Loading ...NFL discusses Cowboys Stadium Scoreboard08/26/2009
NFL’s competition committee discusses Dallas Cowboys’ digital board
By DAVID MOORE / The Dallas Morning News
IRVING – The NFL’s competition committee has met to discuss the height of the digital board at Cowboys Stadium.
The verdict?
Let’s just say it remains up in the air.
A league spokesman confirmed that the committee forwarded its recommendations to NFL staff on how to address the issue. Those recommendations have been passed along to Roger Goodell. The commissioner has the power to rule on the matter since the season is under way, and he does not have to run his resolution by the league’s Board of Governors.
A decision or statement is likely to be rendered before the Cowboys host the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday night.
Jerry Jones, meanwhile, went on the offensive Tuesday. In an interview on the club’s flagship station, KRLD-FM 105.3, Jones talked about how punters must deal with rain, sleet, snow and all kinds of conditions.
Jones compared the punt of Tennessee’s A.J. Trapasso, which hit the digital board in the third quarter of last week’s game, to the swing that baseball players take in the home run derby during All-Star festivities.
The Cowboys owner said the club had spent tons of time and research to determine how high punts fly before setting the board 90 feet above the field and cautioned against a knee-jerk reaction.
“I think the key is that in a competitive situation, we’re gonna be fine,” Jones said in the interview. “I’m not saying the ball won’t hit sometimes up there, but it should be fine.”
When asked about the attention the issue has received nationally, coach Wade Phillips had a simple explanation.
“Dallas Cowboys. Jerry Jones,” he said. “It’s just the nature of things with Dallas.
“But I don’t see them [punters] hitting it very much, no matter how they kick.”