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The older Jerry Jones gets, the more eyes turn to his son Stephen, Jerry’s right-hand man.
And while Stephen is expected to take control of the franchise at some point, Jerry sounds like he wants to keep going until his body gives out.
“I don’t have a succession plan, I don’t,” Jerry, 83, told The Athletic. “One day I just won’t be here to toss my two cents in.”
The Jones patriarch bought the Cowboys 37 years ago for $140 million and within a few years restored the franchise to glory, winning three Super Bowls across four seasons.
The Cowboys are now worth an estimated $15.5 billion, according to Sportico, but their championship drought has reached 30 years — they haven’t even made a conference championship game since their last Super Bowl victory in 1995.
Jones has perhaps made more headlines than he has victories during that time, with some fans worried he’s more concerned about being the center of attention than winning.
That’s not how things will look if and when the 62-year-old Stephen grabs the reins.
“I’m not pushing Jerry out by any means, but when that day comes, it’s gonna feel a lot different,” Troy Aikman, the legendary quarterback of those three ’90s Super Bowl teams, told The Athletic.
Aikman’s teammate, Darren Woodson, told the outlet that Stephen has “a little bit more motherf–ker in him.”
Woodson has taken issue with the Cowboys making “emotional decisions” under Jones, whom Woodson says keeps guys because of personal feelings.
“I don’t think that leash will be as long with Stephen,” Woodson said.
Stephen doesn’t have as big of an ego as his father, according to Aikman, something the Hall of Famer believes will “serve (Stephen) well.”
Stephen himself outlined how he and his father differ in contract negotiations.
“With agents these days, you give them an inch and they’ll take a mile,” he told The Athletic. “He doesn’t like giving an inch, never has. “If a deal’s within striking distance, Jerry will lose this point and this point and this point and if it gets done, he’ll live with it. It’ll eat at me a little more.”
Jerry admitted that his son has helped keep him in check over the years.
“He’s about as good as anybody I’ve ever been around in giving deference when he should. Now, don’t confuse that with lack of intensity,” he said. “He’ll bite back real hard when he has to. Real hard. He just does it with more grace than I do.”
One thing father and son seem to agree on is they want to keep the team in the family and avoid the temptation to cash out.
“We certainly don’t wanna think about that,” Stephen said of the Joneses not owning the Cowboys. “We don’t want it to be that way.”
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