NFL Decision '08: Are Cowboys ready for their close-up?

Jeff Pearlman's latest book, 'Boys Will Be Boys, is a behind-the-scenes tell-all on the early 1990s Dallas Cowboys. Strippers, rampant drug abuse, Charles Haley and his mind-boggling pre-and-postgame locker room antics — the list of "distractions" surrounding the Jimmy Johnson-era Cowboys was truly neverending. From the tales of "The White House" to charity basketball games gone horribly awry, it'd be a gross understatement to say those teams had stuff other than football going on. The Michael Irvin stories alone could rival the rowdiest of college fraternity reunion roasts.

Yet, despite all the extracurricular activity and utter chaos around them, those teams won three Super Bowls in four years. They did so with two different head coaches, a variety of different offensive and defensive coordinators, and a revolving door of faces contributing at key positions.

Those squads make this year's Cowboys team look like choirboys. But, whereas those early '90s Cowboys teams overcame off-the-field distractions and scandalous pasts to reign victorious, I'm not 100% confident the 2008 version will.

Those early '90s squads kept their stuff behind closed doors. They were America's Team, but America knew nothing about them. This Cowboys team? They're a reality TV show. And sadly, that's not even an exaggeration. On top of having HBO cameras follow them around for the next month for "Hard Knocks," the Jessica and Tony subplot lingers, the Pac Man situation has "Skip Bayless 6-month rant" written all over it, and there's what's more or less a lame-duck coach calling the shots with his $4 million-a-year heir apparent still standing on the sidelines, waiting in the wings. That lame duck coach, of course, has never won an NFL playoff game.

Oh, and then there's that Terrell Owens fellow. You might have heard of him.

This isn't an "experiment." It's a Hollywood blockbuster, with the potential to spin completely out of control.

Last year, the 'Boys kept it tight and dominated the NFC well into December. Then, without much notice, it all came crashing down. The Washington and Philadelphia regular season losses were bad; the eventual Giants defeat was devastating. Granted, this may be the Summer of Favre, but once games begin all eyes will be on Big D.

Dallas is as talented a team in the NFL. No one doubts that. But they also haven't won a playoff game in 12 years. They'll be reminded of that every step of the way. And with even more media attention, and even more pressure on them than last year, things won't be any easier.

The 2008 Dallas Cowboys have nothing to do with a high school science class. Experiment, they are not. What they are, however, is a 53-man roster filled with loads of talent and personality. One with bright lights and media scrutiny following them every step of the way.

They may very well win Super Bowl XLIII. They're just going to have to overcome more non-football related mayhem than the other 31 teams in the league to do so.

Whether they're prepared to do just that is the question. And quite frankly ... I'm not exactly sold that they are.

VOTE! Cowboys will implode