Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. (born October 13, 1942)[1][2] is an American billionaire businessman who is the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He bought the team from Bum Bright in 1989.
Jones was born in Los Angeles, California, and moved to North Little Rock, Arkansas, as a child. His parents owned an independent grocery store. Jones was a running back at North Little Rock High School, graduating in 1960. Afterward, his family moved to Springfield, Missouri, where his father led a successful insurance company. Jones attended the University of Arkansas, co-captaining the 1964 national championship football team.[3] Following graduation, he became an executive vice president at his family's insurance company.[4] After selling it, the Joneses established Buena Vista Animal Paradise.[5]
In 1989, Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys for $140 million, and swiftly replaced Tom Landry with Jimmy Johnson as the head coach. Under Jones, the team achieved success, winning Super Bowl XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX. Jones stands out as an NFL owner with a successful football player background. Despite initial criticism for firing beloved personnel, Jones' leadership elevated the franchise's value to an estimated $10 billion, and his ownership of the Cowboys gives him an estimated net worth of $17 billion.[6] He played a pivotal role in securing lucrative television deals, contributing to the NFL's financial prosperity. Criticized for his high visibility and controversial decisions as both owner and general manager, Jones remains a polarizing figure among fans. Notably, he mended relations with Johnson in 2023, inducting him into the Cowboys Ring of Honor. Jones also influenced team relocations and faced fines from the NFL for public comments on officiating and labor issues. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017, Jones has been a recipient of various honors.
Early life
Jones was born on October 13, 1942, in Los Angeles, California, to John "Pat" and Arminta Jones. The family moved back to North Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1945.[7] His parents owned two branches of Pat's Super Market in the Rose City neighborhood of North Little Rock.[8] Jones was a running back at North Little Rock High School, graduating in 1960.
After his graduation, Jones' parents moved to Springfield, Missouri, where Pat was president and chairman of Modern Security Life Insurance Co. The company, which an advertisement billed as a "one in a million" company, saw its assets increase from $440,299.76 in its first statement in 1961 to $6,230,607 in 1965 ($4,643,041.96 to $62,365,606.91 in 2024). After graduating from the University of Arkansas, Jerral W. Jones was listed as an executive vice president.[9] With the success of the company, the Joneses assembled the 5500 acre Buena Vista Ranch east of Springfield in Rogersville, Missouri, in the Ozark Mountains. In 1971, after selling the insurance company, the couple carved out 400 acre of their ranch to start Buena Vista Animal Paradise, where tourists could visit exotic animals (now Wild Animal Safari in Strafford, Missouri
Business ventures
According to an interview with Jones on HBO, after graduating from college in 1965, he borrowed a million dollars from Jimmy Hoffa's Teamsters union to open up a string of Shakey's Pizza Parlor restaurants in Missouri.[13] When that venture failed, Jones was given a job at his father's insurance company, Modern Security Life of Springfield, Missouri. He received his master's degree in business in 1970. After several other unsuccessful business ventures (including an attempt, again using Teamsters money, to purchase the American Football League's San Diego Chargers in 1966),[14] he began an oil and gas exploration business in Arkansas, Jones Oil and Land Lease, which became successful.[15] His privately held company currently does natural resource prospecting.[16]
In 2008, Jones formed a partnership with Yankee Global Enterprises
Dallas Cowboys
On February 25, 1989, Jones purchased the Cowboys from H. R. "Bum" Bright for $140 million (equivalent to $ in ).[18] Soon after the purchase, he fired longtime coach Tom Landry, to that point the only coach in the team's history,[19] in favor of his old teammate at Arkansas, Jimmy Johnson. At the time Johnson was the head coach of the University of Miami Hurricanes, whom he had led to a national championship in 1987.[20] A few months later, Jones fired longtime general manager Tex Schramm and assumed complete control over football matters.[21]
After a slow start under Jones and Johnson (the first season under Jones, a 1–15 finish,[22]
Jones in popular culture
Jones was the inspiration for the character Baxter Cain (Robert Vaughn), 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.
Jones and Deion Sanders appeared together in several television commercials during Sanders' time with the Cowboys.
Jones also appeared as himself in a 1996 episode of the television show Coach and in a 2007 television commercial for Diet Pepsi MAX, which also featured then Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips and quarterback Tony Romo.
He appeared as himself in the seventh season of the HBO series Entourage in 2010, in an episode of the TNT incarnation of Dallas titled "Truth and Consequences", which aired on July 4, 2012, in a series of commercials for the 2012 season of ESPN's Monday Night Football, and in the season 4 premiere of The League. In 2013, Jones narrated a documentary film on former teammate and business partner Jim Lindsey.[47]
Jones also appeared in a 2013 Pepsi commercial, walking into an elevator filled with three men wearing
Awards and honors
NFL
NCAA
Media
Hall of Fame
Other
- Three-time Super Bowl champion – XXVII, XXVIII, XXX (as owner, president and GM of the Dallas Cowboys)
- 2014 NFL Executive of the Year[53]
- 1964 FWAA College Football National Championship (as a member of the Arkansas Razorbacks)
- 2010 NFF Gridiron Club of Dallas Distinguished Texan Award[54]
Personal life
Jones married Eugenia Chambers in 1963, whom he met while both were college undergraduates. They have three children. Stephen is the Cowboys' chief operating officer, executive vice president, and director of player personnel. Charlotte is the Cowboys' executive vice president and chief brand officer.[59] Jerry Jones Jr. is the Cowboys' chief sales and marketing officer/vice president. Jones splits his time between a home in Highland Park, Texas and a home in Destin, Florida.[60][61]
Jones was close friends and neighbors with Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt.[62] The two lived in an upscale neighborhood in Dallas.[63]
External links
References
- Jerry Jones's Career Capsule ProFootballHOF.com, retrieved November 21, 2019^
- JERRAL WAYNE JONES, SR. HoratioAlger.com, retrieved November 2, 2023^
- Jerral Wayne "Jerry" Jones walton.uark.edu, retrieved April 9, 2024^