Lonesome No Longer In The Lone Star State

Henderson's response was vintage Hollywood. "The only publicity he's ever gotten," Henderson said of Lewis, "is when he's talking about me. He has no class and he's making me have no class talking about him. It's really a shame when you stab a man when he's dead. His red neck is showing. Believe me, he has had trouble staying awake in those boring team meetings, too."

Then Hollywood warmed to his subject. "He's the dullest Cowboy who ever played," he said. "He's slow and old and no good. He can't cover backs out of the backfield. He's just trying to say the right things to impress Landry so he can keep his job. Mike Hegman should have been starting for him for three years now."

As a final word, Henderson cracked, "Right now, I'm glad I'm gone. I don't have to practice."

Dispiriting as the recent past has been, the Cowboys at least are in a position to take sole charge of their postseason fate, because they close out the regular season in division battles with the Giants, Eagles and the hated Redskins, with only the Philadelphia game on the road. Landry sounded optimistic on Thanksgiving night. "We've still got a chance," he said. "The toughest thing is that everybody expects us to turn it around. There's no guarantee we're going to turn it around. It's got to be done on the field."

And, remember Tom, only with 11 men at a time.