Cowboys’ Popularity Shouldn’t Be Top Priority

Apr 7, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and president George W. Bush and president Bill Clinton and former first lady Laura Bush sit in attendance during the championship game of the Final Four between the Kentucky Wildcats and the Connecticut Huskies in the 2014 NCAA Mens Division I Championship tournament at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

With the college draft close at hand, activity is amping up about who is going where and what needs are top priority for which NFL franchise. Leave it to our infamous owner, one Jerry Jones, to take the emphasis away from draft day and focus on other matters…like who is the most popular team in football…his Dallas Cowboys, of course.

Are we in high school, or what?

Now I know that football is a business. When it comes to selling things, including the Cowboys and his billion dollar playpen, no one can hold a candle to Mr. Jones. The strange comment about Dallas being the top team in terms of ratings came when Jones was in the midst of a whirlwind weekend that saw him at the Final Four surrounded by former presidents and present players on Saturday and Monday night in North Texas, while somehow managing to squeeze in an appearance at the Academy of Country Music Awards on Sunday in Vegas. Wow, that Jerry is one busy guy.

An outside observer like myself might have cause to wonder who is minding the draft board while our GM is prancing about the country and raving about ratings?

While the comment that was subsequently heard round the sports world, was probably meant as a way to defend the Star in these most mediocre of times, it set some bells off as to just how committed Mr. Jones is to bringing the Cowboys back to the top of the mountain in terms of wins and losses while the franchise is putting butts in the seats of his ginormous stadium and selling lots of merchandise.

It’s hard to imagine that the man who basically put his fortune on the line to turn the Cowboys around could not be concerned with how Dallas performs on the field. He looked so happy hoisting those three Lombardi trophies all those years ago.  I know promoting the venue known as AT&T Stadium…not Cowboys Stadium anymore, mind you, has to be done to pay the bills, but the time that Mr. Jones has been spending on that activity doesn’t give this Cowboys fan a warm and fuzzy feeling about other pressing issues at hand…like the looming draft date.

Nonetheless, harping about how Dallas needs a full-time GM to handle football matters is pointless. It’s Jerry’s team and, whether we like it or not, it is his to do with as he chooses. My only hope is that before the proverbial bottom falls out from under the ‘Boys, the front office at The Ranch can figure out how to get the Cowboys back to post-season form. The old cliché about windows closing is starting to form in the back of my mind. Especially since the current roster seems to be built around Tony Romo. Considering his age and injury situation, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that his years are starting to be numbered.

Those of us who are old enough to remember the glory days of the Cowboys can say without a doubt that when it comes to the value of the Star, nothing replaces the feeling of bringing a championship home to Big D…not t-shirt sales…not ratings wars…and certainly not how many non-football events take place at that monolithic structure in Arlington.

If Dallas ever gets back to its past dominating form, all the other stuff will fall into place. If not, those ratings and sales will eventually fall into the same pit of mediocrity that our team resides in today.