New Year, Same Old Cowboys

And around it comes again, startling yet not surprising, the football equivalent of refinery stench.

Another story about the Dallas Cowboys involving a woman, a gun, a videotape, a player’s house, a search warrant and something tantalizingly called “sexual activity.”

Another story about the Dallas Cowboys with not one dad-gummed football.

And the same party line from the life of the party.

We will not do anything until the proper authorities uncover all the facts.

This was the gist of the Jerry Jones-approved Cowboy statement Tuesday after accusations by a 23-year-old woman that tackle Erik Williams and another man raped her while Cowboy star Michael Irvin held a gun at her head. The players not charged. The players were not arrested. Yet the Cowboys were already covering their bases.

Let justice take its course. Let the police do their work.

Good idea, if this weren’t about two men who will represent their city and sport in front of millions this weekend in an NFL playoff game.

Now is the time for team owner Jones to do his own work.

Forget about the cops. Use some of that millions he is making in stadium sponsorships to hire his own investigators.

Tell them they have 48 hours to figure out what happened on Sunday night in Williams’ house

If the players are being set up by somebody who could make money off the high-profile team--this latest accuser has previously served as a Cowboy source for a local TV station--then expose that person.

It has happened before and it could happen again.

But if there is even a solid hint that Williams and Irvin broke a law--again--make them get lost faster than Clint Longley.

Throw their jerseys into the Valley Ranch weeds.

Strip their names from their lockers.

Do not let them play Sunday in the divisional playoff game against the Carolina Panthers.

The Cowboys would lose that game because Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith cannot function without Irvin and Williams.

But Jones would save what is left of his football soul.

This is not about rushing to judgment. This is about rushing to the truth. Nobody benefits more from this sprint than Irvin and Williams, who because of their resumes, endure enough stares without being falsely accused of something else.

What, something like this can’t be investigated that fast? A lame excuse.

Four people were involved. Jones can negotiate a billion-dollar TV contract with five huge networks, he can certainly get to the bottom of an incident involving four people.

What, such vigilante justice is immoral and unprecedented in the sports world? More copping out.

This fall, Dr. Robert Carothers, president of the University of Rhode Island, forced his team to forfeit a game to the University of Connecticut after 30 members were involved in a fraternity beating.

It was the first such forfeit in NCAA history.

And guess what? He did it before any charges were filed.

“When your child does wrong, you punish him right away, you don’t wait, or you have missed the opportunity to help him learn from it,” he said at the time.

For this, Carothers became a hero.

Jerry Jones can become that same hero.

He has said he wants his legacy to be as one of the NFL’s memorable owners.

Memorable like Eddie DeBartolo Jr.?

Or memorable like Al Davis.

This week, he decides.

Between now and Sunday, every other sentence about this incident will contain the libel-free phrase, “police said.”

How nice it would be if somebody could substitute, “Jones said.”

Williams and Irvin have been cleared by an in-house investigation, Jones said.

Williams and Irvin will not play Sunday, Jones said.

In the wake of the off-field histories of these two players, to wait for a normal investigation would be akin to saying, “We’re crossing our fingers and hoping the Super Bowl is done before the grand jury.”

To wait for a normal investigation is an insult to a league that is so covered in helmets and pads that its biggest asset must be trust. Fans must trust that nobody hidden underneath a pile of 300-pounders is soaring on drugs.

That nobody attempting to dislodge another man’s head in the name of a good pass rush would actually do that in real life.

By not imposing further sanctions on Irvin than the league’s lawyers would allow after Irvin pleaded no contest to felony cocaine possession last summer, Jones has already allowed the Cowboys’ playoff drive to be tainted.

Or, watching Irvin dance around the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, did nobody else hear a family member say, “Can you believe that guy is still playing?”

With every great Irvin catch this month, somewhere there will be another cry of “Unbelievable.”

Remember when people were saying that about his football?

If this latest incident is going to be another spill on the Cowboy image, Jones needs to wipe fast before it becomes another stain.

Until then, everything sounds bad, and nobody trusts anybody.

“They’re going to deal with it and just go on,” Cowboy Coach Barry Switzer said Tuesday about his two accused players.

As if it were a death in the family.

“There’s no perfect timing for anything like this,” Switzer said.

As if it were a couple of hamstring injuries.

“They had a good practice,” Switzer said. “I would say, in fact, Michael had an excellent practice.”

Switzer is a good man, but these circumstances make him sound like a fool.

The Cowboys have many honorable employees, but their helplessness makes them look like accomplices.

Jones often uses a cliche about taking the bull by the horns.

And just what would he call this beast?