The Dallas Cowboys have always been one of the most popular teams in the country, largely due to the work of owner Jerry Jones since he purchased the franchise in 1989.
Jones is the most well-known owner in the NFL and frequently discusses the team with media members. The franchise also provides tours of The Star at Frisco to those who want an inside look at the Cowboys’ facilities.
These tours and interviews provide additional revenue for the franchise and league, but they have also created a culture within the Cowboys’ organization that prioritizes publicity over on-the-field success.
Jones recently discussed these tours with ESPN and said, “It’s gold when those players go through our complex out there and see fans,” but current and former players have expressed different opinions.
Unsurprisingly, players and coaches have voiced their disapproval of the interactions, with many saying that these events have been detrimental to the product they are putting on the field.
Former Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz, now a member of the Houston Texans, said the facility felt like a “zoo” while he was there due to everything going on throughout the season.
“There [are] people literally going on tours while you’re lifting in the weight room,” he said, per Bleacher Report.
“And they’ve got like a … one-way mirror for people to like look at. It’s literally—it’s a zoo. There [are] people tapping on the glass trying to get people’s attention as they’re doing power cleans or whatnot.”
Cowboys star wide receiver Ceedee Lamb kept his answer short when asked about these tours, saying that they can “sometimes” be distracting before refusing to elaborate, according to Calvin Watkins with The Dallas Morning News.
Those who have been members of the organization have expressed similar sentiments about Jones’s interviews.
Former Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett, who spent nearly 10 years coaching with the franchise, said Jones can make life difficult and will “inject himself and get more involved” whenever the team is not performing to their expectations.
“It’s one thing to have conversations about things he wants to do in-house, but it’s a little more challenging when he’s doing radio shows and those things come out in public. Often times they might be in contrast to what the head coach is saying or what the quarterback is saying,” he explained, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“There’s a lot of attention on the Cowboys, and when you’re the head coach, you have to quiet things down and eliminate some of that noise,” Garrett explained.
Garrett’s comments come after Jones appeared on 105.3 The FAN and berated radio hosts for asking about the roster issues.
Jones seemingly threatened the hosts’ jobs after telling them that he could “get somebody else to ask these questions,” emphasizing shortly after that he was not joking when he made those comments, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Despite other members of the organization stating that these tours and interviews are distracting to the team, Jones has openly said that he pursues these interactions because they help generate attention.
Jones said in 2022 that fans will seek out ways to watch the “foibles, the soap opera, the issue,” adding that these storylines “create interest” and the team has “always got something going.”
“People follow us year ‘round. The owner every now and then gets in the paper. It just adds to the interest, all of it. People love that,” Jones said, per NBC Sports.
Jones’s support of these antics has set a precedent that allows any organization member to create headlines without concern about approval. This was highlighted by cornerback Trevon Diggs confronting a reporter following the Cowboys’ 30-24 Week 8 loss on Sunday.
WFAA’s Mike Leslie posted to X on Sunday to seemingly call out the cornerback for not putting forth a full effort to make a tackle that resulted in a near-touchdown by the San Francisco 49ers.
Diggs then sought out Leslie on his way to the locker room after the game, confronting him about the post and telling him not to comment on his play.
“Out of that whole play, that’s what you took from that? You don’t know football. You can’t do nothing that I do. You can’t go out there and do nothing. Stay in your lane, buddy. Stop trying me, dog,” exclaimed Diggs, according to a video from Newy Scruggs.
“Just asking the question, Trevon. I mean, I’m happy to have you answer the question,” replied Leslie.
One of the most concerning revelations regarding this interaction is that Leslie made the post during the game, indicating that Diggs saw the post before the end of the close loss and chose to address the issue before even entering the locker room.
Although Jones has yet to address this interaction between Diggs and Leslie, he will likely make another radio appearance on 105.3 The FAN on Tuesday morning to discuss various Cowboys-related topics.
