Jerry Jones, 76, says he hasn’t worked a day since buying the Cowboys 30 years ago
It was 30 years ago today that an unknown Arkansas businessman introduced himself to the Dallas Cowboys fan base with all the subtly and finesse of a carnival at a strip mall.
Jerry Jones paid $140 million to buy the Cowboys from owner Bum Bright on Feb. 25, 1989, and immediately declared he was going to be involved in everything from socks to jocks. It was the first time a sports franchise had been purchased for more than $100 million.
Jones immediately fired the only coach the team ever knew in Tom Landry, ending his 29-year run, and hired his college teammate Jimmy Johnson. Of course, Landry found out in a disrespectful manner when Johnson was clumsily introduced at the press conference.
Jones’ personal Ferris wheel hasn’t stopped since.
He has spun the Cowboys from 1-15 in 1989 to three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s, to firing six coaches and going from the rebellious outsider to being inducted to into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the force behind the building of the $1.2 billion AT&T Stadium in Arlington and state-of-the-art The Star headquarters in Frisco to now 23 seasons without a Super Bowl.
Jones is still fiery and enthusiastic at age 76, albeit more reflective. He counts it all as joy and growth. He has no plans on stopping.
“I haven’t worked a day in 30 years,” Jones said recently when asked to reflect on his 30-year anniversary as owner. “It’s been that kind of experience. Every day has been a growing experience.
“The NFL and the Dallas Cowboys made me something I wouldn’t have been. It’s like a walk-on. Before I knew it we would do some things and it would work. I was like ‘man that worked.’ Then we would try this and then try that.
“My lesson here if there is one, if you can get in something that just piques your imagination every day then you can grow with it. And consequently, I am not the same person that I was 30 years ago as far as enthusiasm, ideas. I am more enthusiastic sitting here today than I was 30 years ago.”
Say what you will about Jones but he has made the Cowboys what they are today. He didn’t coin the term America’s Team or set the franchise on the path to being the most popular sports team in the world.
But he has grown it exponentially and did so at a risk from the beginning.
The Cowboys were losing $1 million cash per month and were potentially heading to bankruptcy when Jones bought the team in 1989. Then-businessman Donald Trump, now the 45th President of the United States, had said it was a no-win situation a few years earlier when he considered buying the team for $50 million.
Jones’ $140 million investment is now worth $4.8 billion, per Forbes, because of his exhaustive commitment to putting everything back into the Cowboys.
“I have always looked at the business aspect of the NFL and the Cowboys as a way to move the ball and make first downs,” Jones said. “I have always thanked all the people that have contributed — from ticket holders to suite holders to the sponsors. Every time (Hall of Fame and three-time Super Bowl champion receiver) Michael Irvin caught the ball I would tell them you are as important as Michael catching a pass. That is how we put them to put this show on.
And I just look for ways. So if you look at the stadium and you look at The Star I take the money and put it all back into the Cowboys.”
And sometimes you buy a $250 million yacht.
This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 12:47 PM.
