Why wouldn’t Troy Aikman be considered a Hall of Famer? Sports Illustrated Columnist, Rick Reilly has said that he does not think that Aikman belongs in the Hall of Fame?

I like Rick. I respect him as a writer. He is one of my favorite writers. But, I’ve got to ask a question.

I propose to Rick Reilly that, if he is going to inspect the numbers of Troy Aikman, he needs to inspect the numbers of several Hall of Famers.

As you may know, I’m a numbers guy. I love stats! I devour stats on a daily basis. I think that in sports statistics tell a major portion of the story. But, stats do not tell the entire story. In order to get the entire story, you need to watch the games.

Aikman does not have flashy stats. He wasn’t flashy on the field and did not have an immense amount of flair. All he did was win. I think you judge a player off a body of work. And Aikman’s body of work was just remarkable.

In his career he completed 61.5% of his passes. 64% in the post-season. You can go on with the stats forever. But his career was remarkable and dotted with several accomplishments.

In the information age we often get lost in statistics. The internet makes statistics available to everyone. We analyze stats, then we over-analyze them and then analyze them again. I am probably more guilty of this than anyone.

Dear Fan of More Cowboys Getting Into The Pro Football Hall of Fame:

     You're being Goosed.

     The Hall of Fame voting body is make up of journalists from the different NFL cities. Our rep -- the Cowboys' rep -- is Dallas Morning News scribe Rick Gosselin. Now, different guys approach this responsibility differently, but in my experience, many voters view themselves as the "campaign manager'' for qualified home-town players. Officially, they have the obligation to make a presentation for the player from their city.

      It can be a complicated process, a political process, a messy process.

     It can be especially cumbersome when the "rep'' doesn't want to "rep.''

Gosselin, it seems, is so caught up in his journalistic laws of objectivity that he almost seems ANTI-Cowboy.

      Announced Wednesday: Cowboys Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Rayfield Wright are among the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Results of the vote will be announced Feb. 4, the day before the Super Bowl in Detroit. On that Saturday, a 39-member panel will vote on the finalists. A candidate must get 80 percent of the vote to be elected with a minimum of three and a maximum of six getting in.

      And the Buffalo rep will campaign for and presumably vote for Bills. And the Washington rep will campaign for and presumably vote for Redskins. And the Miami rep will campaign for and presumably vote for Dolphins.

      And the Dallas rep will. ... hmmm, well, read on. ...

     A few months ago, Goose wrote a Dallas Morning News story headlined "Aikman's efficiency could hurt Hall hopes.'' And I thought, Good Lord, who's side is this guy on? Seriously, I’m starting to think so-called "sure-bet’’ Cowboys candidates might be better served on that Super Bowl Saturday Decision Day if their seemingly reluctant campaign manager Goose calls in sick.

      Then came Gosselin's report on the announcement of Irvin's continued eligibility. Wrote Goose: "Irvin became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2005 and reached the final six. But he was voted down. That wasn't catastrophic. Of the 17 modern-era receivers in the Hall of Fame, only four went in on the first ballot. So Irvin still has the time and the credentials for induction. ... A receiver such as Irvin comes along once in a generation.''

       Well, OK, but Gosselin -- who doubles as the guy who must do the Cowboys-related campaigning for the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- better give a better speech than that come next winter. "A receiver such as Irvin comes along once in a generation''? If you don't know my history, I'm an Irvin guy. Always have been. We're friends. No media person is closer to him than I. BUT. ... in fact, in the coming years, Irvin the pass-catcher will be pitted against Art Monk, Andre Reed, Cris Carter, Shannon Sharpe, Tim Brown and some guy named Jerry Rice. "Irvin is once-in-a-generation''? That's the bumper sticker, the T-shirt, the front-yard campaign sign slogan? No, Michael is NOT once-in-a-generation. He is, in fact, seven-in-a-generation. One of seven great WRs of his era.

     Please, Goose, give a better presentation than that, else you get laughed out of the Super Bowl Saturday meeting room.

      Not long ago, the HOF narrowed its list of candidates for 2006 induction to 25. In Gosselin's Morning News story on the 25, he:

      * Made a point to say that last year, voters "said no'' to Irvin, and then lumped him into a group of other "said no'ers'' like Harry Carson and Bob Kuechenberg.

       Question: Shouldn't Goose be trying to SEPARATE Irvin from the Kuechenbergs, be trying to get people to "say yes''?

        * Says the "favorites'' to get in this year -- and remember, only a maximum of six get in per year -- are Aikman, Reggie White, Warren Moon, Dermontti Dawson, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed.

        Question: Was Dermontti Dawson a better offensive lineman than Rayfield Wright?

       Question: Two players from the Buffalo Bills team that lost TWICE to Dallas in '90's Super Bowls get in ahead of some of the Cowboys who forged those wins?

        Question: Andre Reed of the Bills was a better receiver than Michael Irvin? Really?

        * Goose points out that "Dawson, White and Thomas all made the NFL All-Decade Team of the 1990's.''

       Oh, no you don't, Rick. I've been making the argument for years that outsiders Drew Pearson and Cliff Harris MUST be in the HOF because they were on the '70's All-Decade Team. ... in fact, they are the only two members of that elite unit who AREN'T in the Hall. (Suggesting a Cowboys bias that, strangely, seems to be continuing on even by the Cowboys' own representative!)

        So don't start using All-Decade as a qualifier for Bills if it hasn't, for 25 years, been used to help Cowboys.

      Question: Should All-Decade guys from the '90's go in ahead of All-Decade guys from the '70's?

      Well, yeah, maybe. If the '70's guys are Cowboys. And if the Cowboys rep doesn't see himself as the Cowboys rep.

Gosselin closes his "unbiased'' article by essentially, maybe unwittingly, revealing who will be on his ballot. He mentions Dawson, White, Thomas, Moon, Reed and Aikman and then says, "Those six will garner the strongest consideration for the Class of 2006.''

       I'm left to assume that what Rick means is that they will "garner the strongest consideration'' from HIM.

       Now, I don't know what the ballots of the three dozen-or-so other voters look like. I assume Aikman is a no-brainer who doesn't need a campaign manager. But if Rick Gosselin, representing Dallas, isn't voting for Michael Irvin or Rayfield Wright, if he isn't campaigning for Cowboys, why would reps from other cities vote for Cowboys?

      Sorry, Mr. Wright. Sorry, Mr. Irvin. Sorry, Cowboys fans. Don't get your hopes too high.

      You're being Goosed.

The next Cowboys names to take rides aboard The Coaching Carousel: Todd Haley and Todd Bowles

Haley, the Dallas receivers coach, will be next in line as the team's offensive coordinator should Sean Payton accept a head-coaching position elsewhere, two Valley Ranch sources tell me. And contrary to published reports that Gary Gibbs is the Cowboys' choice to move up if defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer departs, my sources say it's actually secondary coach Todd Bowles who has the inside track on the promotion.

Payton is the subject of interest from Green Bay and New Orleans. Two years ago, he decided to forego an offer to become head coach of the Raiders to instead remain in Dallas for a $1 million salary. There is every indication that Payton, 42, would not turn down another opportunity. Once source close to Payton says he will be a finalist for the Packers job.

Haley, 38, has been with the Cowboys for just two seasons. But he has a history with coach Bill Parcells. Haley was on the Jets staff when Parcells took over, having started in the scouting department and moving up to receivers coach there. He served in that capacity with Chicago from 2001-to-'03 before moving to Dallas. Haley did not play college football, but learned the game at the feet of his father, Dick Haley. Dick was with Pittsburgh as the personnel director when a young Todd was a Steelers ballboy. Later, Dick was a personnel executive working with good friend Parcells with the Jets.

The relationship between Todd Haley and Parcells took a public turn when, this season during a game, Haley attempted to register a protest with an offiicial while Parcells was already engaged with the ref. Parcells angrily spun around and shoved the assistant backwards.

Bowles, 42, just completed his first season with the Cowboys but was also a part of that Jets coaching family. He's coached in the NFL for six seasons following eight seasons as a safety in the league. Co-workers believe he'd get the nod over Gibbs, the Dallas linebackers coach and former Oklahoma head man.

Zimmer is among the candidates for the top job in St. Louis. Zimmer could've had the Nebraska job two years ago, but he too accepted a $1-mil salary to remain with the Cowboys. (Not that a million bucks and Cowboys employment is ever a bad thing, but trust us when we say that Zim still wonders about how life would have been with the Huskers, given how his rah-rah-yet-no-nonsense makeup would fit at the college level.)

There is a segment of this area’s football fans who want Terrell Owens here. They want him regardless of the type of emotional burden he brings. He has now scarred 3 football teams. He left San Francisco amid a ton of controversy. He basically spit in the face of Baltimore saying he wanted to play with a more experienced QB. Then, he almost single handedly slammed the door shut on Philadelphia’s season.

Now the Eagles have given TO and his agent permission to seek a trade. Why does TO want a trade? Well, just like everything else that motivates TO, it is all about money. He wants to try to make sure that he gets his $7.5 million bonus due to him.

This in my mind is like trying to market jock itch. You are going to another team and say, “…you’ve got a chance to get some Pro Bowl jock itch here…”

But, if you really want Owens, financially this is a no brainer. In addition to the $7.5 million bonus, TO is due to make another $600,000+ this season. In all reality that is probably what it’s going to take to sign him as a free agent for 1 year.

In most trade situations you could stop your analysis at this point. But this is TO. Not only do you have to negotiate a trade with Philly, but you want to make sure that TO is going to be happy. And that is the key.

You can negotiate the smartest contract in the world for your franchise but if TO isn’t happy it doesn’t matter how cap friendly the numbers are…Just ask Philadelphia.

Owens is an incredible player with immense talent. If you think that your team is one player away, you may be enticed to take a chance on him. But you have got to do everything in your power to limit your losses.

That means that you cannot depend on him week in week out. You can’t count on him to stay happy. You can’t count on him to be a leader (but, in all reality do you really want him to be a team leader). You’ve got to look a TO differently than any other player on your roster.

You’ve got to look at TO as a luxury. A $8-$10 million luxury item But, with TO, it’s not a question of how much money you are willing to give, it’s a question of how much rope you are willing to give. .