In Defense Of Jerry Jones

Sep 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on the field prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

I know many of you cannot stand Jerry Jones. You say he’s senile, stupid, and football-challenged. He has ruined the Cowboys. He’s the Devil incarnate. “If only Jerry were out of the way, this team would be great again” you all say.

Well, I don’t care. I like the guy.

Yes, he has done a lousy job of being a GM for a long time. One only needs to look at the Cowboys’ current cap situation to see that. The NFL these days is just as much about money management as it is about game management, and the Cowboys were severely lacking in that regard when Jerry was flying solo for a few years (the Wade Era) and made genius moves like giving WR Roy Williams a 5-year, $45 million deal. And I’ll never forget the Campo years and three straight 5-11 seasons.

But dwelling on Jerry’s past failures does no good. Just like many disregard the fact that the man has three Super Bowls to his name as an owner, I have no issue forgetting his recent struggles. Life, and football, move on.

What I care about when it comes to Jerry Jones is how he is running this team now. And that is where I see hope.

He has developed patience. Old Jerry would’ve had Jason Garrett gone after three 8-8 season, maybe even two. Instead, he is giving a young coach with promise the chance to implement a system that he (Garrett) believes in. It’s taking time, but the great things in life usually do.

He has also developed some humility. When asked this week about the Cowboys’ lack of Super Bowl titles (or playoff wins) since the 90s, Jerry had this to say:

"We should have been knocking on the door and we haven’t and I have no excuses, it starts here…Now for us not to having got it done during those years is a mess up…You got to get it when you’re high like that. When you’re high up on it. You can’t miss your bus when you got your quarterback and you got good talent around him and if you miss that bus in the NFL…All of that boils down to management of a cap, management of certainly having players that deserve to get the money that you got…When I look back on it, we probably paid some people that we probably would have been better off not paying."

What more can you ask for? He admits he screwed up.

This is why I like Jerry Jones. I can forgive someone as long as they have the willingness to admit their shortcomings and try to improve themselves. Which is exactly what he has done.

I also believe no owner in the NFL cares more about winning a Super Bowl than Jerry. Sure, it means he has an enhanced media presence that can be a distraction, but if that is a side effect of the man at the top actually caring about winning games I can live with it.

And if you don’t like Jones? Well, I’m sorry.

He’s not selling this team and he’s not going to give up being GM. You can scream on message boards all you want, you can yell at your TV, and you can walk around with jerseys that say FIRE JERRY on the back.

Jones still owns this team.