Why is Jerry Jones at Texas vs. Texas Tech? Grandson of Cowboys owner honored on senior day

One day after his Dallas Cowboys blew past the Washington Commanders 45-10 on Thanksgiving Day at AT&T Stadium, Jerry Jones ventured elsewhere in the state to watch a football game.

Jones, the longtime owner, president and general manager of the Cowboys, was in Austin Friday for Texas’ game against Texas Tech at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.

Texas’ football program posted a video on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, showing Jones speaking with Longhorns coach Steve Sarkisian after the team’s buses pulled up outside the stadium in advance of the matchup with the Red Raiders.

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What brought Jones to Austin on Black Friday?

Why is Jerry Jones at Texas vs. Texas Tech game?

Jones, a co-captain on Arkansas’ 1964 national championship team, had as good of a reason as any to attend a game at an old Southwest Conference rival.

Jones’ grandson, Paxton Anderson, is a senior wide receiver at Texas and was taking part in the Longhorns’ senior night Friday.

Anderson is the son of Jones’ daughter, Cowboys vice president Charlotte Jones.

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Who is Jerry Jones’ grandson?

Anderson is in his fourth season with the Texas football program.

A 6-foot-4, 213-pound wide receiver, Anderson has been on the Longhorns’ roster since 2020, after graduating from Highland Park High School in Dallas.

He has played in three games over the course of his college career. As a freshman in 2020, he saw action as a reserve in a 59-3 victory against UTEP. The following season, he appeared in Texas’ 58-0 blowout of Rice, and last season he saw time in a 52-10 win against Louisiana Monroe.

According to Texas’ participation chart, Anderson has not appeared in a game this season.

Away from the field, Anderson, a sport management major, is a six-time member of the Big 12 commissioner’s honor roll and made the 2020-21 all-Big 12 rookie academic team.

If nothing else, he has put his football knowledge and sport management training to good use to help out his grandfather.

In April, the Cowboys selected Texas linebacker and all-Big 12 honoree DeMarvion Overshown in the third round of the NFL Draft. Overshown was a teammate of Anderson’s with the Longhorns and the two became friends during that time, even sharing a locker. Though the organization scouted Overshown extensively, Anderson pushed hard for the Cowboys to draft his teammate. Anderson was in the Cowboys’ draft room on the first night of the draft, but was not there the second night, when Overshown was selected.

“That’s some close information right there, locker mates,” Jones said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Actually, we had talked about it at length before [DeMarvion] had his visit here. He had mentioned it from time to time in the past, the way he said it was whether he’s practicing or playing, he’s just all over the place. He’s everywhere. For me it really was a personal thrill to just think about how close that was and how ironic it would be sitting here using a third pick in the draft with a guy that has that kind of relationship. The good news was that he had already told me he was just outstanding in every way as a human being.”

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Jerry Jones at Texas football vs. TTU to see grandson Paxton Anderson