Jerry Jones’ Biggest Opponent: The Sun
The Sun is quickly setting on the Dallas Cowboys season but ironically not inside their own stadium.
After getting embarrassed by the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday 34-6, Dallas Cowboys fans are left scrambled to find excuses for the teams glaring 0-4 home record.
Could it QB Dak Prescott’s absence due to his hamstring hanging off the bone and his replacement Cooper Rush’s 13 for 23 passing game with only 45 yards and two lost fumbles?
Could it be the five total team turnovers immediately resulting in 13 Eagles points-scored?
Or how about missing DeMarcus Lawrence’s leadership on defense after his continued stint on the injured reserve?
Let’s not be ridiculous, its not any of these issues.
It’s the Sun’s fault!
The Dallas Sun to be exact.
No, not the newspaper, but the bright rays that beam in through the crystal clear AT&T Stadium windows that span across the east and west ends of the football field.
If you ask me, it seems like a weird place to put windows in a football stadium knowing the Sun will be shining directly into each endzone during every morning or afternoon game.
If you ask Cowboys owner and recent Sun-denier Jerry Jones, he has a completely rational opinion on the matter when asked by reporters post-game:
“By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we flip the coin, so we do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium,” Jones said.
“Let’s just tear the damn stadium down and build another one. Are you kidding me?”
Tearing down the $1.3 billion stadium, one of the most expensive in the world, seems a little hyperbolic. But may I suggest a less expensive solution… curtains?
The stadium actually puts black-out curtains up during non-football related events to block out the sunlight, so it seems like a no-brainer for Jones and the Cowboys to leave them up during the team’s day games.
Putting up curtains certainly would prevent plays like this one from WR Ceedee Lamb on Sunday where he loses an easy touchdown pass in the Sun that is shining directly into his eyes.
If Cowboys fans are being honest with themselves, the teams recent failures are not the Sun’s fault, but Jerry’s front office decision making.
He sticks with his incompetent head coaches longer than he should (see Jason Garrett and Mike McCarthy).
He demolishes the team’s salary cap when he choses to pay underperforming offensive players (see Dak Prescott, Ceedee Lamb, and Zeke Elliot).
He squanders first-round draft picks on players who never seem to pan out (source).
Curtains won’t fix Jerry’s poor decision making, but they do highlight the ever-growing problem the Cowboys keep running into.
And that’s Jerry Jones himself.
I liken the Cowboys’ fan experience with that of when your grandparent or parent gets to that age where you realize they probably shouldn’t be driving anymore.
They are an adult and you can’t just take their drivers license away. They are mature enough to make their own decisions and legally you can’t stop them from doing something they want.
You just have to wait for that inevitable day when they run over a median and tear apart the underside of their car or God-forbid get into a serious accident that causes harm to themselves or the drivers around them.
The Cowboys are Jerry’s car and he is the first person to tell you that.
So to those fans and supporters of the football franchise that was once America’s team, you will just have to wait until you get that sad phone call from him saying their was an issue with the car and he needs you to come pick him up.
But until that phone call comes?
Maybe get some black-out curtains.