Bygones and buried hatchets

[plasticman]

I'll be at peace with Jerry Jones when one of us is laid to rest.

I'm not buying the tear jerk fluff and propaganda about the "family" man, first of all. How many strippers and young girls does he have to share video with before we realize that the biggest thing he has going for him is his PR department? His children run the different departments because they are proxies, the next best thing to him running every department himself.

When he purchased the Cowboys he called himself a fan of the team and then fired an icon of that team, the kind of guy in sports that doesn't get fired. Tom Landry, Paul Brown, Don Shula, you don't fire those guys, you name stadiums after them. They get the respect of being able to name their retirement date. Tom Landry invented half of what we still see today on TV, proof that the game never passed him by. Yes, Jerry Jones fired him, it was his stipulation, Bright was in financial trouble and couldn't turn him down if he wanted to.

Jerry Jones is going into the Hall of Fame for successfully marketing what Tom Landry built

Jerry was so committed to the fans about doing everything he could to win that he scoured the countryside in search of the perfect NFL executives to help recreate a winning organization. He accepted hundreds of applications, endless interviews, countless background checks. Finally, he came up with the perfect management team to run the franchise. It's merely a coincidence that his children were the most qualified.

Jerry Jones is going into the Hall of Fame for changing the average ticket holder from diehard fans to tourists, guests of corporate sponsors, and traveling fans of Cowboy opponents.

Jerry jones is going into the Hall of Fame by being given unearned credit for the creation of a dynastic team in the early 90's that should have had a run at least twice as long as it did were it not for his amateurish handling of the team after Jimmy left.

And now the third Hall of Fame game in seven years, one that could have should have been protested. My suspicion is that it was encouraged.

There better be no significant injuries.

 

[Jstopper]

I'll be at peace with Jerry Jones when one of us is laid to rest.

I'm not buying the tear jerk fluff and propaganda about the "family" man, first of all. How many strippers and young girls does he have to share video with before we realize that the biggest thing he has going for him is his PR department? His children run the different departments because they are proxies, the next best thing to him running every department himself.

When he purchased the Cowboys he called himself a fan of the team and then fired an icon of that team, the kind of guy in sports that doesn't get fired. Tom Landry, Paul Brown, Don Shula, you don't fire those guys, you name stadiums after them. They get the respect of being able to name their retirement date. Tom Landry invented half of what we still see today on TV, proof that the game never passed him by. Yes, Jerry Jones fired him, it was his stipulation, Bright was in financial trouble and couldn't turn him down if he wanted to.

Jerry Jones is going into the Hall of Fame for successfully marketing what Tom Landry built

Jerry was so committed to the fans about doing everything he could to win that he scoured the countryside in search of the perfect NFL executives to help recreate a winning organization. He accepted hundreds of applications, endless interviews, countless background checks. Finally, he came up with the perfect management team to run the franchise. It's merely a coincidence that his children were the most qualified.

Jerry Jones is going into the Hall of Fame for changing the average ticket holder from diehard fans to tourists, guests of corporate sponsors, and traveling fans of Cowboy opponents.

Jerry jones is going into the Hall of Fame by being given unearned credit for the creation of a dynastic team in the early 90's that should have had a run at least twice as long as it did were it not for his amateurish handling of the team after Jimmy left.

And now the third Hall of Fame game in seven years, one that could have should have been protested. My suspicion is that it was encouraged.

There better be no significant injuries.

Get over yourself

 

[Corso]

Allow me a therapeutic thread to hopefully start a healing process. I need to somewhat bury a weary hatchet. Let it go. Turn a tired page on a decades-long frustration with one of the most Jekyll-and-Hyde people to ever happen upon this earth.

Family can be damn hard to love, even if it's just "football family." But Thanksgivings and Christmases, weddings and funerals, there they are, always, nothing you can do about it. Always glad to see them, even more glad to see them leave. The feeling's likely mutual. Such is, family.

It's time, perhaps the perfect time, to extend a hug long overdue. I'm tired of carrying the weight and angst, especially when part of me can't help but love the man for so many good reasons, despite all the folly and foolishness. Like I said, Jekyll and Hyde.

The Cowboys will dance on our screens tonight for the first time in 2017, and Jerry Jones will be front and center of it all, no doubt. This is his week. Jerry's week. It's a culmination of perhaps the most amazing life of any Cowboy figure in franchise history. "Amazing" carries a lot of definition in all directions, you understand.

Jerry is a talented and passionate man, far more than most. Legendarily so. But he's also a flawed man, again more than most, and it's snagged and tugged at the fabric of this franchise, which until him, was known for the stoic and understated class of the Landry silhouette.

Jerry walked in the door, hung his hunting trophies all over Valley Ranch, and yee-hawed his way to every microphone and spotlight he could find. He hired Jimmy, then convinced himself he was a football man. Jimmy left, and Jerry took a two-handed stranglehold on this franchise, choking the life out of this storied team and all its glory for most of two decades.

I've sat red-faced, smiling impatiently through the confusing colloquialisms and national ridicule. I've paced the floor during his cringe-worthy binges on party and pride. Go home, Jerry, for God's sake. For their sake. Just stop.

I think, finally, he has. Jerry looks today a humbled man, forgiven for the unforgiveable by the people he loved and hurt the most. That's a family built on an undying faith and commitment to each other that reaches far deeper than its fortune and fame. He too often took it for granted, and I think he knows that deeply now.

Evident also is the humility and self-awareness he's conceded to running this team, as he's lightened his grip on the reins and allowed his capable kids and trusted circle a real voice and control beyond just suggestion. Jerry acquiesces now, often, which has changed the structure of football in Dallas in meaningful and positive ways.

Undeniably, through it all, the people around Jerry have always loved him. Family, friends, and even foes. It's palpable, not fabricated, and for very good reason.

There's a good side to Jerry. In fact, a wonderfully good side. He's real, and he honestly cares.

At the heart of this driven man, Jerry loves to elevate people. He wants to share in the success of the journey with those that couldn't get there without him. He wants to share in their joy, and console when they hurt. He feels their emotion as much as they do.

The countless stories of Jerry's gestures to folks in need or despair or loss are impossible to sum up in words. Even those with whom grudges remain. He's at his best when people need him most. That's who he really is when he gets out of his own way.

"Jerry loves people he doesn't even like," his daughter Charlotte has said on occasion with a chuckle. That's who he is behind it all, just a good ole boy never meaning no harm.

Jerry simply loves control, as control freaks tend to do. But his infliction isn't drawn from anything sinister, but rather just pure energy and drive. He wastes no daylight, even when he should, and he's perpetually in motion. That ethic is his greatest strength, and occasionally his Achilles heel.

The Hall of Fame called because Jerry's friends and foes across the league know he's made an impact they never will. They know the NFL has benefitted ten-fold from his presence, and the league will never see another one like him. Forget the football, Jerry is simply unforgettable. That alone makes him an all-timer. I once suggested this honor was unwarranted, but I've re-thought that opinion.

I'm tired of wrestling with my frustration with this man. If he can step back and reflect, then so should I. If the league can honor him for his strengths in spite of the other, then so can I. If his family can love and forgive him, than perhaps I can as well.

Congratulations, Jerry. I'm glad you're my owner after all. Finally.

You're a singular writer. I enjoy you.

 

[Corso]

Get over yourself

Always good to know you're in the house, big guy.

 

[Alexander]

 

[Corso]

Don't get jealous...

 

[Satchel89]

I'm in agreement with everyone else, This is a great post. Nice job

 

[big dog cowboy]

Jerry jones is going into the Hall of Fame by being given unearned credit for the creation of a dynastic team in the early 90's that should have had a run at least twice as long as it did were it not for his amateurish handling of the team after Jimmy left.

Or the invention of free agency and the salary cap.

Geez people!

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

I'll be at peace with Jerry Jones when one of us is laid to rest.

I'm not buying the tear jerk fluff and propaganda about the "family" man, first of all. How many strippers and young girls does he have to share video with before we realize that the biggest thing he has going for him is his PR department? His children run the different departments because they are proxies, the next best thing to him running every department himself.

When he purchased the Cowboys he called himself a fan of the team and then fired an icon of that team, the kind of guy in sports that doesn't get fired. Tom Landry, Paul Brown, Don Shula, you don't fire those guys, you name stadiums after them. They get the respect of being able to name their retirement date. Tom Landry invented half of what we still see today on TV, proof that the game never passed him by. Yes, Jerry Jones fired him, it was his stipulation, Bright was in financial trouble and couldn't turn him down if he wanted to.

Jerry Jones is going into the Hall of Fame for successfully marketing what Tom Landry built

Jerry was so committed to the fans about doing everything he could to win that he scoured the countryside in search of the perfect NFL executives to help recreate a winning organization. He accepted hundreds of applications, endless interviews, countless background checks. Finally, he came up with the perfect management team to run the franchise. It's merely a coincidence that his children were the most qualified.

Jerry Jones is going into the Hall of Fame for changing the average ticket holder from diehard fans to tourists, guests of corporate sponsors, and traveling fans of Cowboy opponents.

Jerry jones is going into the Hall of Fame by being given unearned credit for the creation of a dynastic team in the early 90's that should have had a run at least twice as long as it did were it not for his amateurish handling of the team after Jimmy left.

And now the third Hall of Fame game in seven years, one that could have should have been protested. My suspicion is that it was encouraged.

There better be no injuries.

So good you had to repeat it. lol

 

[ShortRound]

Good post sir. I hope Jerry gives Jimmy his due and they make peace publicly.
What they accomplished together is legendary.

 

[plasticman]

Get over yourself

Lol, yeah, because I'm the narcisist.

There are at least a dozen Dallas Cowboys that belong in the Hall of Fame before Jerry Jones, mostly from the 70's. Jimmy Johnson belongs ahead of Jerry, he built that team.

But I need to get over myself.....and I guess you will want to get back to basking in the mediocrity that I seem to be interrupting.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Lol, yeah, because I'm the narcisist.

There are at least a dozen Dallas Cowboys that belong in the Hall of Fame before Jerry Jones, mostly from the 70's. Jimmy Johnson belongs ahead of Jerry, he built that team.

But I need to get over myself.....and I guess you will want to get back to basking in the mediocrity that I seem to be interrupting.

Given the media people that decide who gets into the Hall of Fame disagree with you and you still act like you're the Arbiter of who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame then I think it is very apparent that you desperately need to get over yourself.

We plebs are inconsequential in deciding who deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Deal with it.

 

[jobberone]

Well, he is being inducted and no one here is so........just sayin'.

I have a 15 year old bottle of single malt in the pantry I was saving for a friend. I'm going to throw one finger down real slow for yah Jerry.

 

[Brickman2]

Spot on. Great job erod.

 

[plasticman]

Given the media people that decide who gets into the Hall of Fame disagree with you and you still act like you're the Arbiter of who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame then I think it is very apparent that you desperately need to get over yourself.

We plebs are inconsequential in deciding who deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Deal with it.

Because on this forum, we must all follow along with whatever the media decides, those champions of unbiased opinion.

We must never decide to excersize our right to disagree with the general concensus, why, that would be downright un-American.

If there were differences of opinion then that would lead to discussion and debate. That's the last thing we need on this forum. I mean, what a choatic world it would be if everyone was free to express themselves. It could possivly lead to original thought.

Now excuse me while I join everyone marching in step. You seem to be able to do that effortlessly.

 

[dallasdave]

Don't get jealous...

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Because on this forum, we must all follow along with whatever the media decides, those champions of unbiased opinion.

We must never decide to excersize our right to disagree with the general concensus, why, that would be downright un-American.

If there were differences of opinion then that would lead to discussion and debate. That's the last thing we need on this forum. I mean, what a choatic world it would be if everyone was free to express themselves. It could possivly lead to original thought.

Now excuse me while I join everyone marching in step. You seem to be able to do that effortlessly.

Disagreeing is one the thing. Grandstanding as the drama queen another.

 

[erod]

Because on this forum, we must all follow along with whatever the media decides, those champions of unbiased opinion.

We must never decide to excersize our right to disagree with the general concensus, why, that would be downright un-American.

If there were differences of opinion then that would lead to discussion and debate. That's the last thing we need on this forum. I mean, what a choatic world it would be if everyone was free to express themselves. It could possivly lead to original thought.

Now excuse me while I join everyone marching in step. You seem to be able to do that effortlessly.

You can feel how you want. I've been dogging Jerry for years, so how could I criticize you for doing the same?

I feel like he's trying to meet us half way. This HoF induction is good because I think it'll mellow him out even further.

He seems ready to let the reins go as long as he gets to "make the official call" in the end. Fine by me.

 

[Diehardblues]

We only tolerate an owner like Jerrry with how he runs football operations if he wins.

He just wasted 10 years with Romo. How many will he waste with this core of talent?

Ck back with me in a few years. We'll see how you support him when he's 80 and still striking out 30 years removed from a championship.

 

[plasticman]

Disagreeing is one the thing. Grandstanding as the drama queen another.

You really think my emotions don't match ths intensity of my words? I'm a fan and, yes, I got the sickness, the Dallas Cowboys mean something to me, their history is a history of my own life, I can tell you what game was playing during every meaningfull event of my life between a September and January.

I could try to put it in words, but you wouldn't understand nor would you care, I guess you must be this kind of new different fan, the Cowboys lose, you shrug your shoulders and go on with your life, no big deal. The Cowboys are a diversion one of several forms of entertainment you enjoy.

So you don't get someone like me, someone who thinks Jerry Jones stole something precious from a lot of old Cowboy fans and it is insulting to watch him getting honored for it.

There is nothing wrong about you for disagreeing with me. There is nothing wrong about being the kind of fam you are. I actually envy you in a lot of ways. But don't attack me peraonally for expressing my opinion simply because you disagree. It contradicts the entire purpose for us and everyone else to communicate wirh each other via a discussion forum.

I've said what I wanted to, I can't let bygones be bygones because it isn't gone. As long as Jerry has any power to makes decisions the Cowboys will never be a franchise committed to winning at the same level that established winning as a tradition.

Jerry has proven, repeatedly, that money and personal credit for franchise accomplishments are more important than winning.