Many notable names have owned professional sports teams. In the National Football League, the one who is the loudest and most successful is Jerry Jones. After all, he owns the most valued franchise in the NFL, the Dallas Cowboys, at 11 billion dollars.
However, with how big his ego and wallet are, there definitely are moments that have been embarrassing for him. Let’s look back at the 10 things that the NFL would like you to forget about Jerry Jones.
Ahh, the 2017 NFL kneeling protest saga. NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick started discussing police brutality and social justice. More and more players were joining in, especially when President Trump called for owners to fire the players. It’s not just players, but coaches and even owners. One of those owners is Jerry Jones, who joined the players kneeling during the anthem. However, the NFL wants you to forget that Jerry Jones was originally against these protests. He even threatened to bench or cut players who disrespected the flag. Even publicly stating the following.
“If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play,… Understand? We will not…if we are disrespecting the flag, then we will not play. Period.”
Wow. Now that is a great thing to say. As mentioned earlier, he never cut anybody, but he did join in on the protest. However, his public statement against the protest makes him look very hypocritical. The NFL would like you to forget about his statements at a time when players were publicly and peacefully protesting.
Well, now this is super silly. Everyone knows how valuable the Dallas Cowboys are as the league’s #1 most valuable team at 10.1 billion dollars. Well, let’s say Jerry Jones can be cheap at times. One of those times was last season when players, including WR CeeDee Lamb, complained about the sun in their eyes while the Cowboys played in a dome. When Jerry Jones was asked about this in an interview, he gave a whopper of an answer.
“By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we flip the coin, so we do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium,.. Let’s just tear the damn stadium down and build another one. Are you kidding me?”
“Everybody’s got the same thing. Every team that comes in here has the same issues. They know where the sun is going to be. Every team has the same thing… I’m not saying [it’s on McCarthy]. I’m saying the world knows where the sun is. We get to know that almost a year in advance. So someone asked me about the sun. What about the sun? Where’s the moon? We’re fine. But everybody plays in the sun out here.”
This guy owns a 10 billion dollar facility and won’t swing for some curtains. Not only did he go after his players for their complaints, but he also went after head coach Mike McCarthy, who was in the last year of his deal. It’s no wonder McCarthy did not sign a new contract with the franchise. This sort of silliness and horrendous ego puts him in a really bad light.
Jerry Jones has not had the most significant relationship with Roger Goodell. Oh, that will be addressed later in this article. It became public in 2010 when he went after Goodell and the NFL Revenue Sharing System. Jones was very vocal about revenue sharing, stating it’s “on its way out”. Well, that royally angered Roger Goodell, who favored Revenue sharing.
There’s that, and he put a gag order on all owners, which forced owners to keep silent and not discuss labor issues while in negotiations. As a result of Jerry Jones not keeping his mouth shit he was fined 100 thousand dollars. Which is pretty much nothing to a man who owns a franchise worth multiple billion dollars.
Where to even begin with this one? If it hasn’t been obvious to most fans that the Cowboys are willing to take chances on players who have off-the-field problems. The Cowboys are at the top of that list, bringing in pieces of work off the field, but if they have the talent, all is good. There are many examples of the Cowboys doing this, but the biggest is Greg Hardy. This was at a time when Hardy had a domestic violence incident, and relooking at the images, it’s scary what he did to his ex-girlfriend.
Dallas decided to sign him immediately, bringing bad PR to the organization. Even when the photos leaked, Jerry Jones still publicly backed Hardy, saying the following.
“While we did not have access to the photos that became public today, we were and are aware of the serious nature of this incident. We as an organization take this very seriously. We do not condone domestic violence. We entered into the agreement with Greg fully understanding that there would be scrutiny and criticism. We have given Greg a second chance. He is a member of our team and someone who is grateful for the opportunity he has been given to move forward with his life and his career.”
Yeah, I can do the worm from New York to Los Angeles. Backing him and saying that was the wrong move, and with Hardy getting into more trouble off the field.
Jerry Jones is known for his ego and seeing green in every decision he makes. In 1996, he would sign multiple sponsorship agreements with various companies, which would have been problematic for the League’s merchandise contract with NFL Properties. With the NFL angry, they decided to sue Jones for 300 million dollars for doing this. Jones fought back and decided to countersue the NFL for 750 million dollars and said the following.
“Has illegally restrained trade and allowed NFL Properties to exercise monopoly power in the business of marketing pro football sponsorships and licenses.”
After numerous court appearances, Jerry Jones would win this case, especially as the NFL decided to reach a settlement, and Jones got to keep the sponsorship deals he made with his football franchise.
For many years, the NFL has had an epidemic of horrendous officiating. Many have even coined the term “heinous refball” thanks to all the awful calls. Well, it’s not just the fans who speak badly about the officiating in public, but some of the owners do too. One of these owners was Jerry Jones. He got in trouble doing it in 2008 with NFL ref Ed Houchuli who messed up a call in the middle of a Chargers and Broncos game. This royally angered Jerry Jones, and he decided to go on the radio to vent, saying the following.
“Rest assured, we all see the error and the impact of a bad call like that,” Jones said. “Now, you could easily say that it rests in the competence of the official not to blow that whistle and maybe an emphasis on that would dramatically change just a real awareness and be punitive in some areas.
“You know, that guy is quick to call penalties. He’s quick to draw. He’s known for that. … He’s very quick. His crews call a lot of penalties. Maybe the answer is to tell people like that, ‘Keep that whistle out [of] your mouth
It was probably not the brightest thing for an NFL owner to say, and it resulted in Jerry getting fined $25,000. Knowing how the NFL wants you to keep quiet on the officiating, it’s important for the NFL not to mention how bad the officiating is, and that owners would agree with that.
Last year was not good for Jerry Jones, especially with how the Packers embarrassed the Cowboys in the playoffs. Well, to make things worse, he was also getting sued by a female who claimed to be his estranged daughter. Her real name is Alexandra Davis, and she alleged that Jerry Jones had signed a confidentiality agreement in 1998 with her mother when she was 2, and it was kept a secret for many years. Allegedly, Jones didn’t pay in full, resulting in a lawsuit.
The lawsuit went so far that Jones kept denying and refusing to take a paternity test. He would even counter-sue her for court and attorney fees. Oh, it’s just so awkward, and it doesn’t paint him in a good light. Eventually, Jerry Jones settled the case, and nothing further was discussed, but it’s something that neither Jerry Jones nor the NFL would like anyone to talk about anymore.
Look, going to a strip club is a little weird, but whoever takes pictures being at one is the definition of a dumb move. Well, Jerry Jones himself did that at a 2009 party where multiple not-safe-for-work photos of him show two “adult” dancers.
It was weird when it came out, but it got worse as he would later be accused of sexual assault by one of the dancers. The details are graphic, but the case did get dismissed, and nothing came from it. This is something that shouldn’t be brought up ever again, and it’s for the best.
Oh dear, stuff like this paints an evil picture of Jerry Jones. Rich Dalrymple was a former senior vice president for the Dallas Cowboys and was with the organization for 32 years. He and Jones have been connected for a while; however, he got himself in hot water due to many scandals.
In 2015, he was accused of taking inappropriate photos of multiple women, including cheerleaders. The worst part is there are allegations this man was being creepy around Jerry’s daughter Charlotte with some of the pictures he took. The Cowboys paid the cheerleaders who brought the accusations 2.4 million dollars, and worse, Dalrymple was still with the organization until 2021. He chose to retire after getting wind that this story was coming out. Keeping a guy like that on the payroll and knowing the shady stuff he did to cheerleaders and even his daughter doesn’t paint Mr Jones in a good light.
2017 was not a good year for Jerry Jones or the Dallas Cowboys. It all got to a breaking point when Roger Goodell wanted to suspend Ezekiel Elliott for his domestic violence case. This ultimately happened for six games, and that royally angered Jerry Jones. He was willing to go all the way in appealing the suspension and even threatened to get rid of Goodell, who was undergoing extension talks.
Even as the key voice to halt extension talks, it wasn’t a good look for the league when he did this publicly, and it was just so awkward. This was a black eye for Jones, as he would lose this battle due to the NFL officially extending Goodell in 2017.
So those are the 10 things that the NFL would like you to forget about Jerry Jones. Do you agree? What should have been included on the list? What are your thoughts on Jerry Jones? Is he a good owner of the Dallas Cowboys? Let us know in the comment section, give the article a like, and don’t forget to check out other NFL content.
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