Jerry Jones walked over to where reporters were gathered to watch a recent Dallas Cowboys practice, ready for an impromptu question-and-answer session.
The high-profile owner was still there when the closed portion of practice began and jokingly pleaded for an extra five minutes when the assembled media were told it was time to leave.
Then Jones pointed to one of the buildings that surround three sides of the team’s headquarters outdoor practice fields, about 30 miles north of Dallas, and said with a wry smile: “Let’s go there- high for 30 minutes and I’ll say it. all.”
Jones, also the team’s president and general manager, attended his first training camp as an octogenarian last summer and has since turned 81.
The former Arkansas oilman is enjoying the spotlight the same way he did when he bought the club nearly 34 years ago, and despite several recent episodes – some involving the team, d ‘others his personal life – which would make many people cringe in his position in front of cameras.
“I move on real quick to the good times and the blessings and the things that are good,” Jones said when addressing one of those issues after the Cowboys’ home opener in September.
“So when these bumps come, first of all, you know – everyone here knows – if I complain for two seconds, you all need to run because lightning is going to hit me. I had it so good. I can’t complain at all.
A cascade of problems began in February 2022 with an ESPN report that the Cowboys paid a total of four members of the team’s famous cheerleading squad. $2.4 million to settle claims that Rich Dalrymple, then a public relations director, watched women undress in their locker room during an event at AT&T Stadium.
Dalrymple, who joined the Cowboys shortly after Jones bought the team in 1989 and was one of his closest confidants, retired shortly before the ESPN report and denied the allegations.
A month later, a woman in her 20s filed a lawsuit. claiming Jones was his biological fathera case that now focuses on whether Jones will have to take a paternity test.
This difficult offseason was capped by Jones involved in road accident it wasn’t his fault near downtown Dallas, but it landed him in the hospital. He was not seriously injured.
Since then, Jones’ position as one of the most powerful men in a predominantly white — and aging — group of male NFL owners has come under scrutiny over issues of race and diversity.
The Washington Post published a photo of Jones as a teenager in 1957 in a crowd of white students confronting black students outside North Little Rock High School in Arkansas, at the height of civil rights and school desegregation issues. Jones said he was a “curious kid” and was not part of a group trying to block access to black students.
The photo was the catalyst for a story about Jones’ role in diversity and inclusion in the NFL. The Cowboys have never had a black head coach, but one of their key leaders, Will McClay, is black.
Less than a year later, a former NFL Network reporter claimed in discrimination lawsuit against the league that Jones made racially insensitive remarks to him. Jones said his comments were distorted.
Despite all this, Jones, who also faces a civil suit for sexual assault, has never shied away from the spotlight.
At an owners’ meeting during the tumult of 2022, he dismissed advice from a member of his public relations team who tried to deflect questions, saying reporters hadn’t had a chance to ask questions about the multitude of issues raised.
Jones did his usual opening training camp news conference a few months later, a double extravaganza that begins on a stage and ends with more questions surrounded by reporters.
Although he no longer speaks to reporters after as many away games as before, Jones still emerges from the locker room after home games for sessions that often last at least 20 minutes.
Oh, and he’s on the radio twice a week during the season.
“I’ve often said that just to get to a part of this story, the NFL, the Cowboys, to be with these guys, to be with you, I’ve often said that makes me something something I wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t been here,” Jones said at training camp in July. “I’m proud to be this excited and I have the health to be. “
Stephen Jones, the eldest of Jerry Jones’ three children and chief operating officer and executive vice president of personnel, said the family has discussed a succession plan, although the 59-year-old has often declared that he could not stand the subject. And he doesn’t want to discuss what that plan is.
“It’s not a good subject,” Stephen Jones said. “Everyone is at peace and we know how it works.”
Ten years ago, Jones smiled broadly as he said a doctor told him he had the brain of a 40-year-old man. A few years later, he was slowed by a double hip replacement early in the season, but he maintained his training camp routine and didn’t miss a game.
Jones has long been criticized as an intrusive owner whose personnel decisions largely explain why a franchise that has won five Super Bowls, including three in its first seven seasons, has not even appeared in a playoff game. NFC championship for 28 years.
He never apologized for being heavily involved and advocates for his ability to listen.
“Whether I act like this or not, I don’t believe anyone is under my command,” Jones said. “We all empty our bucket. And so all we have to give is what’s in our bucket. As long as everyone empties their bucket, we are all equal. »
Mike McCarthy, the eighth head coach hired by Jones and now in his fourth season, has the rare distinction of leading two of the NFL’s biggest brands, the Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.
There are times when McCarthy shrugs and smiles — like when Jones reveals personal decisions on his radio show — but a closer view of the omnipresent owner gave him an appreciation for Jones.
“I think the opportunity to personally learn from someone with Jerry’s knowledge and experience has been a huge benefit and asset and something I’m very grateful for,” said McCarthy, who led the Packers to a Super Bowl title during the 2010 season.
Many give most of the credit for three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s to former coach Jimmy Johnson, who was hired when Jones bought the team and fired legendary coach Tom Landry.
If the Cowboys can get another one, Jones will have a little more fodder for his counterargument. To anyone who wonders if he’s worried about running out of time, Jones says no.
“It’s a year-to-year thing for me,” Jones said. “The immediate thing is if I don’t let the old man in.” The immediate is the next 10 years, let’s say. So in the next 10 years, it will be month to month.
And with that typically convoluted answer, Jones had moved on to the next of several more questions after last weekend’s win over the New York Giants.
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