Jerry Jones’ drama in Dallas Cowboys spotlight started the day he fired Tom Landry
Like a moth to the light, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has always sought the spotlight.
The shine and attention helped turn what was a $140 million investment in a financially-failing franchise in 1989 into the $6.5 billion behemoth that it is today, the richest in all of sports.
Like a moth to a flame, that spotlight has been known to burn Jones as well.
Either through purpose, happenstance or recklessness, Jones has been embroiled in drama and controversies over the last 33 years with the Cowboys with the latest being a paternity suit that claims Jones fathered a child out of wedlock back in 1996, according to court records obtained by the Dallas Morning News and ESPN.
This came three weeks after news broke of the organization reaching a $2.4 million settlement with four former members of the team’s iconic cheerleaders squad over a 2015 voyeurism claim made against a former team executive. It raised questions about the work environment and culture amid claims by Jones that the Cowboys did a “look-see” and found no wrongdoing.
The Jones era begins
This week’s revelation is simply the latest edition of what has been a litany of issues over the last three decades that has placed Jones in the spotlight, starting with his awkward and embarrassing firing of legendary coach Tom Landry on his first day as owner.
And that came a day after he was seen celebrating his purchase of the team and the hiring of his college buddy Jimmy Johnson to replace Landry at an uptown Tex-Mex joint called Mia’s, which unbeknownst to Jones happened to be Landry’s favorite restaurant.
It was the example of a brash — and sometimes bumbling Jones — joining the Cowboys, promising to control everything from socks to jocks, and laying waste to everything in his path to make America’s Team rich, relevant and winners again.
Jones and the Cowboys became winners very quickly, hoisting Super Bowl titles in 1992 and 1993 but soon after things began to unravel largely due to the spotlight, attention and jealousy.
After Jones felt Johnson ignored and slighted him when he called for a toast to the Super Bowl victory at a party during the NFL’s meetings in Orlando, the Cowboys owner, angry and drunk, went to a hotel bar and told reporters that “500 coaches could have won the Super Bowl with that team.”
He was confronted by Johnson the next day.
A resignation and/or firing, causing national headlines, followed with former Oklahoma Sooners coach Barry Switzer being hired as Johnson’s replacement.
Switzer, Jones and the Cowboys won the Super Bowl after the 1995 season, and the team hasn’t sniffed the big game since.
Jones takes on the NFL
But Jones has stayed in the spotlight.
In 1995, the NFL filed a $300 million lawsuit against Jones on grounds he violated the league sponsorship rules.
Seven years before Jones bought the Cowboys, the NFL put in place the NFL Trust for sponsorship deals, leading to exclusive pacts with companies like Coca-Cola and VISA.
Jones didn’t feel the Cowboys needed the league to secure deals as its brand was big enough on its own so he made separate deals with American Express, Pepsi, and Nike through the Texas Stadium Corporation.
Jones responded to the NFL’s suit with a $750 million antitrust suit against the NFL.
The two sides eventually reached a settlement that not only allowed Jones to retain his sponsors with American Express, Pepsi, and Nike, but also gave him the ability to acquire new ones.
It was a game-changing and image-altering decision that showed Jones’ power and influence in the NFL and eventually became the basis for his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
Questionable calls
His fame as owner of the Cowboys and his brash decisions has only intensified the spotlight.
In 1999, Jones was arrested in Highland Park after he allegedly drove away with his family before a police officer had finished writing a speeding ticket.
Jones called the arrest a misunderstanding. He said he and his family were trying to get to church in time for the christening of his grandson.
An officer pulled over a Suburban carrying Jones’ family for going 45 mph in a 30 mph zone.
Jones was in another vehicle. He went to where an officer was questioning the driver of the other car. He eventually drove off. He let his family out at the church, then drove off again.
Around the corner, he pulled into a private drive, where police arrested him. He was charged with fleeing the scene, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $2,000 fine and six months in jail.
But another Jones drama went viral on social media in August 2014 when when racy pictures were leaked of him and two women at a restaurant in 2009.
Jones said the photos were a “misrepresentation” of events.
“Someone has misrepresented photos taken at a restaurant five years ago for their own purposes, and so I’m just not going to comment,” Jones told reporters in training camp that year.
That September, Jana Weckerly, 27, a former exotic dancer, filed a lawsuit, claiming Jones assaulted her “after a June 2009 incident in a local hotel.”
The incident allegedly happened the night the racy photos were taken with the purpose of extorting Jones.
The lawsuit was dismissed by a judge the following month and the case was reportedly settled by a mediator.
Jones lands in middle of national anthem controversy
And then came the kneeling and national anthem controversy, which is one that Jones jumped into with both feet.
Started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, players around the league began kneeling in 2016 as a protest against social injustice.
Jones barred the Cowboys from kneeling, saying anyone who “disrespects the flag” won’t be allowed to play.
“We cannot in any way give the implication that we tolerate disrespecting the flag,” he said. “We know that there is a serious debate in this country about those issues, but there is no question in my mind that the [NFL] and the Dallas Cowboys are going to stand up for the flag.”
In 2017, it became a bigger story when then-President Donald Trump called on anyone who kneels during the national anthem to be fired.
Hundreds of players knelt in response before Week 3 games that season and the Cowboys players wanted to join.
Jones negotiated a compromise before the team’s Monday night game against the Arizona Cardinals.
Jones joined the Cowboys in kneeling before the anthem, standing up once the flag was displayed, resulting in viral photos and videos from coast to coast.
The anthem issue in 2017 coincided with Jones’ support of running back Ezekiel Elliott in his fight against a six-game suspension by the NFL and his attempt to block an extension for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Jones threatened to sue the NFL and six members of the compensation committee if they didn’t bend to his will.
He told the owners on a conference call on Nov. 2 that his attorney had already drawn up legal papers, setting the stage for one of the biggest internal fights in the NFL in years.
Three weeks later, Jones sent a letter to Arthur Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons who is also the chairman of the compensation committee, ending his threat to sue.
Jones said he was initially upset with Goodell over the decline in television ratings and his handling of player protests during the national anthem.
Many owners believed his anger was also rooted in Goodell’s decision to uphold a six-game suspension against Elliott over accusations of domestic violence by a former girlfriend, even though a prosecutor declined to bring charges and the NFL’s lead investigator recommended no suspension.
That same year a video was released showing Jones making a racially insensitive remark while being filmed on a phone at a hotel in 2013. In the video, Jones was asked to send a special message to a woman named Jennifer.
“Jennifer, congratulations on the wedding. Now, you know he’s with a black girl tonight, don’t you?” Jones said as he laughed.
When Jones found out about the video being released to the public, he quickly apologized. “That comment was inappropriate,” Jones told the Star-Telegram. “It’s not who I am, and I’m sorry.”
And there have been numerous success and feel good stories along the way.
But drama, spotlight and controversy is who Jones is, and it’s who he’s always been with the Cowboys.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 4:43 PM.
