Headline-grabbing radio rant ‘on-brand’ for Jones, Cowboys
Jul 26, 2022; Oxnard, CA, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones at training camp press conference at the River Ridge Fields. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
“It’s on-brand for Jerry Jones, who everybody believes wants attention, good or bad. I know he prefers good,” said Werder.
“But when you’re coming off the worst home loss in your 35-year history as the owner,” he continued, “I think there’s some expectation Jerry’s probably not going to be in a very good mood for quite some time. And he wasn’t. He was mad, as he probably should be.”
The team’s 47-9 mauling at the hands of the Lions was a shocker in every way, but Jones’s public clapback live over the airwaves quickly became the bigger story, even, as Werder noted, on a day that was plenty newsworthy around the rest of the league.
“Here we are: the Jets make a trade for Davante Adams and reunite him with Aaron Rodgers. And on the same day, the Buffalo Bills get Amari Cooper. And Tom Brady becomes a part-owner of the Raiders. And we’re all talking about the Cowboys and Jerry Jones.”
Flagship station factor muddies the waters
Aug 24, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talks to the media before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
Jones has gotten testy and bristled at a reporter’s question here or there many times over the years. But Werder points out that 105.3 The Fan being the Cowboys’ own flagship station adds an extra wrinkle to this current narrative.
It certainly changed how Jones apparently thought Tuesday’s interview should have gone.
“Jerry made it clear he had a certain expectation that he’s talking to a partner. And he does it, and he expects to be treated a certain way,” Werder said. “‘But I don’t see you as an independent journalist’- this is Jerry- ‘I see you as somebody who represents our brand as a partner.’
“People want him to take responsibility as the general manager, and maybe he didn’t quite do that, and maybe he shouldn’t have threatened the jobs of the people who were asking the questions… but that’s part of the job [of the media]. People get mad at your questions.”
Cowboys fans’ frustration at fever pitch since January
Sep 22, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Cowboys fans react during the second half against the Baltimore Ravens at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
There’s lots of anger to go around in Cowboys Nation these days. Werder has been there for some of the darkest days: the 1-15 season, the barren wasteland of quarterbacks between Troy Aikman and Tony Romo, the careers of many a Cowboys star who came and went with no tangible success to show for it.
But he acknowledges that the frustration is at a fever pitch these days. And as stinging as the team’s three losses this year have been, Werder believes the organization still hasn’t recovered from the playoff beatdown they received in January.
“What happened to them in the first round, at home, in the loss to Green Bay, really caused a lot of people in the fanbase to stop believing in this franchise. It set up Jerry trying to demonstrate, through player acquisition, that he was determined to improve the roster… I think people wanted a commitment from Jerry that he was going to make significant personnel upgrades, and instead, he did just the opposite,” explained Werder.
“People are outraged that Jerry as a general manager didn’t honor his obligation in the way they they thought was necessary, to go out and build a better roster, and that what’s happening now was going to be the obvious outcome of that failure. He’s alienated the fanbase, and now they feel more justified than ever in publicly criticizing him, and that criticism now comes from everywhere.”
Breaking different kinds of stories with ‘Table of Honor’ initiative
It’s never a dull moment covering the Cowboys, not even for Werder, who’s pretty much seen it all. But even the 64-year-old is still getting new opportunities. Werder has partnered with Rockin’ Protein to announce a $100,000 donation to Folds of Honor, to help the organization provide scholarships to the families of America’s fallen or disabled military and first responders.
As part of that initiative, Werder moderated a discussion titled “Table of Honor,” where he shares the extraordinarily moving stories of three of those families.
One of the heroes Werder met was Brodie, a 20-year Navy SEAL (now retired) who was injured in a firefight in Afghanistan when a he kicked a live grenade away from his team and sustained shrapnel damage that remains in his leg to this day.
“He never even went home!” Werder told Cowboys Wire. “And he’s so full of humility, which is really striking to someone like me, who goes to NFL games every week and watches these athletes celebrate themselves for every small achievement- a first down requires a personalized dance that’s well-rehearsed and choreographed- and these people take incredible risks on behalf of the country and suffer unimaginably and yet don’t talk about it.”
The “Never Settle Stories” that Werder helps the families share are touching and inspiring, but they go even beyond tales of great sacrifice. Thanks to the scholarships made possible by the outreach effort, these are lessons about perseverance and making sure those acts of bravery and courage are paid forward to the next generation.
Consider Allie, whose father died from a spinal cord injury he suffered during a parachute jump while he was an Army Specialist. Her scholarship allowed her to get a Master’s degree in music therapy, a calling she discovered during her dad’s rehab journey.
Allie put it best, Werder said, when summing up how life-changing the Folds of Honor scholarships can be for recipients: “You’re not just giving them college scholarships, you’re making better people, who then go out and share that with other people and make them better people.”
Werder has broken several of the biggest stories in Cowboys history and been there for some of the franchise’s most dramatic moments, including this latest episode with Jones and his radio rant. But he says nothing has moved him like the stories he’s sharing for Rockin’ Protein and Folds of Honor.
“I’ve interviewed the biggest names in pro football for almost 40 years, and I’ve done it in moments where they just won the Super Bowl,” Werder said he told the Table of Honor families, “and yet I’m more struck and emotional about the experience I just had getting you to share your story.”
Post-bye outlook for 2024 Cowboys
SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 08: Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys is sacked by Nick Bosa #97 and Arik Armstead #91 of the San Francisco 49ers during the first quarter at Levi’s Stadium on October 08, 2023 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
As for the Cowboys, this latest drama will play itself out and the season will go on. The bye week will allow the players to get away from the facility and flush the latest loss from their systems.
It won’t be so easy for the coaching staff.
“The coaches are over there living with this for two weeks,” Werder noted. “So one end, you go into your bye with a 38-point loss, and oh, your next game on the road is in San Francisco, a team that beat you there last year by 32 points. So it’s a negative situation that they’re directly in the middle of. But I think teams and coaches, part of their job is to compartmentalize and create a narrow focus for their players.”
Werder and others report that head coach Mike McCarthy, before dismissing his players, asked them to spend some time taking a look in the mirror. He sent them home with an actual list of questions to ask themselves, in hopes that they return with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to saving the season.
But the veteran reporter is well aware, just like many Cowboys fans, that it may only make so much of a difference for a team that doesn’t seem to be eager to bring in any outside reinforcements and hasn’t won a home game in almost 10 months.
“It’s not a matter of where they play, it’s matter of who they play,” Werder said. “So far, when they’ve played the better teams in the NFL- the teams that are going to win their division, go to the playoffs- they have seemed like they are far from being able to compete with those teams.”
**Check out Ed Werder’s “Table of Honor” discussion and the ‘Never Settle Stories” on Rockin’ Protein’s social channels or visit rockinprotein.com/folds-of-honor. Special thanks to Rockin’ Protein for facilitating the conversation between Werder and Cowboys Wire.**
