The evolution of Jerry Jones
Jean-Jacques Taylor is a sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News.
IRVING – They won't admit it, but NFL royalty laughed when Jerry Jones signed on the dotted line in 1989 and became the third man to own the Dallas Cowboys.
When he purchased the Cowboys for $70 million and the lease to Texas Stadium for another $70 million, many considered Jones an Arkansas rube, a man who made a fortune wheeling and dealing in the high-risk oil and gas business, where luck is more important than skill.
What a sucker. Or so it seemed.
Only a fool, they chuckled, would assume so much debt, especially when it came to the stadium lease. At the time, owners only wanted access to the stadium on the days their team played. See, the league's hierarchy understood the lure of owning an NFL franchise was a turbo-charged ego boost, but not worth jeopardizing their net worth to do it.
Jones did it willingly.
And in return for his risk, Jones has won three NFL championships and made his once debt-ridden franchise worth a little more than a billion dollars, according to Forbes' 2006 rankings. No doubt that figure will increase exponentially when the club's new stadium is completed.
These days, Jones is among the most respected owners in professional sports. The NFL doesn't make any major decision without the input of the man it once mocked.
And last week, when North Texas landed the league's biggest prize – Super Bowl XLV – it completed Jones' transformation from NFL outsider into one of the league's most powerful owners.
His résumé compares favorably to other innovative owners who created a legacy that ensures their names are scribbled in the league's annals, so generations will learn about their contributions to the NFL.
Jones' secret: He has no fear.
Failure doesn't intimidate him. He always believes victory is near. The odds and circumstances don't matter.
Of course, that's the same reason Jones has rolled the dice since Troy Aikman retired on quarterbacks such as Quincy Carter, Ryan Leaf, Drew Henson, Chad Hutchinson, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Bledsoe and others before finally finding Tony Romo, who may be a keeper.
And it's the reason he convinced himself over the last few years that the Cowboys could compete for a Super Bowl, when it was apparent to everyone but him that they lacked the talent.
Jones takes that approach because he realizes the Cowboys' illustrious history, which was created by the successful triumvirate of Tom Landry, Tex Schramm and Gil Brandt, doesn't allow their fans to be satisfied with anything less than a championship.
No team has played in more Super Bowls than the Cowboys. Their five NFL titles is a feat shared by only the San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Fans of the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers and Montreal Canadiens view their teams similarly.
Socks and jocks
Jones built the Cowboys into a winner by being a maverick. Peer pressure never affected him. You tell Jones he can't do something and it makes him more determined.
After all, Jones has done it his way from the day he bought the Cowboys.
After firing Landry, Jones named himself general manager, hired Jimmy Johnson, who was a great college coach with no NFL experience, and proclaimed he would learn everything about the game from socks to jocks. Still, he was a league laughingstock after the Cowboys finished 1-15 his first season.
Ironically, the foundation for the Cowboys' success started with Texas Stadium, because Jones figured out how to turn an albatross into a gold mine.
He started by having tours, catered events and concerts at Texas Stadium to create revenue streams. Then came the controversial decision to forge partnerships with companies like Pepsi, Nike and American Express, which didn't have sponsorship agreements with the NFL.
Jones successfully argued that Texas Stadium was a different entity than his football club, giving him the right to create marketing agreements between the stadium and any company he wanted. Instead of pumping all of the money from those agreements into his bank account, he first used much of it to improve the roster through various forms of free agency.
Later, he used the money to keep the Cowboys' vast collection of stars happy and wealthy after they had rewarded him with Super Bowl championships following the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons.
Stadium revenue was the key. The other owners aren't stupid. They started using the same tactics to generate money. More important, they saw the significance of owning a stadium instead of leasing it. It's no coincidence that only a handful of NFL teams don't have new or completely refurbished stadiums.
They're following Jones' lead.
Actually, whether the other owners admit it or not, they rewarded Jones for being a marketing visionary last week by awarding the 2011 Super Bowl to North Texas. Don't think for a minute that Jones' contribution to the wealth of his fellow owners wasn't a factor in beating out Indianapolis for the nation's biggest sports spectacle.
Change for the better
As you would expect, Jones has matured in his 18 seasons as Cowboys owner.
Winning three Super Bowls in his first seven seasons made it hard to be humble. That's why Jones convinced himself that anyone wearing a headset and golf shirt could lead the Cowboys to another Super Bowl.
The fallout from that warped thought process: no playoff wins since 1996, no division titles since 1998 and five head coaches in the last 10 years. Trust me, if the Cowboys ever win another Super Bowl, he'll respect the process more than he ever did.
Jones no longer makes bold predictions regarding how many games the Cowboys will win or how deep they'll go in the playoffs. He also rarely discusses contracts publicly. He still enjoys the limelight, but four seasons with Bill Parcells proves he doesn't need or crave it as much as he once did.
At 64, Jones remains young at heart. He spends most mornings on an elliptical machine and doesn't weigh much more than he did during his college days in the early '60s.
None of this means he always makes the right decision. No leader does.
But no owner wants to win more than Jones. He choked up a few months ago when announcing Wade Phillips as the Cowboys' new coach. And the tears flowed last week, when the league announced North Texas was getting the Super Bowl.
Those are tangible indications of how much the Cowboys mean to him. He loves the league and all it has done for him
No longer is he the butt of jokes.
The North Little Rock, Ark. native now is a part of NFL royalty. It has been a circuitous journey.
IRVING – They won't admit it, but NFL royalty laughed when Jerry Jones signed on the dotted line in 1989 and became the third man to own the Dallas Cowboys.
When he purchased the Cowboys for $70 million and the lease to Texas Stadium for another $70 million, many considered Jones an Arkansas rube, a man who made a fortune wheeling and dealing in the high-risk oil and gas business, where luck is more important than skill.
What a sucker. Or so it seemed.
Only a fool, they chuckled, would assume so much debt, especially when it came to the stadium lease. At the time, owners only wanted access to the stadium on the days their team played. See, the league's hierarchy understood the lure of owning an NFL franchise was a turbo-charged ego boost, but not worth jeopardizing their net worth to do it.
Jones did it willingly.
And in return for his risk, Jones has won three NFL championships and made his once debt-ridden franchise worth a little more than a billion dollars, according to Forbes' 2006 rankings. No doubt that figure will increase exponentially when the club's new stadium is completed.
These days, Jones is among the most respected owners in professional sports. The NFL doesn't make any major decision without the input of the man it once mocked.
And last week, when North Texas landed the league's biggest prize – Super Bowl XLV – it completed Jones' transformation from NFL outsider into one of the league's most powerful owners.
His résumé compares favorably to other innovative owners who created a legacy that ensures their names are scribbled in the league's annals, so generations will learn about their contributions to the NFL.
Jones' secret: He has no fear.
Failure doesn't intimidate him. He always believes victory is near. The odds and circumstances don't matter.
Of course, that's the same reason Jones has rolled the dice since Troy Aikman retired on quarterbacks such as Quincy Carter, Ryan Leaf, Drew Henson, Chad Hutchinson, Vinny Testaverde, Drew Bledsoe and others before finally finding Tony Romo, who may be a keeper.
And it's the reason he convinced himself over the last few years that the Cowboys could compete for a Super Bowl, when it was apparent to everyone but him that they lacked the talent.
Jones takes that approach because he realizes the Cowboys' illustrious history, which was created by the successful triumvirate of Tom Landry, Tex Schramm and Gil Brandt, doesn't allow their fans to be satisfied with anything less than a championship.
No team has played in more Super Bowls than the Cowboys. Their five NFL titles is a feat shared by only the San Francisco 49ers and Pittsburgh Steelers. Fans of the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers and Montreal Canadiens view their teams similarly.
Socks and jocks
Jones built the Cowboys into a winner by being a maverick. Peer pressure never affected him. You tell Jones he can't do something and it makes him more determined.
After all, Jones has done it his way from the day he bought the Cowboys.
After firing Landry, Jones named himself general manager, hired Jimmy Johnson, who was a great college coach with no NFL experience, and proclaimed he would learn everything about the game from socks to jocks. Still, he was a league laughingstock after the Cowboys finished 1-15 his first season.
Ironically, the foundation for the Cowboys' success started with Texas Stadium, because Jones figured out how to turn an albatross into a gold mine.
He started by having tours, catered events and concerts at Texas Stadium to create revenue streams. Then came the controversial decision to forge partnerships with companies like Pepsi, Nike and American Express, which didn't have sponsorship agreements with the NFL.
Jones successfully argued that Texas Stadium was a different entity than his football club, giving him the right to create marketing agreements between the stadium and any company he wanted. Instead of pumping all of the money from those agreements into his bank account, he first used much of it to improve the roster through various forms of free agency.
Later, he used the money to keep the Cowboys' vast collection of stars happy and wealthy after they had rewarded him with Super Bowl championships following the 1992, 1993 and 1995 seasons.
Stadium revenue was the key. The other owners aren't stupid. They started using the same tactics to generate money. More important, they saw the significance of owning a stadium instead of leasing it. It's no coincidence that only a handful of NFL teams don't have new or completely refurbished stadiums.
They're following Jones' lead.
Actually, whether the other owners admit it or not, they rewarded Jones for being a marketing visionary last week by awarding the 2011 Super Bowl to North Texas. Don't think for a minute that Jones' contribution to the wealth of his fellow owners wasn't a factor in beating out Indianapolis for the nation's biggest sports spectacle.
Change for the better
As you would expect, Jones has matured in his 18 seasons as Cowboys owner.
Winning three Super Bowls in his first seven seasons made it hard to be humble. That's why Jones convinced himself that anyone wearing a headset and golf shirt could lead the Cowboys to another Super Bowl.
The fallout from that warped thought process: no playoff wins since 1996, no division titles since 1998 and five head coaches in the last 10 years. Trust me, if the Cowboys ever win another Super Bowl, he'll respect the process more than he ever did.
Jones no longer makes bold predictions regarding how many games the Cowboys will win or how deep they'll go in the playoffs. He also rarely discusses contracts publicly. He still enjoys the limelight, but four seasons with Bill Parcells proves he doesn't need or crave it as much as he once did.
At 64, Jones remains young at heart. He spends most mornings on an elliptical machine and doesn't weigh much more than he did during his college days in the early '60s.
None of this means he always makes the right decision. No leader does.
But no owner wants to win more than Jones. He choked up a few months ago when announcing Wade Phillips as the Cowboys' new coach. And the tears flowed last week, when the league announced North Texas was getting the Super Bowl.
Those are tangible indications of how much the Cowboys mean to him. He loves the league and all it has done for him
No longer is he the butt of jokes.
The North Little Rock, Ark. native now is a part of NFL royalty. It has been a circuitous journey.
posted by The Gryphon at 9:19 AM
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