Staubach, a Hall of Fame quarterback, is still pained by the 44-6 pasting Philadelphia put on the Cowboys to end the 2008 season.

"I was unbelievably disappointed watching that Eagles game," he said Thursday from Tampa, where he is taking in the sights and sounds as the chairman of the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee. "I've never been so upset, because it just wasn't going to happen. It just seemed like they almost gave up in the second half."

Fellow Hall of Famer Mel Renfro was equally upset.

"On paper, they should win a Super Bowl, but looking at it, there's a lack of dedication, a lack of accountability," Renfro said. "They act like spoiled rotten kids. I'm sure some guys do give their all, but you can't play with a couple of guys. You've got to play as a team."

While acknowledging he does not know the inner workings of the team, Staubach said the locker-room bickering cost the team a playoff spot.

"I feel there's a lot of stuff that goes on in the locker room that should stay in the locker room," Staubach said. "It's a shame, because I think the distractions really have hurt the team."

Staubach said the distractions particularly hurt quarterback Tony Romo, especially the meetings wide receivers Terrell Owens, Roy Williams and Patrick Crayton had with offensive coordinator Jason Garrett to express their concerns about the offense.

Staubach said his receivers regularly told him they were open, "but it didn't leave the locker room, or it didn't leave the huddle."

Staubach said Butch Johnson used to joke he was throwing the ball too much to Drew Pearson. Owens, according to reports, was upset too many of Romo's passes went to Jason Witten.

"You can do that in a way where you're still a team player. You don't broadcast it," Staubach said. "If I was Tony Romo, I would have been upset with that, being accused. Now you're dropping back to throw, and you're over there [thinking]. You can't do that. You've got to throw it to the person that you feel is going to make the play for you, and they're all good receivers."

Staubach said he still has faith in Romo, although he agreed with fellow Hall of Famer Troy Aikman that Romo needs to pay more attention to how he's perceived.

"But that's kind of a maturing process, to go through all of that," Staubach said.

Staubach said he called Romo before the game at Washington on Nov. 16, when Romo returned from a three-game absence caused by a fractured pinkie, and said he would serve as a sounding board for Romo if wanted.

"There's certain quarterbacks that, no matter how they've played, how bad they've played, you know and feel they're going to figure it out," Staubach said. "And I have not felt that way about a Dallas Cowboy quarterback since Troy Aikman.

"And I do feel that way about Romo ... When I see Tony play, I just figure he's going to figure out how to do it."