Look back: Jerry Jones built a $13 billion Cowboys empire, but these 7 moments still follow him
Jerry Jones has owned the Dallas Cowboys since 1989. The business case is not hard to see. Forbes valued the Cowboys at $13 billion in 2025, keeping Dallas as the NFL ’s most valuable team for the 19th straight year.
The football case is harder to defend. The Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season. Jones has built an empire, but the bill has come in public fights, legal messes, locker-room questions and roster decisions that still annoy Dallas fans.
Jerry Jones threatened to sit Dallas Cowboys players over anthem protestsJones drew national criticism in 2017 when he said Cowboys players would not play if he believed they disrespected the flag during the national anthem.
“If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play,” Jones said after a loss to the Green Bay Packers, according to the Cowboys’ official site. “Understand? If we are disrespecting the flag, then we won’t play. Period.”
The comments came during a leaguewide debate over players kneeling to protest police brutality and racial injustice. Jones framed it around the flag. Critics saw it as an owner drawing a hard line against player protest.
Jerry Jones’ fight with Roger Goodell got ugly after Ezekiel Elliott’s suspensionIn 2017, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for six games after the league investigated domestic violence allegations.
Jones backed Elliott and challenged Goodell’s handling of the case. ESPN later reported that Jones threatened Goodell while pushing back against the commissioner’s power.
“I’m gonna come after you with everything I have,” Jones told Goodell, according to ESPN. “If you think Bob Kraft came after you hard, Bob Kraft is a pu**y compared to what I’m going to do.”
The NFL later sought more than $2 million from Jones for legal fees tied to the Goodell contract dispute and Elliott-related litigation, according to ESPN.
The Dallas Cowboys cheerleader settlement put the franchise under another spotlightIn 2022, ESPN reported that the Cowboys paid a $2.4 million confidential settlement after four cheerleaders accused longtime team executive Richard Dalrymple of voyeurism in 2015.
The allegations included claims that Dalrymple used his security access to enter the cheerleaders’ locker room while they were changing. ESPN also reported a separate allegation involving inappropriate photos of Charlotte Jones, Jerry Jones’ daughter and a Cowboys executive.
Dalrymple denied wrongdoing. The Cowboys said an internal investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing. The settlement still raised obvious questions about workplace safety, power and accountability inside one of the NFL’s most visible franchises.
The Alexandra Davis legal fight became deeply personal and very publicJones also faced a public legal battle with Alexandra Davis, who said he was her biological father.
Davis filed a lawsuit in 2022 seeking recognition that she was not legally bound by an agreement reached when she was a child. ESPN reported that the case involved allegations that Jones had paid Davis’ mother and set up trusts while not admitting paternity.
In July 2024, ESPN reported that a countersuit trial involving Jones, Davis and her mother ended abruptly after Jones agreed to drop his countersuit if the women dismissed pending lawsuits against him.
It was not a football story. It was still a Jerry Jones story, because his private life once again became public business.
Firing Tom Landry was the first shock of the Jerry Jones eraJones did not ease into ownership. After buying the Cowboys in 1989, he fired legendary coach Tom Landry, the only head coach the franchise had ever known.
Landry had gone 3-13 in 1988, but the handling mattered. ESPN noted that Jones later admitted he made a mistake in how he handled the firing and said he should have given Landry at least one more season.
Jones wanted a new era. He got one. He also made his first major Cowboys controversy almost immediately.
The Jimmy Johnson split still feels like the Cowboys’ original sinThe Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowls under Jimmy Johnson after the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Then the partnership broke.
Jones wanted control over everything, from marketing to roster decisions. Johnson wanted credit and authority. ESPN reported that Jones’ comment that any one of 500 coaches could win with the Cowboys bothered Johnson.
Johnson left. Barry Switzer won another Super Bowl with the team Johnson helped build. Dallas has not reached a Super Bowl since.
That is why the Johnson split still matters. It was not just drama. It was the fork in the road.
Randy Moss , Joey Galloway and Roy Williams became expensive remindersJones’ roster swings also left marks. Dallas passed on Randy Moss in the 1998 NFL Draft and selected defensive end Greg Ellis at No. 8. Ellis became a solid player. Moss became one of the greatest wide receivers in NFL history. ESPN noted that Moss never lost to the Cowboys in seven career games.
The football case is harder to defend. The Cowboys have not won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season. Jones has built an empire, but the bill has come in public fights, legal messes, locker-room questions and roster decisions that still annoy Dallas fans.
“If there’s anything that is disrespectful to the flag, then we will not play,” Jones said after a loss to the Green Bay Packers, according to the Cowboys’ official site. “Understand? If we are disrespecting the flag, then we won’t play. Period.”
The comments came during a leaguewide debate over players kneeling to protest police brutality and racial injustice. Jones framed it around the flag. Critics saw it as an owner drawing a hard line against player protest.
Jerry Jones’ fight with Roger Goodell got ugly after Ezekiel Elliott’s suspensionIn 2017, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott for six games after the league investigated domestic violence allegations.
Jones backed Elliott and challenged Goodell’s handling of the case. ESPN later reported that Jones threatened Goodell while pushing back against the commissioner’s power.
“I’m gonna come after you with everything I have,” Jones told Goodell, according to ESPN. “If you think Bob Kraft came after you hard, Bob Kraft is a pu**y compared to what I’m going to do.”
The NFL later sought more than $2 million from Jones for legal fees tied to the Goodell contract dispute and Elliott-related litigation, according to ESPN.
The Dallas Cowboys cheerleader settlement put the franchise under another spotlightIn 2022, ESPN reported that the Cowboys paid a $2.4 million confidential settlement after four cheerleaders accused longtime team executive Richard Dalrymple of voyeurism in 2015.
The allegations included claims that Dalrymple used his security access to enter the cheerleaders’ locker room while they were changing. ESPN also reported a separate allegation involving inappropriate photos of Charlotte Jones, Jerry Jones’ daughter and a Cowboys executive.
Dalrymple denied wrongdoing. The Cowboys said an internal investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing. The settlement still raised obvious questions about workplace safety, power and accountability inside one of the NFL’s most visible franchises.
Davis filed a lawsuit in 2022 seeking recognition that she was not legally bound by an agreement reached when she was a child. ESPN reported that the case involved allegations that Jones had paid Davis’ mother and set up trusts while not admitting paternity.
In July 2024, ESPN reported that a countersuit trial involving Jones, Davis and her mother ended abruptly after Jones agreed to drop his countersuit if the women dismissed pending lawsuits against him.
It was not a football story. It was still a Jerry Jones story, because his private life once again became public business.
Firing Tom Landry was the first shock of the Jerry Jones eraJones did not ease into ownership. After buying the Cowboys in 1989, he fired legendary coach Tom Landry, the only head coach the franchise had ever known.
Landry had gone 3-13 in 1988, but the handling mattered. ESPN noted that Jones later admitted he made a mistake in how he handled the firing and said he should have given Landry at least one more season.
Jones wanted a new era. He got one. He also made his first major Cowboys controversy almost immediately.
The Jimmy Johnson split still feels like the Cowboys’ original sinThe Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowls under Jimmy Johnson after the 1992 and 1993 seasons. Then the partnership broke.
Jones wanted control over everything, from marketing to roster decisions. Johnson wanted credit and authority. ESPN reported that Jones’ comment that any one of 500 coaches could win with the Cowboys bothered Johnson.
Johnson left. Barry Switzer won another Super Bowl with the team Johnson helped build. Dallas has not reached a Super Bowl since.
That is why the Johnson split still matters. It was not just drama. It was the fork in the road.
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