Yesterday, Jerry Jones delivered what will be a fatal blow to some Dallas Cowboys fans. Whether you are with that crowd or vehemently against them, people are going to leave this fanbase because of the Micah Parsons to Green Bay trade.
Some will say those fans were never “real” Cowboys fans; that a true supporter would never ditch the star. That, my friends, is wrong.
There is one person to blame for fans dropping out, and that person is Jones.
The 82-year-old owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys is the man behind the curtain of every team failure and fanbase departure.
Yesterday’s blockbuster deal with their most bitter non-divisional rival, and the rambling, blame-throwing, excuses-filled press conference that followed, was all the proof you needed of that statement.
https://twitter.com/JoshNorris/status/1961216990560899098Jones, a once-revered business and football mind who brought Dallas to a dynasty, has delivered the death of that same franchise nearly three decades later.
Let me explain how and why.
Indictment 1: If You’ve Lost Your Appetite, Stop Hoarding The Table
The boxing legend, Marvin Hagler, once famously said, “It’s tough to get out of bed to do roadwork at 5 a.m. when you’ve been sleeping in silk pajamas.”
It is human nature to lose the hunger for something you’ve already achieved time and time again.
We see it across professional sports: dynasties fade, champions grow complacent. The rare individuals who push that comfort aside—the Tom Bradys, the Michael Jordans—become the true greats. They refuse to let success dull their edge.
Jerry Jones allowed the ’90s Cowboys’ dynasty to steal his hunger for success.
When Dallas hoisted three Lombardi trophies in four years, the pressure on Jones subsided. Nobody was saying he was just some rich oilman from Arkansas; nobody questioned the firings of Tom Landry and Tex Schramm, or the trading of Herschel Walker; he had proven his worth.
The second that happened, Jones lost the plot. It was no longer about championships; it was about ego.
Ego ruined his relationship with Jimmy Johnson, which cut the dynasty short. Ego pushed winning to the side in favor of media attention. Ego pushed for ratings as decades of mediocrity ensued. Ego traded Micah Parsons to the Green Bay Packers.
Jones lost his hunger to win on the field and held on to his seat at the table anyway.
Indictment 2: Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
Nobody is quicker to pull a small, unnecessary, petty fib than Jerry Jones. These are “the lies.”
For example, saying this offseason they’d conduct a true head coaching search; saying just a week ago that he wouldn’t trade Parsons; saying yesterday that this team gives them their best chance to win in years.
How did the “search” go? Well, he first caused a media frenzy with fake interest in Deion Sanders, Jason Witten, and “Rooney Rule” candidates Robert Saleh and Leslie Frazier.
Then, he interviewed Kellen Moore and Brian Schottenheimer (whom he ultimately promoted from within), two career assistants with close ties to the organization.
How did his insistence on not moving Parsons go? He shipped him off to an inner-conference team that has terrorized the Dallas Cowboys since 2014.
https://twitter.com/clarencehilljr/status/1961227705296236743Well, how about his claim that this gives them their best chances in years? The team’s win total over/under and spread against Philadelphia in Week 1 both dropped after the news. Everybody knows that is a lie.
What about the really frustrating ones? The damn lies? That is Jones “crying” in his new Netflix documentary while watching the Packers’ playoff annihilation of the Cowboys in 2023. Say, Jerry, did that hatred for the Green and Gold disappear yesterday?
It is the yearly “all-in” for a Super Bowl win claims, just to sign low-cost talent and delay contract extensions until it drains your cap space.
The statistics? That’s the proof in the pudding that Cowboys fans cannot stomach any longer. 29 years since the last divisional round win, conference championship, and Super Bowl appearance. Eight head coaches since that time. Hall of Fame talent wasted.
Jones’s faults don’t just end with the ego; every owner in professional sports has one. It’s the lying to players, coaches, and fans.
Indictment 3: America’s Team Turns Into America’s Laughing Stock
There was a time when Dallas embodied greatness. The Star was feared, respected, and envied. Five Lombardi Trophies, countless on-field legends, and dynasties that defined football.
The Cowboys were the standard; they were “America’s Team.”
I can’t pinpoint the exact moment they lost the backbone in that title, but boy, have they lost it.
If you want to claim that they are still America’s Team because of the attention, the viewership, and the sheer magnitude of this global fanbase, I won’t argue with you; I’d ask you to consider something.
Is it really America’s Team if the defining emotion of that fanbase is embarrassment? If the brand is bigger than the product? If three decades of big promises and even bigger defeats have made them a national punchline?
Across all sports, there is no team used more as a joke than the Dallas Cowboys. They are not just the laughing stock of the NFL, but of the entire sports world.
In fact, they have never been deeper into that than they are today. One day after trading away a 26-year-old superstar for an aging defensive tackle and two late first-rounders, every sports fan is going into work or school laughing about Dallas.
The Bottom Line: Don’t Blame The Victims, Blame Jerry Jones
What’s the point in saying all this, you might ask?
It’s to ensure the blame doesn’t get misdirected. If you see a Cowboys fan on social media or in your life, say they just can’t follow them anymore, blame Jerry Jones. The fans are the victims here, not the perpetrators.
Jones has taken the love out of this team for many, and for that, he has ruined the once golden legacy he created.
He has shown us that the ’90s Cowboys didn’t stem from his genius football acumen, but from the talents of Jimmy Johnson, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Larry Allen, and more.
The shame of it all is out of everything I’ve said, that is what would irk Jones the most.
He wants the credit for the good, the media attention for the bad, the blame for nothing, and the legacy of America’s Team, even though he’s the one who destroyed it.
