The Cowboys were well into their first-quarter meltdown on Sunday when Dez Bryant, the team's embattled wide receiver, set up to return a Giants punt. Before the ball was snapped, the radio team of Brad Sham and Babe Laufenberg calmly suggested that Bryant, known for his casual handling of the football, do his best to hold onto it this time.
The ball came fluttering down, and Bryant muffed it. Then he picked it up. Then he fumbled it. The Giants recovered, but for a moment it seemed like Sham never would.
"I'm gonna say something I don't think I've said in 34 years," Sham eventually said. "Put that guy on the bench."
Minus the requisite expletives, it was the exact thought that was rampaging through the throbbing skulls of Cowboys fans across the metroplex. Bench the guy. Teach him something. Coach him up, as coaches say.
But Sham's old-school, and somewhere there's an unwritten rule that doing play-by-play makes you the straight man. Leave the opinion to the color guy. Besides, they serve at the pleasure of the team. Calling for a guy to be benched could test ol' Jerry's patience.
So there Sham was, not even a day later, apologizing for speaking truth to ineptitude. From the Star-Telegram:
"I don't think it was incorrect but it's not my role as a play by play man to be saying thinks like that," Sham said. "I shouldn't have said it."Sham said the comment was regarding Dez as a punt returner only. Sham said no one in the organization has said anything to him in regards to the comment, nor does he expect it.
"I let my emotions get the better of me," Sham said.
Indeed you did, Brad. Feel free to take them to Atlanta.
