6 May 11–17, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Elliott coming off his least productive sea- son in the league. “No, no no,” Jones said when asked if the drafting of Vaughn negated a potential El- liott return. “Not at all. We haven’t made a decision. Nothing we did [during the draft] changes that. As far as our interest in Zeke, nothing we did changes that.” The good news for fans underwhelmed by that sentimental strategy: The team en- tered the draft without glaring holes to fill on what for two seasons has been a success- ful, if not championship, roster. The Cowboys, as it has felt since win- ning Super Bowl XXX in 1996, are close. Over the last two regular seasons they have more wins and more players in the Pro Bowl than any team other than the defend- ing Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. They’ve led the league in defensive takeaways and offensive points. Last season they even won a playoff game, shoving leg- endary quarterback Tom Brady into retire- ment in the process. They “won,” if you will, the NFL’s “Springtime Super Bowl.” “The Cowboys had to make something happen,” said former quarterback-turned- NFL-Network-analyst David Carr. “Stephon Gilmore, I thought, had an excellent season in Indianapolis and is still a difference- maker. And adding Cooks, a veteran wide re- ceiver who is still going to be able to take the top off a coverage opposite CeeDee Lamb ... I love the way this is forming together.” But now that the dust is settling on the draft, the gap between the Cowboys and the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Ea- gles seems larger, not smaller. The Eagles, who lost to the Chiefs by three points in the Super Bowl last February, wowed by drafting three defensive players from the University of Georgia’s back-to-back college national championship team. They also traded for former Bulldog D’Andre Swift to be their new starting running back. Maybe the Cowboys’ TV reception was spotty during the 2022 College Football Playoff. Because while the Eagles stocked up on Bulldogs, Dallas used its top two picks on players — defensive lineman Mazi Smith and tight end Luke Schoonmaker — from the University of Michigan. The Wolverines lost in the semifinals to TCU, which then proceeded to absorb a record ass-kicking from Georgia in the college title game, 65-7. “I don’t know how you’re not impressed by what the Eagles did,” said ESPN’s 40- year draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. “They went to the Super Bowl last year, and with the talent they’ve added with the kids from Georgia, there’s no reason to believe they won’t be a better football team this season.” Maintains Cowboys Vice President Ste- phen Jones, “We’re fired up. All in all, I think we hit all the bases throughout the draft.” In the wake of the draft, the Eagles are the NFC favorite to play in Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. The Cowboys have the third-best odds, behind Philadelphia and the San Francisco 49ers. Bringing Elliott back wouldn’t necessar- ily scare the Eagles, but it would keep Cow- boys fans from enduring another sad sight of a former hero finishing his career in a differ- ent uniform. Texas Rangers’ icon Pudge Rodriguez won a World Series with the Florida Mar- lins. Dallas Stars’ all-time leading scorer Mike Modano finished his career with the hated Detroit Red Wings. Original Dallas Mavericks’ All-Star Mark Aguirre won his championship ring with the Detroit Pistons. Elliott’s demise in Dallas may be sad. But it shouldn’t be surprising. By any statistical measure, he is the third- best running back in the history of the fran- chise. Elliott has more rushing titles than Tony Dorsett (2 vs. 0) and a better career yards-per- carry average than Emmitt Smith (4.4 vs. 4.2). On their way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame both were shipped off by the Cowboys — Dorsett traded to the Denver Broncos for a bag of fifth-round beans, and Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, released from the roster before taking his final hand-offs as a member of the Arizona Cardinals. But Dallas quit on those diminishing stars when they were 34. Elliott has played only seven seasons, and last season he scored touchdowns in Dallas’ final nine games. Quar- terbacks past and present see his potential re- turn as more substance than merely style. “I don’t want to speak for the Cowboys or the Joneses, but it feels like (a reunion) might be the case,” Aikman said in April. “I know there’s a great amount of respect for Zeke. I’ve talked to a number of people that have been in that locker room — coaches, players — and he’s the glue.” Elliott hasn’t publicly commented on a return at a reduced rate and role, but he did post a workout video that strongly suggests he plans to play somewhere in 2023. “He’s my best friend,’’ Prescott said re- cently. “Hell, yeah, I’m throwing with him. His mindset is just getting better, period. However he can. He’s working his ass off.” While the Cowboys grapple with grovel- ing, it’s clearer than ever that the 80-year- old Jones is as out of explanations as he is ideas. During the lousy losing he’s magically maintained to keep his franchise the NFL’s most popular and most profitable. But after drafting Mazi Smith 26th overall, Jones attempted to convince reporters that the defensive lineman was ranked as high as “13th or 14th” on Dallas’ board. When pressed on whether he was fibbing, Jones said: “Who gives a shit? We got him.” ▼ EDUCATION SOS AT DISD DALLAS ISD AND SEVERAL OTHER NORTH TEXAS DISTRICTS ARE URGING PEOPLE TO CONTACT THEIR STATE LAWMAKERS TO DEMAND MORE FUNDING FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS. BY SIMONE CARTER L isten up, class: Dallas schools and teachers need your help. In a news release on May 1, Dallas ISD and several other North Texas school districts sounded a “Mayday” alarm over teacher pay. District officials are encouraging parents, educators and supporters to demand action from their state legislators regarding a boost in funding for public schools. Time is running out on the regular legis- lative session, which ends May 29, but Dal- las ISD wants lawmakers to act now to “allocate more of the state’s record $32.7 bil- lion surplus to public education.” The appeal comes from roughly a dozen districts in the North Texas area, including Mesquite, Richardson, Frisco and Plano ISDs. Dallas ISD Superintendent Stephanie Elizalde said during a news conference that while lawmakers have designated additional funds this year for public education, it doesn’t go far enough, according to the dis- trict’s news release. At this rate, districts won’t be able to increase pay in a significant way for teachers and staff, she said, which is why they’re sending a “distress call” to advo- cates and supporters.She also posted her entreaty to social media. “Mayday! I am declaring a state of emer- gency because the budget state lawmakers are negotiating would leave Texas public schools $7b short of what’s needed to keep up with inflation. Use this link to tell law- makers that public schools need help now!” Elizalde wrote in a tweet. When taking inflation into account, cur- rent funding in schools hovers around 2014 levels. Yet expenses like utilities, fuel and insur- ance have sharply spiked in recent years, the release continued. All the while, a Texas- wide shortage of teachers and staff looms in the background. Certain lawmakers are working to make such pay increases a reality. House Bill 100 passed the Texas House last week and would boost state funding given to school districts to improve teacher salaries. But some representatives don’t seem too keen on paying teachers more. In April, critics blasted state Rep. Jared Patterson, a Frisco Republican, after he mocked educator raises during a debate on the House floor. ▼ AIRPORTS WAGE FLIGHT FEDERAL BILL COULD OFFER BETTER PAY, BENEFITS TO LOCAL AIRPORT WORKERS. BY JACOB VAUGHN T he city of Dallas is keeping its eye on a federal bill to address pay, benefits and labor standards for certain air- port service workers, including security offi- cers, food service workers, cleaning staff, ticketing agents and retail service workers. The Good Jobs Good Airports Act, intro- duced in Congress last year, would establish a minimum hourly wage of $15 and benefit standards for service workers at large, me- dium and small hub airports. The bill would also require airports to submit compliance reports annually to the secretary of Trans- portation to confirm that they are paying employees the minimum wages and bene- fits. If they don’t comply, the airports could lose federal funding under the bill. In mid-March, representatives with the Service Employees International Union in Texas met with Dallas’ Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to ask the city to pass a resolution in support of the federal bill. Elsa Flores, president of the union, which represents some 36,000 employees, told the committee in March that many con- tracted workers at Dallas Fort Worth Inter- national Airport don’t have affordable health care or sick leave. “Low pay and poor benefits have been driving airport service workers away from their jobs, leading to high turnover,” Flores told the committee, according to KERA. “Thousands of workers could be impacted by this federal bill.” But committee members said at their lat- est meeting that some questions remained to be answered before they could back the fed- eral bill. They mostly wanted to know how far along the bill is, how it might affect Dal- las Executive Airport in Oak Cliff and whether there were other bills filed at the state level that also tackled minimum wage. Answers came in a memo from Carrie Rogers, the city’s director of the Office of Government Affairs. The bill would not affect Dallas Execu- tive Airport because it applies only to air- ports that federal aviation law describes as commercial service airports. Dallas Execu- tive Airport is a general aviation airport, so the bill doesn’t apply. It does affect DFW In- ternational Airport and Dallas Love Field. Rogers said in the memo that several bills have been filed in Texas that could change the state’s minimum wage. For ex- Unsplash Dallas ISD and other districts are asking parents to support increased teacher pay. Unfair Park from p4 >> p8
