An Open Letter To Jerry Jones
By Todd Toombs
Nov 3, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones prior to the game against the Minnesota Vikings at AT
Dear Jerry:
Well, you’ve finally accomplished what I did not think was ever possible. This will be my last article for The Landry Hat. After watching yet another complete collapse this past Sunday by your Dallas Cowboys, I’ve finally reached the breaking point. I’ve been a loyal fan all of my life – 51 years. But, I believe the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. After what is now approaching 20 years of embarrassment and countless heart breaking defeats like what we saw Sunday, I’ve literally had an epiphany. It has finally hit me that this is about all we can expect from you and your teams in the foreseeable future. So, I’m deciding to do something different from here forward.
I guess I really should thank you. Because I’ve now decided to leave you, the Dallas Cowboys, and the NFL in my rear view mirror. There simply has to be something more enjoyable and fulfilling that I can do with my Sundays (Mondays and Thursdays too). I will go to church, volunteer, or find a hobby – something that doesn’t leave me empty and cold inside.
I used to be proud to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, “America’s Team” and one of the few franchises to have won 5 Super Bowls. I’ve bought and proudly worn countless jerseys, shirts, socks, pajamas, hats, flags, license plates, etc. all emblazoned with the Cowboys name and star. I own a brick set in the sidewalk outside your enormous monument to mediocrity. But, that allegiance has now become a source of shame. It is literally a weapon that everyone I come in contact with uses against me. Even the casual NFL fan finds unfathomable glee in the weekly demise of the Cowboys and in taunting or torturing me for it. And, your teams oblige by not just losing half your games, but by losing them in spectacular, shocking, and embarrassing ways.
Being originally from Arizona, I used to scratch my head wondering how anyone could continue to be a fan of the Arizona Cardinals, long known for being an awful, bungling team since relocating from St. Louis. Now, they are clearly a more promising franchise than the Cowboys. They can at least claim to be heading in the right direction. Now, it is the Cardinal fans that look at me and wonder what my major malfunction is that I would hang in there year after year after year. What can Cowboy fans hope for? A generational continuation of your mismanagement and excuses as control of the team inevitably passes to your bungling, equally egotistical, equally clueless son cut from the very same cloth as you. This is not a rebuilding year – it is now stretching into a second rebuilding decade with no signs of any logic or common sense breaking through the fog.
Look, I get it. It’s your team. You bought and paid for it and continue to reap unbelievable financial rewards from it (which sure makes all the losing easier to stomach for you I’m sure). You can do whatever you want with your team. But, I retain the right to decide to participate in it or not. And, I’m choosing to stop the insanity today – right now!
I’ve removed every shred of Cowboys paraphernalia inside and outside my home and I’m donating every last piece of it to charity (although I feel just a little bit guilty making some underprivileged person have to wear that stuff – their life is hard enough already, isn’t it?). I will stop watching any NFL games or supporting the NFL at all. It’s become a watered-down joke of what it used to be anyway with all the rule changes and the awful, arbitrary officiating. It’s just not that fun to watch anymore.
There are plenty of folks who will call me a quitter or will say, “Good riddance. He wasn’t a real fan anyway”. To all of them, I say walk a mile in my shoes before judging me so harshly. For what it’s worth, I’m not changing allegiances from the Cowboys to another NFL team. I’m walking away from the game entirely. But, regardless, I am at peace with the decision and they can call me whatever makes them feel better about their continued participation. And, having once been a ravenous fan, I totally understand their position. I hope it brings them even a tiny bit of the joy I experienced when the Cowboys were dominant and the NFL was not full of pulled hamstrings and concussions. But, that joy is gone for me and has little hope of returning looking out into the future with Jerry and Stephen Jones in ownership and their complete mismanagement of the roster, the coaching staff, and the salary cap. So, farewell and good luck. Those fans that are going to continue to follow this team will need everyone’s prayers and support. As for me, I am – in the immortal words of MLK – “Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I’m free at last”.
Jerry, you are without a doubt the worst owner in the NFL. When that day comes that you pass over to the other side, I hope and pray Tom Landry is there to greet you first. You have a lot of explaining to do for what you’ve done to what was once the greatest organization in the NFL.
Goodbye Jerry,
Todd Toombs