Looking For Respect Testaverde tries his hardest not to listen as all his critics call for his replacement By Jennifer Floyd Engel Star-Telegram Staff Writer 11/15/04 IRVING - Comedian Rodney Dangerfield used to have this bit about how you know you are really old when your family talks about you right in front of you. "What are we going to do with Pop?" "Pop can't stay here." "Put Pop in the garage." Cowboys quarterback Vinny Testaverde would laugh, if it weren't so much like his actual life. He turned 41 on Saturday, which is like 104 in NFL years, and people have started to talk about him in front of him. "What are we going to do with Vinny?" "He can't stay here. It's almost time for Drew Henson." "All right, well, put him in against Philadelphia and Baltimore, and we'll make a decision after that." Testaverde can hear you. He heard all of you, all week, talking about how his three interceptions lost the game in Cincinnati and how coach Bill Parcells needs to bench him. He heard how the Cowboys need to get on with the business of getting ready for 2005, starting by playing Henson against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football tonight. "I come in here, answer your questions, help you out. It doesn't bother me either way," Testaverde said, his tone betraying his answers. "It's unfortunate but ... you focus on what you can control. I'm not going home and thinking about all the questions that were asked today." The media asked if Testaverde has begun to look over his shoulder. And if Testaverde's time has really passed. And if Henson's time has finally come. All of these questions are asked despite Testaverde passing for 2,051 yards in eight games and probably being the Cowboys' best offensive player for most of the season. "He doesn't deserve it," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "But, when he came here, he knew he was going to be getting into a situation with young quarterbacks with Quincy [Carter] and Drew. It shouldn't be a surprise to him. It is not a surprise to me. That is part of the situation at this junction of his career. It's phenomenal that he is playing as well as he is, but at this point, he is going to get in that type of debate." Nobody said it exactly, but this year was probably Testaverde's final go as a starting quarterback in the NFL. He certainly viewed it as possibly his last kick at the championship can when he replaced Carter as the starter in training camp. Hopes were high. The Cowboys were 10-6 with Carter, who they never trusted enough to turn the offense lose. The not-so quantum leap was the offense -- and thereby the Cowboys -- would be better with Testaverde because Parcells had faith in him. It has not gone as predicted. The Cowboys are 3-5, dangling dangerously close to playoff extinction. The list of reasons has been frequently enumerated. The defense isn't as good. Injuries. The running game is anemic. Penalties. Mistakes. Their pass rush is nonexistent. Right cornerback has been a carousel of gambles. Testaverde does not even make the Top 10 of things wrong with the Cowboys yet he is the guy everybody is clamoring to replace, because he is not part of the long-term solution. "What do we need to replace Vinny for?" receiver Keyshawn Johnson asked. "We replace Vinny, now what? Magically we are going to win the next eight? Is that what fans really think? Is that what you really think?" It is not what Johnson thinks. Nor is it what Parcells thinks. Parcells somewhat distorted the issue last Monday with his "because I'd be giving a sign to my team that I'm giving up on the season, that's why," in response to questions about why he was not considering changing quarterbacks. It made it sound as though the only reason for playing Testaverde was because he had no faith in Henson. He somewhat kept with that thought Friday until pressed on why he still believes Testaverde is the right quarterback for this team. "It's not like [he] doesn't have a track record in football," Parcells said. "He's played some pretty good games this year. I'm hoping he can play the second half like he played some of the first games. I think if he does that, can do that, and we can pick it up around him, we can win some games." Parcells still has faith Testaverde can do what he envisioned when he handed him back the boxing gloves in August. "Vinny's got to work himself through this, and Bill's got to stay with him," ESPN analyst Joe Theismann said. "I think Bill is absolutely right. I think Bill is 100 percent right. Vinny is his quarterback, should be his quarterback, but his quarterback has got to do a better job than he's doing. It boils down to that. Period." Testaverde knows this better than anybody. He has been benched and booed and abandoned for the next great thing at quarterback more times than he can count. And he has heard all of the questions he was asked this week, but instead of Henson it was Chad Pennington and various others. "I'm assuming it's Drew Henson you are talking about," Testaverde said when a reporter asked him about "distractions" this week. "I believe that he knows that I don't let things of that nature bother me. It doesn't enter into my preparation for the week and that's part of the reason he brought me here because again, to put it in his words, he knows he has a quarterback in me when I get my nose bloodied, I'm going to bounce right back." He would prefer not to be a Rodney Dangerfield punchline.