Hooker's Foolish 'Ranking' of Contract Priorities Breaks Locker-Room Rule
FRISCO - The three-time 1990's Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys used to have a locker-room policy. "Don't talk about another man's money.''
The present-day Cowboys? They don't seem to understand the value of that in-house bylaw.
Malik Hooker's recent interview with Keyshawn Johnson is drawing headlines - and Micah Parsons' ire - because Hooker says out loud what many have said before him in private: Micah needs to make sure he's concentrating on winning football games and not winning an audience.
That's incendiary stuff, and now the two defensive starters seem to have themselves a "beef.''
Hooker's Foolish 'Ranking' of Contract Priorities Breaks Locker-Room Rule
But Hooker said something else, foolishly revealing who he thinks the team should prioritize with new contracts before the start of training camp on July 23 when the Cowboys head to Oxnard.
Said Hooker: "I feel like CeeDee should be paid first for the simple fact of what he does for us, how valuable he is for us [and] the leader he is for us as a team ... I'd go CeeDee (at No.) 1. … You can interchange Zack and Dak at (No.) 2 … Zack Martin gives a lot of those offensive guys confidence to go out there and be able to perform how they do — little do a lot of people know. … When Zack Martin it out there, it's a different type of confidence. I know he's gonna do a job."
And Micah?
"Micah still has a lot to prove," Hooker added. "He has done a great job his first couple of years in the league. Don't get me wrong, he's a fantastic player, (but) I feel like Micah still has a surface that he (doesn't) even know that he can scratch as far as what he's doing. I would say Micah's last, just for that reason."
Hooker gets his facts wrong here; Martin is not in search of a contract extension and is in fact considering retirement after 2024 - evidence enough that he really is out of his lane here.
Furthermore, contrary to many reports, the Cowboys front office isn't "prioritizing'' anybody over anybody, as explained here exclusively.
But "ranking'' teammates importance? And "ranking'' which one of them should get paid?
In a locker room that works - at least once upon a time - that's taboo.
But it's now not off-limits to these Cowboys ... which hints that maybe, among the issues that keep Dallas from succeeding at the highest level, the locker room doesn't work.