those words? A lost art.

Mark Kreidler is a columnist for the Sacramento Bee and a regular contributor to ESPN.com. Reach him at mkreidler@sacbee.com.