After the Dallas Cowboys suffered their worst defeat of the Jerry Jones era with a 47-9 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, his weekly appearance on 105.3 The Fan figured to be a testy one.
But Jones’ interview with Shan & RJ on Tuesday managed to exceed even the wildest of expectations, with the Cowboys owner threatening the job of one of the show’s hosts.
The exchange in question came as Shan Shariff questioned Dallas’ offseason activity, or lack thereof. After Jones gave a rambling answer about the 1970s and 2000s and all of the moves he’s gotten right over the course of his career, Shariff attempted to get the conversation back on track.
“So Jerry, 1970, a little different from this past offseason and building the team we’re talking about today. Which there was a lot of criticism that you guys didn’t add, didn’t spend and don’t add and don’t spend and are not aggressive enough with some of the problems that are still haunting the Cowboys today that we see play out on the field, ” Shariff said. “That’s the point of talking about the offseason.”
“Oh, I remember those criticisms very well,” Jones replied. “OK, so what?”
“Are they playing out to be accurate?” Shariff asked.
“What’s your point?” Jones continued.
As the host tried to reframe his question, Jones kept going.
“Let me tell you what I’ll do about it. I will let us sit down and look at the decisions we’ve made over the last several years,” Jones said. “Now, if you think I’m interested on a damn phone call with you over a radio and sitting here and throwing all the good out with the dishwater, you have got to be smoking something over there this morning.
“This is not your job. Your job isn’t to let me go over all the reasons that I did something and I’m sorry that I did it. That’s not your job. I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions.”
Jerry Jones didn’t like getting questioned about the Cowboys’ offseason during his appearance on 105.3 The Fan.
“Your job isn’t to let me to go over all the reasons that I did something… that’s not your job. I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions. I’m not kidding.” pic.twitter.com/Po2LJ8f6cX
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 15, 2024
While Shariff did his best to laugh off Jones’ threat, the 82-year-old made it clear this wasn’t a laughing matter for him.
“I’m not kidding. I’m not kidding. You’re not gonna figure out what the team is doing right or wrong. If you are, or any five or 10 like you, you need to come to this [NFL owners] meeting I’m going to today. There are 32 teams here. You’re geniuses. Y’all really think you’re gonna sit here with a microphone and tell me all of the things that I’ve done wrong without going over the rights?”
Jones proceeded to address Cowboys fans — as opposed to “the yahoos on the other end of this phone” — apologizing for Sunday’s result. He then attempted to make some sort of analogy based on the premise that people thought it was foolish for him to even buy the franchise when he did in 1989.
“You want some conversation this morning? You’re getting it,” he punctuated his rant.
The interview continued for more than five more minutes without much incident or any other threats that anyone might lose their job for having the audacity to question the Cowboys’ lackluster offseason following a disastrous loss. Ultimately, it’s hard to view Jones’ answer as anything other than him lashing out in an attempt to defend the indefensible, while using 105.3 The Fan’s status as the radio home of the Cowboys as leverage to bully a radio host asking the most obvious of questions.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.