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Okay, let’s stop the belittling and the praising and the story-telling and get down to it.
With his reign turning 20 today, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is coming under intense scrutiny. As in, will his legacy be positive or negative?
There are, of course, pros and cons …
Positives
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*Three Super Bowls in four years from 1992-96, making the Cowboys the NFL’s Team of the Decade.
*Raised the profile of America’s Team to unprecedented heights with innovative marketing deals, appearances on HBO’s Hard Knocks and the increased value of the franchise from $150 million in ’89 to $1.5 billion in ’09.
*The construction of Jonestown Coliseum, the world’s biggest, baddest sports stadium. Not to mention Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine.
*The expansion of inductees into the Ring of Honor which, in turn, helped the Cowboys land a player in the Hall of Fame for four consecutive years.
*An unyielding passion for winning.
*The Papa John’s dancing commercial.
Negatives
*Overseeing the longest post-season success drought in franchise history at 12 seasons and counting.
*Tarnished the Cowboys’ image, from the team’s notorious Valley Ranch White Houst in the ’90s to this decade’s sell-your-soul-to-the-devil signings of Terrell Owens and Pacman Jones.
*With four lower-level seats on the 35 costing more than $150,000, probably pricing the team’s blue-blood, blue-collar fans out of the new stadium in Arlington.
*Alienated fans by keeping in place a general manager named Jerry Jones who fired Tom Landry, who couldn’t co-exist with Jimmy Johnson and who couldn’t win with Bill Parcells.
*Rowdy.
Tally it all up. The Jerry Jones Era: Yay or Nay?
