FRISCO – The headline is an eye-catcher.
If its proclamation is true, it ranks as one of the biggest sports stories of the year.
“Jerry Jones no longer calling Dallas Cowboys shots after George Pickens trade”
That’s a monster headline.
That’s a monster story.
It’s also uproarious, with Jerry’s own top staffers getting a good laugh from it.
The Cowboys owner and GM is finally, at age 82, giving up those roles that he’s held – with the tightest of grips – since 1989 purchasing of “America’s Team”?
Nope.
Cancel the celebratory parade.
Or, lay off the mourning period.
Jerry isn’t going anywhere.
The Fort Worth-Star Telegram seems to be suggesting that these moves represent a changing of the guard, with COO Stephen Jones having “taken on a bigger role this offseason.”
But we’re told that Stephen – who already wielded a de facto GM-level of authority around here – remains in the same position he’s been in for years.
Sams with right-hand man Will McClay, so powerful here that colleague Shan Shariff has reported he may have a Jones-family arrangement to take over as GM when Jerry really is done.
But for now? They younger Jones has for a decade been the driving force behind Dallas’ conservative spending on outside free agents – a flip-flop from the wildcattin’ way Dad used to roster-build – which makes it all the more amusing to think that somehow in the last 14 days Stephen has suddenly “put his fingerprints all over the franchise.”
There are always ebbs and flows around here at The Star in terms of decision-making pushes, Jerry, Stephen, Will and now new head coach Brian Schottenheimer can all be driving forces at different times.
But that’s not new.
For fun, we presented this notion of a “seismic shift” … of a Jerry step-back into the sunset … amid the sudden rise to power of his son … to a top Dallas staffer.
“Shh,” the staffer said with a laugh. “Don’t tell Jerry!”
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