Jerry Jones

About Jerry Jones

Jerral Wayne "Jerry" Jones (born October 13, 1942) is the owner of the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise and the Dallas Desperados Arena Football League franchise.

After several unsuccessful business ventures (including passing up the opportunity to purchase the AFL's San Diego Chargers in 1967 for the asking), he began an oil and gas exploration business in Oklahoma, Jones Oil and Land Lease, which became phenomenally successful. His company, a private family asset, currently does natural resource prospecting.

He is most famous for owning the NFL's Dallas Cowboys. He purchased the Cowboys in 1989 from Bum Bright for $150 million. Not long after taking over, he fired Tom Landry, to that point the only coach in the team's history, in favor of his old teammate at The University of Arkansas, Jimmy Johnson. A few months later, he forced out longtime general manager Tex Schramm, and granted Johnson complete control over player personnel decisions. He forced Johnson out in 1993 in favor of former University of Oklahoma coach Barry Switzer, and since then has acted as his own general manager. Of all the owners in professional sports, he is considered to be one of the most involved, on a day-to-day basis, with his team. He can be seen in his box at every Cowboys game, and in many cases he ventures down to the Cowboys sideline.