Cowboys Boss Jerry Jones Demands Goodell 'Accountability,' Won't 'Pipe Down'
ARLINGTON (105.3 THE FAN) - Following his team's 37-9 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, The Fan's Mike Fisher asked Dallas Cowboys boss Jerry Jones about his "end game'' in his NFL owners civil war.
'It would take me an hour (to detail it all),'' he said. "Seriously, I've got a lot of things as we move over the next days ahead that will be apparent.''
Two things that became apparent as he spoke in the basement of AT&T Stadium (and ended up speaking for almost that full hour): One, he wants commissioner Roger Goodell to serve the 32 owners, and not the other way around. And two, he's willing to engage his opposition among owners in a rather juvenile game of "But You Pushed Me First.''
What, Jerry, would you tell other owners involved in this ugly power play who would ask you to pipe down?
"I would ask them to pipe down,'' Jerry replied.
That is a hint, of sorts, at who Jones believes should be pulling the strings here — Jones himself. He noted that what he wants from Goodell (in the midst of his contract negotiations that figure to result in an annual salary in excess of $30 million) is "accountability, more accountability. I want unprecedented accountability to the ownership. That simple.''
It's really not simple at all, of course, in that Jones was once a powerful supporter and ally of the beleaguered commissioner. Part of the story is the Cowboys' feeling that the NFL has done 'em wrong in the Ezekiel Elliott case, resulting in their star player serving a six-game suspension.
"It's unfortunate that motives are being pressed: 'It's all about Zeke. It's all about that,' which questions your motive,'' Jerry said. "But Zeke is done. Zeke is over. But some of the things that make that happen are still around."
How do "moves in the next days ahead'' fix all the things that seem broken? What gets changed?
I only know what seems unchangeable, unbroken, non-malleable: Jones will to win … whatever it is he's trying to win. That much was clear two NFL quarters before Jones' post-game presser, when during halftime of Sunday night's game, he received his Hall of Fame ring and addressed the 93,000 fans inside his building.
"What I've tried to do with every breath is to make the Dallas Cowboys better, and to make the NFL better," Jones announced. "That's what I try to do and that's what I'm going to do."