After some much-needed time away from the media glare, Cowboys tight end Jason Witten made the rounds earlier this week. The nice head of hair that suddenly showed up on “Monday Night Football” had been shaved — or washed away — as he was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in Waco.
Witten’s ready to resume his football career, but in a 45-minute interview on Ryen Russillo’s Dual Threat podcast, he spent the majority of his time revisiting his rocky season in television. He swore that being a piñata for Twitter critics didn’t drive him from the booth, but that’s a tough sell.
“I thought as the season unfolded, when Boog [McFarland] moved up to the booth, I thought we had two or three really good games and we were starting to kind of hit our stride,” Witten said. “I didn’t make this decision off of noise or the criticism. It was really just, ‘I want to play.’ The scoreboard matters, and I want to be a part of that.”
I’ve known Witten since he arrived in San Antonio as a rookie in 2003. He was still livid about dropping to the third round out of Tennessee, which endeared him to first-year head coach Bill Parcells. Witten’s one of the most genuine players I’ve covered over the years, but his likability and high football IQ didn’t shine through in what was a mess of a MNF crew.
Jason was very gracious in talking about his ESPN bosses, but their decision to have McFarland call the game from a roaming sideline crane was baffling. And while play-by-play man Joe Tessitore’s exuberant approach can be fun in boxing and college football, it took up too much space for Witten to find his footing.
Jerry Jones offered Witten a “get out of jail” card by welcoming him back to the Cowboys. They have an extremely close relationship, and Jerry was fully aware of how much criticism Witten was receiving. The owner told me after a game last season the ESPN executives had informed him that Witten was showing marked improvement. But even the great salesman didn’t seem convinced. Witten was candid on the podcast about how it felt to struggle on such a big stage.
“Certainly, I took a beating,” he said. “I’m aware of it. To say, ‘Hey, you didn’t pay attention to it.’ Bullshit. Everybody’s aware, and if you’re not, you’re lying to me. It sucked going through it at times. Once the narrative formed, I knew that it was going to be a long-game approach.”
Witten planned to work his tail off in an effort to improve in his second season of TV. But we’ll never know what sort of strides he could’ve made. My guess is that he’ll be far more interested in coaching than returning to the booth when he decides to retire from playing again. He was introspective and funny during the interview. It sounds like a huge weight’s been lifted from his shoulders. It’s humiliating to fail on a national stage, and his Hall-of-Fame career hadn’t prepared him for the attendant vitriol. The instant success of Tony Romo undermined Witten’s efforts at every turn. It was unbelievably naive of ESPN to think Witten could be anywhere close to Romo, and it shows how little forethought was put into it.
Witten has an issue that plagued me during a 10-year run on local ESPN radio: he doesn’t complete a thought. Even on the podcast, he would start down one path and then jump to another topic. Maybe he and I have spent too much time around Jerry. I once had a program director ask me if I had a “mental governor” that I might tap into at some point.
The good news for Witten is that he’ll return to a place of refuge. He said he doesn’t want his teammates to think, “Big brother is coming home, I gotta go sleep on the couch.” The Cowboys have talked about limiting Witten’s snaps, but that hasn’t happened during his first 15 years in the league. The organization has failed so miserably at drafting and developing tight ends that Witten’s never been seriously challenged. And that’s not likely to change despite Blake Jarwin’s late-season surge. It feels like it’s been 20 years since Parcells selected tight end Anthony Fasano in the second round, although it was actually 2006. Witten may be the most territorial player in Cowboys history. He’s kind to younger tight ends, but he had no intention of rotating with them. He made it clear that he thinks Dak Prescott is the long-term answer at quarterback.
“I think Dak Prescott is going to be a really good player,” Witten said. “He is a good player. I think early on after Dez [Bryant] wasn’t here, I was no longer here, and they didn’t have that big-time receiver that you can lean on, so a lot of criticism went to Dak. And when they got Amari Cooper, they kinda got on a roll and won the division. Very rarely do we see the combination and ability to create on the edge, along with still being a pocket passer.”
Witten also noted that Jason Garrett is unfairly criticized for his placid demeanor.
“People see this kind of rigid…you know he claps, but he’s really smart, he prepares and he also delegates some of that responsibility,” Witten said. “His team responded when they got out to 3-5. It’s a good roster that can compete. They are not head and shoulders above anybody, but I think it’s good enough.”
The best part of the interview was Witten comparing Jerry’s charisma to Brad Pitt’s. It was Jones who served as a sounding board to Witten when he’d been offered the MNF gig. Jerry told him opportunities like that “don’t grow on trees” and gave him his blessing. Witten gave it his best shot and now he’s returned to the field. It’s weird how what appears to be a dream job can quickly turn into a nightmare.
I believe Witten will function as somewhat of a player/coach this season. And I assure you Jones will be monitoring that closely. Now that Witten’s eliminated TV as an option, coaching makes the most sense. Everyone loves talking about Sean Payton because of his friendship with Jones, but there’s a much better chance of Witten becoming the head coach in 2020. On the surface, that may sound as unconventional as Witten going straight to the MNF booth. But I believe he’d be far more comfortable on the sideline. It’s also unlikely Jerry would ask him to grow hair again.
By the way, Witten would only say that “makeup does wonders” in response to questions about his MNF hair. Maybe he could share his secret with Jerry, so he’d be more likely to remove his ballcap for the national anthem.
