Why Cowboys owner Jerry Jones got emotional before Senior Bowl practices this week
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones recently purchased a $250 million yacht. He could’ve spent this week sailing on some remote ocean waters if he chose.
Instead, Jones headed to the Senior Bowl as he does every year. He spent Tuesday watching the next wave of prospects try and impress NFL executives such as Jones at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, a 71-year-old stadium that last had a $2.2 million facelift a decade ago.
It’s a far cry from the $1.2 billion AT&T Stadium that is home to the Cowboys. But Jones -- even at age 76 -- loves it. He’d rather be here than on his yacht.
“I enjoy the ocean a lot,” Jones said. “I probably don’t get to do it as much as I’d like to, because of how active I am. For me, at this time, it’s every day, every day, all the way. Playing, working -- every day is a big day. I get a huge kick -- I would not be here if I didn’t want to be here. It’s emotional here, but I love this. I love being here. They hurt, but I love the games, the practices, the film sessions. I love all of that. I haven’t worked a day since I bought the Cowboys.”
Jones teared up when he spoke those words. This is clearly a special place for him and he understands the value of the game.
“I just remember the many days I’ve been here in Mobile, and I’ve hopefully got a lot of days left here in Mobile,” Jones said. “I just have a good feeling about the Senior Bowl and about the people involved. I remember a lot of people that aren’t here, that were here 25 years ago, 30 years ago.
“I’ll never forget the first morning that I was here in Mobile. We had a staff meeting. We had our entire coaching staff. Jimmy Johnson was our coach. We had the entire scouting staff. And it probably was in excess of 35-40, and it could’ve been — counting pilots and all — it could’ve been 45 people. Well, Mike Brown of the Cincinnati Bengals — my good friend — came up and he had his staff of three. And he asked me — and I’d been in the league. This was February, that I’d bought into the league. And he said ‘Are you enjoying this?’ And I said ‘This is the greatest thrill I’ve had to date.’ And he said ‘Well, I hope you are, because you don’t need 50 people to scout this place.’”
The Senior Bowl has become part of the NFL’s fabric for finding future stars. This is where Cowboys players such as Zack Martin and Dak Prescott made positive impressions on the organization.
Jerry Jones was joined by his son, executive vice president Stephen Jones, on Tuesday. Stephen understands why his dad gets emotional at events such as the Senior Bowl, an event that has a rich history of producing some of football’s best.
“That’s what we love. We love being here,” Stephen said. “We love being at the Combine. We love draft room for a month. We love being a part of ball. That’s why we got involved. We love having our relationship with our coaches and our scouts. We’re not in this to manage this thing from Dallas or from somewhere else.
“We want to be involved day to day obviously. Jerry is. I am. My brother and sister are very involved. It’s just been something that we’ve cherished and will continue to cherish and will continue to hopefully make it better.”