T.O., Jones, Love New Coach

In the first mini-camp since Parcells left the Dallas Cowboy's organization as a coach, morale has been high across the board. Star receiver Terrell Owens and running back Julius Jones can tell the difference. For the first time in their careers, they have been excited about mini-camp, especially Owens, who doesn't usually bother with 'early training'.

"Usually, I'm too busy to workout in camp, especially so early on. I mean, it's only May, we've got one, two, four months before the season starts. I only need a few days because of how amazing I am, but this year, I'm just so excited to get back on the field. I feel like a kid in a candy store."

Julius Jones concurred, citing that Parcells was a big part of the problem. "Yeah, last year, I feel like he was always telling me things, and making me do things, making me practice, and do things that I kept thinking "why am I doing this?" I mean, he would make me run through the holes that the offensive line would create, or have this whacky idea about the line blocking to the right and having me run outside to the right. So predictable. I'm all about being free and fancy, you know, just play it by ear. He always had these 'game plans'. I just wanna play man, roll with the punches."

Owens piggybacked off this idea, going more into detail. "He [Parcells] was just such a negative dude man. He was always bringing the locker room down. And all the distractions? Seem like every week there was something new about him in the papers, or on ESPN. I couldn't turn around without hearing something new about his off the field behavior. Just not a class act at all. But now we have this new guy, Ward, and he seems to know what he's doing. Sure, he hasn't won a playoff game in 3 tries, and his overall record might only be 48-42, but he lets us do what we want. You know, just 5 minutes ago, I was giving him a nuggie while Julius was giving him a wedgie at the same time, and he didn't get mad or nothing. I know that had to hurt, but he just laughed with his hair all mussed and his face all red. Now that's the kinda coach we need. He has a sense of humor, and I don't think you need to be so strict and have so many rules to win."

Wade Phillips came over, still in pain from the wedgie, not having fully adjusted himself. But he had a grin from ear to ear and said, "I love these guys man. They've just made me feel so at home here in Dallas. They're always joking and laughing with me, they call me cute nicknames like 'dummy' and 'fatty', they even let me talk during practice sometimes. They're such pranksters too, the other day they locked me in Terrell's locker. It's smelly in there, ha ha, but it was only for a few hours, so it's ok. I think I'm gonna like it here."