SPORTSDAY

Posted by john herndon @ 5:16 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

This is not a shcok to me at all. If you don't produce for Parcells you are gone no matter your cost, draft status or etc. Personally Vanderjagt looked to be a mental case this season - I don't think he has recovered since that miss last year in the playoffs. Someone will pick up.

Posted by Calon @ 5:18 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

YEH-HEH-HEH-HEH-HEHESSSSSSSS! Gramatica has GOT to be an improvement over Vanderjagt. Wow. Kudos to Jerry for biting the bullet (and swallowing hard on all that cash). Or perhaps was it Bill who pretty much demanded this move?!? Hmmmm. Either way, this makes this year's post-Thanksgiving week one of the best in recent Cowboys memory!

Posted by Brent @ 5:22 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

All the stars are aligning.

Posted by P @ 5:26 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Ding Dong Vandermiss is gone!!!! Vandercut is one of the best headlines of the week.

Posted by Jeff L. @ 5:26 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Oh, I'm sure someone will pick him up, but good riddance. I was totally on board with the signing, but a kicker who loses confidence is trouble. The money side/cap hit is a bummer, but oh well, it was time.

Posted by LARRY @ 5:30 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

FRYING PAN TO THE FIRE. THIS IS A MISTAKE. MARTIN HAS NOT BEEN WORTH A XXX IN RECENT YEARS. OUTSIDE OF THE 30-YARD LINE, HIS IS 50-50 AT BEST. SHOULD HAVE SIGNED CUNDIFF WHEN THEY COULD. MARTIN IS A DOWNGRADE EVEN WITH VANDERJAGT'S TROUBLES. TERRIBLE WAY TO GO INTO THE PLAYOFFS.

Posted by Robert @ 5:30 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Another big ticket Jerry "Botox" Jones failure as a GM. BP never wanted him -- he wanted Bryant and would have gone with Suisham if he had to. J"B"J went shopping instead for a limited FG kicker.

With respect to MV, he turned into a mental case somewhere along the line. No surprise Indy let him go. To boot, his kicks where getting more erratic throughout the year.

Posted by Mike @ 5:31 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Hate to see the salary cap hit, but every extra point was sliding just inside the right upright. None of his extra point kicks would have been good from outside 30 yards. Let's hope the Cowboys got Automatica Gramatica, not another shaky kicker.

Posted by okie @ 5:32 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Vanderjagt now has more time on his hands to better groom that little nub of stubble below his lip.

Posted by Chris J. @ 5:34 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

This means that each made field goal cost a little over $192,000...oh boy!

Posted by Cole @ 5:38 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Wow! I can't believe Jerry actually let Bill do it. Can't say I'm disappointed about this one.

Good riddance to the Idiot Kicker!

Posted by Craig @ 5:38 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

This is all well and good, but, damn it, Mosley, what's the status of Romo and Jessica Simpson!?

Posted by DH @ 5:38 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Damn, I'm tempted to root for the cowboys now! If they keep dumping people with no character - is Jerry Jones next? I will be a Cowboy fan - where do I sign up?

Posted by maverick @ 5:38 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

My Mother is an improvement and she's over 80! Well, the folk I've talked to stated, and of course, I agree: "This cannot get any better!"

Posted by Adam S. @ 5:39 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Somewhere Steve Hoffman is smiling....

Posted by Craig Sullivan @ 5:39 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Was there any thought by Parcells to bring Cundiff back before the Saints picked him up? Potentially some gamesmenship with Payton on that one?

Posted by Mike @ 5:42 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Bill and Jerry just cut a future hall of famer. Vanderjagt was just in a little funk, though he still is the best kicker in NFL history. Are they going to cut Romo now after missing a TD pass? I can't wait until big Bill finds out Gramatica ends up being worse.

Posted by Brent @ 5:48 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Mike, is that you Vandygone??

Posted by David Harp @ 5:50 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Am I going to get to cheer for the boys again?
If they keep getting rid of the no-character guys who's next? Jerry Jones? Sign me up when he's gone!

Posted by JR @ 5:51 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Kudos for the fortitude to cut this guy before he cost us huge down the road. BUT - Martin Gramatica? I hope they know something that I don't.

Posted by Big Belly @ 5:55 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Being a non-Cowboys fan, this is bad news. Vandercut was a sure miss in a big spot in the playoffs.

Posted by Joe Duarte @ 5:56 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

This is a terrible move. Vandy, even while in a slump, is much better than Grammatica. I can't believe they did this. Vandy stood a good chance of getting better. This whole business of swapping kickers, of cutting the kicker you have in favor of some other random leg, is what killed them last year.

Posted by Angela C. @ 6:01 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

So, Martin "Hamburglar" Gramatica shall don the prized Cowboys star? Isn't this the guy who runs around like a crazy fool after he makes every field goal? Have we really traded one idiot kicker for another? T.O., the Tuna, and the Hamburglar-- you can't make this stuff up. My popcorn will be ready on Sunday.

Posted by Thad @ 6:05 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Dang I think this is a mistake. . .but then again I thought it was a mistake benching Bledsoe too.

Posted by scot @ 6:08 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Don't know who's celebrations I'm more axcited to see now..... T.O.'s or Gramatica's!!!!!

Posted by Ken In SA @ 6:13 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

As much as I have jeered Vanderjerk, I don't think this was the move. Cundiff I could have bought, but Gramatica is not the choice I would have made.

Posted by Bud @ 7:05 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Yikes. Time will tell, but with Vanderjagt at least you knew the talent level was there-- somewhere--behind a bad case of the yips.

Looking forward to some touchbacks, though.

Posted by ginger @ 7:24 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

"The Cowboys, who also are apparently close to adding Dallas Desperados kicker Carlos Martinez to their practice squad"

Posted by Mike @ 7:29 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

I'm a Bucs fan and glad to see Gramatica go to the cowboys. Anyone that really knows anything about Martin Gramatics knows he was hurt during the 2003 and that is why he did so bad. He sat out a whole year after srugery to get better. He was one of the most accurate kickers of all time. You don't get the nick name "automatica" for nothing!

Posted by Colorado Kool Aid @ 7:38 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

It's one thing to cut Vandy -- who certainly hasn't been playing like his history says he should . . . but its quite another to replace him with the likes of Grammatica. That is a bad move! Where is the guy they cut early in the season who was kicking on kickoffs? Surely he would have been a better replacement than Grammatica!

Posted by kameleon_o @ 7:39 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

I can understand the move, although I wouldn't have made it, but Gramatica?? I just don't think he's an upgrade. I think we should have signed Todd Peterson. He only missed 2 FG's last year. Would have been a much better pickup.

Posted by Austin TX @ 7:41 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

I am officially starting the Chad Holleman fan club. Dallas native and the guy kicks it through the uprights on Kick-Offs!

Posted by Jim @ 7:41 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

I am going to miss the hat turned backwards, the ever present negative shake of the head and the smirk....whatta world class smirk!!!

Posted by david @ 7:43 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

stupid... stupid... stupid... i'll bet vanderjagt's FG% at year end is better than Grammatica's and Vanderjagt was better from long-distance....

Posted by Otis Campbell @ 7:44 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Horrible move! After all the BS, he was shaping up for the run. Dumb move!

Posted by Paul Hoffman @ 9:08 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Sorry, folks....just can't see where that goofy jumping guy is going to be any better. I think they should have just kept VanderSlice and kept their fingers crossed.

Posted by ernest t bass @ 9:33 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Maybe Parcells read the report here that certain unidentified teammates had lost faith in Vanderfave and Bill felt out of the loop and hurt from not being included in the witchhunt. Otis, Bea's sendin' meatloaf.

Posted by Andy Hoke @ 11:02 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

I just have to say. What a birthday present for Martin Gramatica. Getting signed back into the NFL....

Posted by AN @ 11:32 PM Mon, Nov 27, 2006

Wow, if Grammatica is as good as it gets on the open market, no wonder Vanderjacked hung around for an extra week after the Indy game. Yikes.

Still, Vandy didn't show any signs of correcting his messed-up kicks, and he was already a head case with a history of choking in big games. By comparison, almost anyone is looking like an improvement.

Posted by Eric @ 6:29 AM Tue, Nov 28, 2006

I'm not surprised to see Parcells finally run out of patience with Vandy's struggles, but hauling in Grammatica off the scrap heap is a shock. I would rather see them give Suisham another chance or that guy from the Desperados...or even some ancient kicker who's been out of the league for years...Gary Anderson? Jan Stenerud? Eddie Murray? Lou Groza?

Posted by KG @ 7:55 AM Tue, Nov 28, 2006

Biggest gaffe in the Parcells era? My money is on releasing Steve Hoffman.

Posted by pb @ 10:28 AM Tue, Nov 28, 2006

wow. Idiot coach and idiot fans, the whole lot of you; actually, just the majority of you. Exchanging vandy for that loser grammatica is like trading in an audi for an edsel. vandy hasnt been the most reliable kicker, but he was 13/18, and that's including the blocked attempt vs washington. Overall, that's not too shabby.Face it, parcells made this move on pure emotion- he just doesn't like mv. And judging by that smoochfest at the end of the carolina game (parcells must have kissed more guys in one night than jenna jameson, this is a pattern. Your coach just cut off his own foot to spite his leg.

Posted by chris @ 11:34 AM Tue, Nov 28, 2006

Where is Dusty Mangum the former kicker for the Longhorns at these days... that kid never missed a kick when it counted.