The grade school kids sitting on the floor in the place where her husband works are oblivious to the fact people are speculating, and wagering on, when he will soon lose his job.
That Mike McCarthy will be “The First To Be Fired. ” Because “He’s an idiot!” That “That dude is awful.”
Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Parcells used to say that “Coaching is not for the well adjusted,” which is true but there are usually other people involved in this scenario who are. Or aspire to be.
A family. A mom. A dad. A wife. A daughter. A son.
“There is a family involved in this,” Jessica said in an interview on Tuesday morning. “Mike has always said to our family, ‘Don’t read what’s out there.’”
McCarthy has 170 NFL regular-season wins, and one Super Bowl ring. That particular piece of advice is his best bit of “coaching.” It should be followed by any coach, and their family, in pro and major college sports. Probably a certain NFL owner/GM, too.
In a social media world, the coaching applies to everyone. It’s also counter to human nature; we want to hear what people say about us. Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and other social media apps, we are all addicts to the dopamine kick the “likes,” “Thumbs Up,” “Comments” and emojis to our posts provide. God only knows the damage it does.
About two hours after Jerry Jones made national news for disliking questions asked by members of the Cowboys’ flagship radio station on Tuesday morning, Jessica McCarthy spoke to a group of Arlington ISD grade schoolers about art inside one of America’s better “art museums.” Thanks to the efforts, and money, of Jerry Jones and his wife, Gene, AT&T Stadium houses an array of impressive works that normally would be be at the Louvre, or the Met.
Jessica taught art to grade school kids back in Green Bay. She married Mike in 2008, and when their blended family moved from Wisconsin to Texas in early 2020 it was the first time she had ever lived outside of that area.
(Coincidentally, this may be the first time we have heard from the wife of the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys since ... at least before Parcells was coach, in 2003.)
“I was really nervous when we moved here,” she said. “I had no idea what this was going to be like.”
Start with a helluva lot hotter. The rest? It’s the same. Whether it’s living with the speculation that your husband coach is a goner, or hearing second-hand that your husband is terrible at his job, the life is the life regardless of zip code. It comes with plenty of perks, but there are trades. The same can be said for most things.
“Kids can be mean at school. To be honest, and I am not being ignorant, I don’t really look at what’s out there,” she said. “What’s said is going to be said. It’s like anything, there are peaks and valleys, but if I look at that and that is going to affect me and I am not going to be the best mom, or wife or partner, or whatever. So I don’t look at it.
“I tell my kids to do the same and they pretty much do what I do, and they hear the most things at school.”
The idea that “kids today” are any better than they were in previous generations because of “anti bullying” rhetoric and a few campaign slogans slapped inside a school lunch room is a laughable notion. Kids are awful, but at least they come straight at you with their undressed candor. There is room for learning, and growth.
Despite all of the efforts, raised awareness of “bullying,” public service announcements from A-list celebrities, and research from college sociology professors about the need to “treat each other better,” kids are still kids.
“It’s the adults who are the same,” Jessica McCarthy said.
Add that to the list of realities we don’t tell our kids.
The adult tithes, and wears the cross around their neck, while they may bury you behind your back.
McCarthy has been an NFL head coach since 2006, and he doesn’t need to check any news site to know the points of discussion. This his the life he signed up for, and he’s conditioned to deal with the noise.
The best way to deal with the noise? Don’t look at it.
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