When Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys on Feb. 25, 1989, he said he would be involved in everything. And he has been, through the good and the bad.
On Saturday, Jones is a finalist for selection to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game. He is one of three current owners with at least three Super Bowl wins. He has built one of the world's best stadiums and is in the process of making the team's practice facility in Frisco, Texas, a destination site.
From the league's perspective, he has grown the economic pie through television negotiations and marketing deals.
But the game is what matters most to him. Here is a compilation of some favorite stories of Jones throughout his ownership from players and coaches in their own words.
Tony Romo
Signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003, Romo became the franchise's leader in passing yards and touchdowns and became extremely close to the Jones family.
Jerry's optimistic. He's passionate and he's very loyal and I love that about him because I'm similar. I think the same way. It's people. It's relationships and achieving goals together. I've seen Jerry firsthand put his foot down on a couple of occasions where he cares so much and is so passionate. We were talking one time about the offseason and this is what we need to do to get better and Stephen's there, Jason Garrett's there and Jerry saw some hawing going on and he slammed his hand down. He was like, "I want the data to back it up. I want stats. I don't want to sit here and guess and hope and think we know. This is way too important and everything is on the line."
It was one of the most inspirational moments and I got to see how much he loves the Dallas Cowboys and I got to see how much he wants to win every bit as badly as I do. He didn't care who was around. He didn't mince words. He told everybody directly in no uncertain terms exactly what he wanted and he wanted the information and real information, not just random thoughts. I thought it was really insightful into the complex brain of Jerry Jones in that he can be your dad; he can love you unconditionally and he can be loyal and he can also bring out the best in you with tough love.
I think he's inspirational to anyone that's been around him. I love when Jerry puts his foot down and tells people within the organization the approach that he provides, the vision for the entire team and I think you see the passion that goes through the organization. And it all starts with him and the way he communicates. The way he demands the best out of people. Sometimes he does it with love. Sometimes he puts his foot down or sometimes he slams a table and raises his voice, like in the back of the bus. Jerry's genius is his ability to be one step ahead of everybody else more than anybody I've ever been around.
Darren Woodson
A second-round pick in 1992, Woodson went on to win three Super Bowls with the Cowboys and is the franchise leader in tackles. In 2015, he was named to the Cowboys' Ring of Honor.
He's the great optimist. He's the most optimistic person that I've ever met in my life. There's never been a down day for Jerry. The sky is never falling. Ever. Ever. I can remember back in 2000 and 2001 and the personnel we had, we were 5-11 and 5-11 and going into our third year we were about to be 5-11 again. The personnel sucked. We were terrible. I would have to convince guys to play. I had to meet a guy at 11 o'clock on a Friday to come to practice on Saturday at a gas station. I'm going into that year and I know this is going to be a debacle. Jerry came into the team meeting at the start of camp and gave us this speech and it was as optimistic as ever, man. And I'm like, "We're so far from being this good," but by the end of the speech he had me sold we were going to the Super Bowl. That's him.
People don't understand how much I love this man. You talk to all these players and you may get different answers but as far as his willingness to go outside of himself to help you in everything, I can say this for me: Every step of the way as far as my career with the Cowboys and in my business outside the Cowboys, he's been there.
Dave Campo
Campo has been an assistant coach (1989-94), a defensive coordinator (1995-99) and a head coach (2000-02) for Jones. He came to the Cowboys with Jimmy Johnson and returned to the Cowboys under Wade Phillips, working as the secondary coach from 2008 to '11.
He hates to lose. He just hates to lose. One of the worst times I've seen him we were playing a preseason game in Monterrey, Mexico, and it was Monday Night Football and in the stadium in Monterrey the coaching box was right under his box. He was right above us and it was a rickety old stadium. At that time, we had a lot of high-priced players and the backup players did not make very much money, so our backup linemen on both sides of the ball were rookies and first-year guys. There were no veteran guys in their fourth or fifth years. We played the Kansas City Chiefs and their backup lines were a bunch of guys making $500,000, $600,000 a year. They were fifth-, sixth-year guys. So we play the game and they kick our butt and it was embarrassing. I forget the score, but it was a butt-kicking and the Monday Night crew was right across from the coaching staff. We're supposed to go down on the field after the game, and as I'm coming out I'm going down the steps and here comes Jerry right behind me and somebody -- it wasn't me -- said, "Are we going down on the field?" and Jerry said, "We're going to the buses right now!" There was no question he was embarrassed and that's how much he wants to win.
It's not all about business to him. It's about the love of competition. He loves to match wits with whoever he's dealing with in the National Football League. He's a grinder. But he has a good heart. That's something he's shown to me. More than anything else, he's loyal to his people. If something happened to me where I was down and out and said, "Jerry, I need your help," I guarantee you he would help. I wouldn't ever do that, but if it ever came to that, that's the kind of person he is with the people he's been around.
Dat Nguyen
A third-round pick in 1999 out of Texas A&M, Nguyen became a starter in his seven-year career and later was an assistant coach. Now he owns a Chick-fil-A restaurant in Fort Worth, using business lessons he learned from Jones.
More than anything, it was when I was done playing. He was telling me a story about Sidney Moncrief with the Milwaukee Bucks, and he played at Arkansas. I was talking about going into business and I was picking his brain about marketing and the value of a name, and he started telling me about Sidney Moncrief. Sidney had a deal with a car dealership out in Milwaukee and was telling Jerry, "Hey, this guy sent me a deal. If I put X amount of money in, I can take a certain percentage." Well, Moncrief used to cut Jerry's lawn as a kid. Small world. So Jerry said, "No, no, no. You earned your name to be what it is. You go back and tell that guy you're not putting one penny down and you're taking 50 percent." And the deal is done. That's what I remember from Jerry as a business man.
But one word that comes to me about Jerry is loyal. Maybe loyal to a fault. I think that's what a lot of people don't know about Mr. Jerry Jones. You do the right things, do what he asks you do to and he'll be loyal.
Nate Newton
A six-time Pro Bowler for the Cowboys, Newton was one of the Tom Landry holdovers when Jones took over. After his playing career was done, he was sent to a Louisiana prison on drug possession charges and served about 2½ years.
Let me tell you something about Jerry. You can take what you want from it. Brother, when nobody believed in me when I went through my deal, coming out the Cowboys hired me. Nobody else would. They gave me a shot. Brought me in-house, did a few (media) things and now look where I sit.
Jerry's a good man. A lot of people don't know the greatness in him. I do because I'm closer than most. If a player comes to him sincerely and needs help and he can help and point in the right direction, he'll do that. I've never known Jerry to turn his back on nobody. Ever. Not every owner does that. There's too many firewalls you have to go through to get to some of these other owners. You don't have to go through many firewalls to get through to Jerry. As long as you're true, he's the best. He's the only guy I know can have a contract dispute with a guy and still work with other entities with that guy.
He's true to the game. He's a first-rate citizen. People say Jerry needs to stay out of the way. Nah, you can say what you want, but when the chips get down, there ain't but one person you can call to get satisfaction, and that's Mr. Jones.
Greg Ellis
Ellis famously was picked in the first round in 1998 instead of Randy Moss. He spent 11 of his 12 years with the Cowboys, led the team in sacks from 2001 to '05 and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2007 after recording a career-high 12.5 sacks.
We were playing the Cowboys, and I don't know if it's newsworthy or not, but something stood out about him that impressed me. I took a hard blow in a game against the Colts. Kavika (Pittman) and myself both hit Peyton Manning at the same time and for some reason I took the blunt of the blow. I got my bell rung. Back then you could finish playing the game. I did but I was out of it toward the end. I just wasn't right.
We lost the game and we're in the locker room. Jerry's there and the coach is doing the regular deal talking to us. And Jerry, man, he assisted me in taking my equipment off, my shoulder pads. I thought that says a lot about him as a person. I was a second-year guy and he's helping me take my stuff off because he saw the despair in my eyes. But he did his two cents to let me know that, "Hey, it's one game we lost. The world's not coming to an end. Let me help you out."
And later one when he released me, Jerry came up to me and it was real dignified. He said, "Greg, you brought a lot to the team but the nature of the beast is it’s time for us to separate. No hard or hurt feelings." I thought that was real big of himself personally coming up to me and making that decision and not sending somebody else or sending a note. Jerry always catches a lot of flak, but when you're finished with the Cowboys, he's not finished with you.
Sean Lee
When the Cowboys selected Lee in the second round in 2010, they knew he had a partially torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. At the first organized team activity in 2014, he completely tore the ligament and missed the season.
I had gotten injured in 2012, 2013 and 2014, three years in a row. He called after we found out my left ACL was torn and the support and encouragement he gave me in that phone call was a huge motivating factor for me to come back from that injury. You would think after three years in a row dealing with injuries, he wouldn't be, but he was and for me that was huge because I was in a bad place. To have your owner call you and say you will find a way to come back from this injury was unbelievable.
(Letting Jones down) was probably the biggest factor of frustration and depression for me because I wanted to be a part of this team. I wanted to help the team win and help win for him too. He had shown me so much loyalty. When they brought me in, he told me, "Hey, if you tear this, we're going to rehab you and you're going to come back stronger." They took a risk on me in the draft, immediately for them to stick with me through the injuries and for him to encourage me, I can't repay him enough. He basically said, "You've done it before. You'll do it again." He felt bad for me, but it meant a lot to me to realize I still had an opportunity with the Cowboys. That's why everybody who has played for him has a tone of gratitude and a tone of love for him because of how he's treated us.