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The Cowboys cut Terrell Owens in early March, and we've been subjected to a story or so a week about why it happened, who was to blame, and what it means for both parties going forward.

This is newsworthy for a few reasons: it's the offseason, it's the Cowboys and it's T.O. Anybody else, or any other time of year, and these headlines have a shelf life of a few days. But it's June, so here we are.

And according to Yahoo.com's Michael Silver, who spent a couple days talking to Jerry and Stephen Jones, the real reason T.O. got axed was because he was too popular. Seriously.

The truth can't be avoided any longer. It would be like denying Tim Floyd is a crook, Adam Lambert is gay or Brett Favre is going to be a Viking.

It was the Week of Pittsburgh and will inevitably be the Year of the Steel City .

First the Steelers, now the Penguins and Ben "Hogan" Roethlisberger. Soon the Lakers, eventually the Pirates.

All have or will win world championships, making Pittsburgh the only city in history to hold titles in the five major sports all in the same year.

Can you name a better sports town?

Save the actual act of filling out the pink slip, Greg Ellis' 11-year career with the Cowboys is done. He was hailed as a team leader -- something the organization lacked in recent years -- and his DallasCowboys.com bio confirms as much:

"... Ellis has been a pillar of consistency and production for the Cowboys in his 10 seasons as an NFL player. Whether it be overcoming the adversity of a serious injury or making a position switch in the later stages of his career, Ellis has always responded."

But as you might have heard, the NFL is a business, and players -- even the good ones -- are sent on their way as soon as a coach, scout or owner determines they're no longer useful. And with 2007 first-round pick Anthony Spencer ready to assume Ellis' job, it was a relatively easy decision, at least from a business standpoint.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed Tuesday at the team's OTA that veteran linebacker Greg Ellis will be traded or released and will not return to the Cowboys in 2009.

FanHouse's Calvin Watkins was the first to report last week that the Cowboys were shopping Ellis.

Based on what Jones told Dallas reporters, the team is in no rush to make the actual move. Ellis will not be attending OTAs, and Jones said he's given Ellis and his agent permission to try and arrange a trade with another team if they can. The Cowboys would rather trade Ellis than release him and have to pay the $1.5 million guaranteed portion of his salary, but his $5.6 million salary and his salary cap number of $6.25 million are likely to make a trade difficult.

The Dallas Cowboys are shopping outside linebacker Greg Ellis, multiple sources told FanHouse on Thursday. Ellis is one of the most trusted defenders the team has, but it would like to push 2007 first-round pick Anthony Spencer into a starting role.

Ellis is in the last year of his contract and if released, is owed $1.5 million by the Cowboys as part of a contractually agreed upon settlement.

Dallas is serious about a potential move because on Thursday, the final day of this week's organized team activities, the team sent Ellis home, not allowing him to practice. The Cowboys did this last year during some OTAs, and coach Wade Phillips said then it was to not wear Ellis down. He turns 34 in August.

CARROLLTON, Texas -- Tony Romo sits on a small set of bleaches wearing a blue baseball hat turned backward with a beard sprouting from his face.

Romo looks like the second-line center for the Bruins instead of the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, who just completed the first day of organized team activities on Tuesday. But Romo is getting paid to lead the Cowboys. Last year, Romo led them to a 9-7 finish and a seat on the couch for the postseason.

Romo put up decent numbers, second in the NFL in touchdown percentage and eighth in quarterback rating despite missing three games with a broken pinkie.

But 2009, more than any other season for Romo, is about him.

In a dark nightclub, Michael Irvin stands in a corner with a microphone talking about the worst day of his playing career.

Irvin, the Hall of Fame wide receiver from the Cowboys, whose off the field troubles make for a 500-page book, speaks from the heart. He talks about his children and the inability to play with them.

The day was Oct. 10, 1999 at old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

When Super Bowl XLV comes to North Texas in 2011, the Cowboys will host the NFC champion at their practice facility in the Valley Ranch section of Irving, Texas.

One problem: The Cowboys can't practice at their own facility right now because their indoor practice structure collapsed May 2, sending 12 people to the hospital and paralyzing an assistant scout. The Cowboys cannot hold their upcoming organized team activities or veteran minicamps at their complex because investigators are still trying to figure out why the structure fell down during a severe thunderstorm.

In February, ESPN mercifully pulled the plug on Emmitt Smith's television career. I think they did it as much for him as for us. Either way, thanks, World Wide Leader. But the NFL rushing leader still has opinions, and when asked, he'll happily share them. Especially if it involves the Cowboys, a team Smith helped win three Super Bowls in the 1990s.

At a Tuesday news conference in Arlington, Texas, Smith talked about the direction of the 2009 club -- one that managed to miss the playoffs last season, and, the year before, lost in the divisional round after a 13-3 record -- and he didn't sound impressed. A lot of that, it seems, has to do with Jerry Jones' decision to cut Terrell Owens.

The Cowboys' $1.1 billion stadium will be called Cowboys Stadium, team owner and general manager Jerry Jones said Wednesday, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Jones had been trying to find a corporate sponsor for the new stadium -- a report last summer in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram had AT&T as the frontrunner -- but the recent financial problems of that company and others halted those plans.