10 best phrases and stories from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is at it again.
Jones, who is also the Cowboys’ president and general manager, is alleged to have said owls like to make love with chickens — somehow an analogy for what happens when times are insane. Of course, Jones spun it with his folksy Arkansas style, just as he has with many stories and phrases since buying the team in February of 1989.
Here are 10 of the best stories and phrases from Jones.
1. Glory Hole
(AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
During the 2012 training camp's opening press conference, Jones used a common phrase in the oil and gas business to describe his anticipation for winning another Super Bowl. “I’ve been here 23 years," Jones said via the Dallas Morning News. "I’ve been here when it was glory hole days and when it wasn’t. I want me some glory hole!”
2. Lower than a crippled cricket's ass
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The Cowboys started 2-0 in 2015 with wins over division foes, the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. However, Dallas lost receiver Dez Bryant to a broken foot in Week 1 and quarterback Tony Romo to a broken collarbone in Week 2. It prompted Jones to delve into entomology to find the appropriate comparison for how he felt. According to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Jones said he felt, "just about as low as a crippled cricket's ass."
3. Jerry had his credit card cut up at the airport
(Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
On Dallas-Fort Worth's 105.3 "The Fan" [KRLD-FM] on Sept. 15, 2015, Jones shared a story about how he had his credit card cut up at a rent-a-car counter. "You guys have heard it ad nauseum, but I arrived at Love Field, young man there about 31, 32 years old and handed my credit card over here at Love Field," Jones said. "Lady went down a list, reached down, cut it in two, said, 'Young man, you need to learn how to pay your bills.' Now, that's a little rugged day in Dallas, Texas."
4. Muddy Ford Bronco on the tarmac
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On The Fan, where Jones has had a twice-a-week radio segment during football season since 2009, the Cowboys owner illustrated the challenges of winning in the salary cap era. "You just can’t have it all," Jones said. "I’ll never forget right after I got the team. I had a jet airplane. And this sportswriter flew over with me in our still after — it was the week after I bought the team and I was still living in Arkansas. "And he rode over with me on the plane and they pulled a five-year-old, muddy Bronco up beside the plane. Muddy Bronco. Ford Bronco. And the guy looked out and said, ‘This doesn’t make sense. Here you are having a jet plane and yet you’re getting in a five-year-old Bronco.’ "And I said, ‘Well, that’s the whole point. You can’t have it all. How do you get to have jet plane is to drive a five-year-old Bronco.’ You can’t have it all on building the team."
5. The time Jerry quit the high school all-star team
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Jones once quit his high school all-star team when they moved him from running back to the offensive line, and his dad wasn't happy about it. "After about two days of getting killed at the all-star camp, I slipped in the dark of night and went home," Jones told The Fan on Sept. 27, 2016. "I quit. And when my dad came in who had traveled at that particular time, my mother had said I was back in the bed. "And, so, he goes back and looks down at me and he said, 'Son, what's going on? I thought you loved football.' I said, 'I do. But they're beating the hell out of me and I won't let them have it.' "He said, 'First thing in the morning I want you to come up here early, bright and early, and with it. You're not going to lay here. Let me just say this to you, Jerry. If you lay in this bed, you'll be a quitter the rest of your life. So just weigh that.' "And, so, he left. I got up about an hour later, slid back over to the all-star camp at the mid-center there in Little Rock, Arkansas. And, so, went on and played and was proud of that loving advice, that tough love that my father had given me."
6. When Stephen shoved Jerry into the wall over Deion Sanders' contract
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During the Cowboys' training camp opening presser on July 23, 2017, Jones went into a story about how he signed All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders in 1995. "We were in Dallas and Eugene Parker [Sanders' agent] was in the next room," Jones said. "It was about 3:30 in the morning. And I'd been in there negotiating with Eugene Parker all night. He was representing Deion Sanders. "So, Stephen is in the next room over. I come over. I say, 'Stephen, I think I'm getting close.' He said, 'What? You're really going to do this.' "I said, 'Well, of course, that's why he's here and that's why we're going to do it.' He said, 'Well, gosh, we got some things. First of all, I want you to understand what's happening with our cap and everything else.' "And I said, 'Look. The time to talk about that was a few days ago.' "He grabs me, shoves me up against the wall, got his forearm right in my neck, shoves me up against he wall, 'Man, let me get in here and we can do some good here with this thing. God, I wish you would have somehow let me know we were really going to do this that much. I thought we were going to have some time to go with it.'
"Well, obviously, that's the classic somebody can write the check and somebody else that's got to put the money in the account. So, it's easy to operate that way.
"Well, we both understood, because we did pay cap prices later on. But we ended up getting Deion Sanders which was a big part of our championship that we had."
7. Jerry picking up trash
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Jones told a story about how he picked up a piece of trash in the middle of practice as an example of how hands-on he can be as an owner. "I'll never forget one of my favorite walkthroughs was John Madden," Jones told The Fan on Nov. 2, 2018. "He was sitting with Stephen, and I think it was a Friday and we were still practicing. But somebody had turned a newspaper loose and it had blown by page all over the place out there. And, of course, people were going right on with the practice and going right on with everything else and the paper going everywhere. "And John and Stephen were sitting up there in this rock ledge kind of near the facility looking out toward the field and John said, 'You watch. I bet there's 100 people here. When your dad walks out, he'll walk straight out there and start picking that paper up.' And he said, 'That's what you do when you own it.' "And I walked out, waved at John and Stephen sitting up there talking, and picked up all the paper, and didn't have a clue what he had said."
8. The time Jerry beat Dez Bryant to the door
(AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)
During contract negotiations with Bryant, Jones could see that his star receiver was getting perturbed by the negotiations and wanted to leave. So, Jones had a trick up his sleeve. "He was a pain in the ass for me, but he was a joy," Jones said on The Fan on Dec. 8, 2020. "At one time we were sitting there and we were with his attorney. He'll remember this and we loved it. And he had some great people that worked with him, and he attracted that kind of help and those kinds of people: the best people you could be around were there with Dez. "And I could tell he was getting worked up and he was over in his seat and, man, he was half out his seat and I could tell he was headed for the door, going to run for that door any minute. And they weren't noticing it. "Well, about the time I saw him flinch, I just ran for the door, and I slung the door open head up on my way out the door, I said, 'I wasn't going to let your ass beat me to this door. I'm going forward first.'"
9. Jerry loves listening to the radio
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On Oct. 5, 2018, Jones called into The Fan on a Friday afternoon and interrupted a pre-recorded interview hosts Ben Rogers & Jeff "Skin" Wade had already conducted with chief operating officer Stephen Jones. "I listen to your show when I'm riding along, listening of course," Jones said. "Anyway, it's something I listen to all the time. I get here and beat on the dash when y'all screw up. When Stephen misspeaks, well, I beat on the dash. Roosevelt's [personal security] driving along here with me and I slap Rosy for something Stephen said. But other than that, I'm loose as a goose. I'm drinking beer and riding down the toll. With my driver."
10. El Paso
Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
In another contract negotiation with an emotional No. 88, Jones broke out a little Spanish lingo to lighten the mood. "Some of my greatest moments were in these negotiations," Jones told The Fan on Sept. 6, 2019. "Michael Irvin, he was just so special to be around Michael. I don't know have but about 1,000 stories about him, but we were there. He was doing his own deal. His agent was just not a factor. "And we were sitting there side by side with each other, and he put a number there. And, of course, he had his number and we had my number. "And I said, 'Michael,' when he put his out there, I said, 'Michael, there is an old west Texas town. It's called El Paso. So, on that number, I El Paso.' He broke out laughing. I broke out laughing. "He said, 'Give me the damn contract!' And said, 'Let's get going and play some football. I can't handle you.' So, a lot of sensitive things in a highly understandably so sensitive time."
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