Jerry Jones is more sensitive than meets the eye, according to daughter Charlotte Jones Anderson, that is.
In a recent conversation with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Cowboys’ executive vice president and chief brand officer believes the team’s owner is criticized most over the compassion he has for his players.
“I think one of the things that is most criticized but also one of his best qualities is how much he cares about each player. Sometimes to the extent that he can’t part with the player. He is so invested in each one of them and truly cares about them and their family,” said Jones Anderson.
“The more challenges they have the more he wants to help them and the more chances he wants to give them. I think it’s such a great inspiration for people that are trying to get it together and trying to make things work and trying to get a healthy start, but he often gets criticized for that because he’s ‘giving them too many chances,’ and that ‘he’s too loyal and can’t make difficult decisions’ like that. But if that’s your biggest foible then so be it.”
That loyalty could help explain Jason Garrett’s never-ending tenure on the Cowboys’ sideline. The coach is in the middle of his eighth full season in Dallas and has exactly one playoff win to his name. The closest he has gotten to any postseason lately was attending Game 3 of the World Series on Friday, which drew the ire of former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson. Jones, though, hit back at criticism, praising the one-time quarterback’s work ethic.
“I’m not associated with anybody that works any harder than Jason Garrett. I can assure that he did have his mind on our team. … I know where Jason Garrett’s mind is and I know where his work ethic is. A little bit of a respite now and then as far as the bye week is not an issue,” Jones said, per ESPN.
“I just chuckle when I think about there might be some criticism as to where his mind is and his work ethic.”
Jones has long been criticized as the sometimes clueless, greedy face of NFL owners. That image hurts his feelings.
“The misnomer would be that he doesn’t care about the criticism. He cares a lot. Nobody likes to be criticized. He takes a ton of criticism. The criticism hurts. He doesn’t like to not be liked. That hurts anybody. It hurts him,” Jones Anderson said.
Fortunately for Jones, his blood always has his back.
“Even when things are really rough and I think I’m calling him to say, ‘Hey, cheer up, the sun is going to come up today!’ He says, ‘Charlotte, you hear this? That’s the world’s smallest violin. Nobody feels sorry for me today. I’m the luckiest man alive. I get to do this. This too shall pass.’ So he just has this optimistic, everything is half-full, but not half-empty view,” she shared.