Terrance Newman...Please Shut Up!

Terrance Newman, a suddenly prominent voice in the Cowboys' locker room, is at it again. This time, he talked with Joe Trahan at WFAA about Jessica Simpson's impact on Tony Romo:

"I think that with the situation Tony was in, I think that kind of maybe hurt him a little bit - being a first-year starter, then you have the limelight with his girlfriend and situations of that nature. It's going to take away from him being a quarterback, being a successful quarterback.

I think that once he inherited the starting quarterback job and his relationship got into the national media attention, I think that that was something that definitely hurt and took away from Tony Romo being a great quarterback."

I'm glad to see that someone is here to pick up the slack after T.O.'s departure. But seriously, shouldn't Newman follow the whole "don't throw stones in a glass house" rule? Doesn't he understand that stupid comments like these prop him up as a target moving forward?

If I had been conducting this interview - I would have enjoyed following his statements with these questions:

Terrance, do you believe that you should be the team spokesperson, given that you have essentially missed 11 games during the last two years?

Terrance, can you justify being one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL despite only making one Pro-Bowl during your career?

Terrance, can you justify being one of the highest-paid cornerbacks in the NFL despite never amassing more than 4 interceptions in a year?

Terrance, how would you address the accusation that, since receiving your new contract, you no longer are willing to play through pain?

To me, it appears that Newman has been affected by a little "Josh Howard-itis." For clarification - Josh Howard-itis occurs when a decent player is selected for their first All-Star (Pro-Bowl) game. At that point, said player begins to believe that he is much better than he really is.

Look, Newman is a good cornerback...but he is paid like a great cornerback. Terrance Newman is not great. He is also a player that has been unable to stay on the field over the last two seasons.

This team has a very difficult time with personal accountability. If Newman wants to discuss the team, I wish that he would begin with: "I need to get better. I was drafted as a playmaking cornerback - I need to actually start making plays. I need to focus on how I can improve to help the team."

Instead, during a 10-minute interview, Newman talked about:

Romo needing to focus on being the quarterback
Clicks in the locker room
Players bickering at one another
Coaches being accountable
Other guys not complaining in public
Coaches not holding players accountable
Romo needing to be a more vocal leader

Never, during the entire discussion, did Newman suggest that he needed to improve. Really - that's all that needed to be said.