Jerry Jones Biography
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Jerry Jones
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| Jerry Jones | |
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| Born | October 13, 1942 Los Angeles, California, USA |
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| Occupation | Owner, Dallas Cowboys (NFL), Dallas Desperados (AFL), businessman, CEO, Entrepreneur |
Jerral "Jerry" Jones (born October 13, 1942, in Los Angeles, California) is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise and the Dallas Desperados Arena Football League franchise.
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Early Life
After several unsuccessful business ventures (including passing up the opportunity to purchase the AFL's San Diego Chargers in 1967 for the asking), he began an oil and gas exploration business in Oklahoma, Jones Oil and Land Lease, which became phenomenally successful. His company, a private family asset, currently does natural resource prospecting.
Dallas Cowboys
He is famous as the owner of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys - he purchased the Cowboys in 1989 from Bum Bright for $150 million. Not long after taking over, he fired long time coach Tom Landry, to that point the only coach in the team's history, in favor of his old teammate at the University of Arkansas, Jimmy Johnson. A few months later, he forced out longtime general manager Tex Schramm, and granted Johnson complete control over player personnel decisions. He forced Johnson out in 1993 in favor of former University of Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, and since then has acted as his own general manager. Of all the owners in professional sports, he is considered to be one of the most involved, on a day-to-day basis, with his team. He can be seen in his box at every Cowboys game, and in many cases he ventures down to the Cowboys sideline.
After the 1993 Super Bowl victory, reports began to surface in the media that Jones had made the statement that "any one of 500 coaches could have won those Super Bowls" given the type of talent that Jones had drafted and signed for the team. Jones also stated to reporters at a late night cocktail party that he intended to replace Johnson with former University of Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer. The next morning, however, Jones famously denied those reports by stating that it "was the whiskey talking". Shortly thereafter, Switzer replaced Johnson as the Cowboys head coach.
Jones was named Enemy No. 1 (least favorite sports personality) by Sports Illustrated, in three states by opinion polls (Delaware, Texas, and Virginia).[1] He is often vilified by fans who remain bitter at Jones' unceremonious firing of fan-favorite Landry. It is also said that after Jones ran Johnson out of Dallas, there has been a rift between the two. They have since made up, however, even though they are not the closest of friends.
NFL Fine
Jones was fined $25,000 by the NFL for publicly criticizing referee Ed Hochuli after Hochuli blew a call in a game between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos on September 14, 2008. He made comments both to the press and his radio show, saying Hochuli was one of the most criticized officials in the NFL. This was Jones' first fine by the NFL.1
Jones in Popular Culture
Jones was the inspiration for the character Baxter Cain, owner of the Dallas Felons, in the 1998 film BASEketball. He had a brief cameo appearance as himself in the 1998 made-for-television reunion movie Dallas: War of the Ewings. He also appeared as himself in a 2007 television commercial for Diet Pepsi MAX, which also featured Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips and quarterback Tony Romo. Cameron Diaz's character in Any Given Sunday was semi-based on Jones.
Personal Life
Jerry Jones is married to Gene Jones and they have three children Stephen, Charlotte and Jerry, Jr. All three of Jones' children work for Dallas Cowboys.2
Jones is the subject of a new book to be published September 1, 2008 titled Playing to Win by David Magee. In the book, Jones says he handled the firing of Tom Landry poorly and takes some blame for the disintegration of his relationship with Jimmy Johnson.
