Dallas Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones loves the spotlight. So much so that, he has often overshadowed his team’s players and coaches. Starting from press conferences or player transactions, Jones is a constant fixture when it comes to the media dealings of the team.
Now, as the Cowboys played the Week 4 game against the New York Giants on TNF and won it–their first victory this season, Jerry Jones’ love for attention once again came under fresh scrutiny.
During a post-game live stream on the Nightcap podcast, former NFL star, Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson openly criticized Jones’ habit of interfering in every major team event and micromanaging players.
“Hey, take a back seat, kick your feet up. Go watch the game on your yacht. Let them boys do what they need to do,” pleaded Johnson, hinting at how the Cowboys owner’s need to stay in the limelight is hampering the team’s growth.
Shannon Sharpe and Ocho urged the GM to let the team, particularly its stars like quarterback Dak Prescott, shine on their own.
Chiming in, co-host Sharpe agreed with Johnson but came up with a more poetic analogy. He compared the Dallas Cowboys to the “Sun”– the star at the center of our Solar System entity that doesn’t need to do anything extra to prove its brilliance.
Similarly, the Cowboys are already an established team in the NFL. It does not need to be over-marketed or over-managed, especially by Jones:
“Jerry fails to realize that the Cowboys are the Sun. Jerry, you don’t have to sell it. It’s already sold.”
As the conversation continued, Johnson now came up with another interesting comparison from the cinematic world. He likened the Dallas Cowboys to “Blue Magic”– the high-grade brand of heroin that Denzel Washington, who portrayed the character of Frank Lucas in the 2007 movie, American Gangster, smuggles into America.
“If you saw American Gangster, the Dallas Cowboys is Blue Magic. You ain’t got to do nothing to it. Just sell it as it is. It’s gonna sell itself,” quipped Johnson.
According to Johnson and Sharpe, Jones needs to trust the process and most importantly, trust the players for them to succeed and bring back the glory of the 90s, which the team enjoyed.
However sensible the advice might be, Jones is not about to disappear from the spotlight anytime soon. Just recently, the Cowboys owner made an appearance on 105.3 The Fan to hype up his team.
Jones’ response to early season struggles
While the Cowboys might have taken the win against the Giants, their early season has been anything but winning. However, in his typical Jones fashion, he placed his faith in the Dallas roster, when asked about the struggles of the team. “We’ve got top-quality players,” he began.
He hailed Dak Prescott and emphasized the faith he has in the men behind him, saying:
“We’ve got arguably one of the best players in the league in our Quarterback. We got the personnel. We got the talent. And I really believe in our coaching staff,” Jones continued–reaffirming his faith in the America’s Team.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on the @1053thefan pregame show when asked about their early season struggles: “By any measurement, except the last two ball games, we’ve got top quality players. And I know we’ve got arguably one of the best players in the league in our quarterback. ……
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) September 26, 2024
Although the Cowboys won 20-15 against the Giants, the clash was sloppy and the team’s performance left much to be desired.
For Jones, a win will be a temporary distraction to shut down the critiques but as Sharpe and Johnson pointed out–the Cowboys’ brightest stars will shine only when the team will operate independently.