PRO FOOTBALL : Cowboys’ Owner Raps Landry, Says He May Sell Team

Bum Bright, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, openly challenged some of the team’s coaching moves after the 21-10 loss Sunday to Atlanta and said if he had it all over to do again, he probably wouldn’t have bought the team.

Bright said he has the utmost confidence in club President Tex Schramm, but his stance on Coach Tom Landry was weaker.

Bright criticized Landry’s failure to make greater use of defensive lineman Danny Noonan, the team’s first-round draft choice, or running back Herschel Walker.

“I’m very disappointed,” Bright said. “It doesn’t seem like we’ve got anybody in charge that knows what they’re doing, other than Tex.”

Sunday’s outburst was his first publicly against the Cowboys, who fell to 5-7 with the loss to Atlanta and likely will miss the playoffs for a second straight year.

Asked if he would support a change in coaches, Bright said, “I’d back Tex in anything he wants to do. I’ve got all the confidence in the world in him. He’s a tough person.”

Told of Bright’s comments and asked if it bothered him, Landry said, “Sure, it bothers anybody, but they have a right to say that.”

Although he said he prefers to leave the running of the team to Landry and Schramm, Bright could not resist wondering aloud about certain personnel moves.”

“Here we’ve got a high-priced kid, Danny Noonan,” Bright said of the former Nebraska All-American. “He’s costing us a lot of money. Why are we paying him so much if we’re not going to use him as much as we should?”

Bright said he would consider selling the Cowboys if he could find any takers.

“I think the aura of the Cowboys is dying,” he said. “I’m talking about an aura where they were smart . . . and had a high caliber of individuals playing for them.

“At least, the Cowboys had that projection, but they’ve lost a lot of that image. You can build it back around a Herschel Walker and some bright young people, but it’s not there now.”