Yeah giving Ratliff that $40 million contract in 2011 when he still had another year to play turned out to be a big mistake. Although I do understand the logic of trying to lock a player up early on the cheap rather than risk paying more later, in hindsight it can sometimes appear penny wise and pound foolish.

In my opinion, this is the most intriguing sports story of 2013. I cannot imagine (although I have a pretty good guess) what Jones must have done to make Ratliff so angry that he’d (a) ditch the team and his teammates in a clutch, (b) take a giant risk in free agency at mid-season, (c) sign with another team and then, do everything he possibly could, including (d) set himself and The Cowboys up for a huge media circus court fight over his refusal to play, just to (e) never, never play another down for Jones.

I think Ratliff’s reasons, whatever they are, are in the heads of several more Dallas players who have come to realize that Jones is an unpredictable egomaniac bent on making himself be the star rather than building a winning team that wears The Star.

Jones has always been of the mindset that paying lots of money buys loyalty. Of course, it only works one way with him. Players, like Ware, Hatcher, Spencer, Free and others, might pay more attention to the Ratliff debacle and the way Jones handled it. Their futures as Dallas Cowboys might end just as abruptly when they deal with this guy if he doesn’t get his way.