Jerry Jones on 29-year Super Bowl drought: “I bust my ass”

If you’re a Cowboys fan, watching Netflix’s new docuseries, “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys” may have left you with mixed feelings. And it may depend on your age/how long you’ve been a fan as well. For those of us in our mid-30s, it was a tough watch.

It’s fun to relive the glory days. I grew up hearing my dad talk about these players - Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith - before I really knew their impact. I watched my parents watch the games as a toddler. I could feel that it was an exciting time, but I couldn’t really understand it yet. We named our cat after Emmitt - I had no choice but to become a diehard fan. I didn’t know it then, but that would end up being a lot less glorious than it seemed at the time. I was six years old the last time the Cowboys won a Super Bowl or even an NFC title.

So watching the series as it revisits the dynasty of the 1990s and the three Super Bowl titles under Jerry Jones feels nostalgic, but it also shines a light on the nearly three-decade drought that has followed. And perhaps most infuriating for fans is that Jones isn’t bothered by it in the least.

Jerry Jones defends Cowboys’ success despite 29-year drought

“I explain it by hard work. I bust my ass,” Jones told USA TODAY Sports when asked about the popularity of the team despite its lack of recent success. “This exact same hard work that is going on in the football. I work my ass off. And that hasn’t slowed down. This is the busiest I’ve ever been at training camp.”

Ironically, the Netflix series also overlaps with the Cowboys’ current reality, in which All-Pro linebacker Micah Parsons has become a central figure in the team’s ongoing soap opera (a term Jones used himself to describe the team). Parsons is staging a hold-in at training camp while seeking a lucrative contract extension, adding more drama to an already high-profile offseason.

Jones, who insists he doesn’t mind the spectacle, sees the dispute as part of what keeps the Cowboys at the center of the NFL spotlight. The docuseries ends with a poignant moment: Jones consoling Parsons after the Cowboys’ humiliating playoff loss to the Packers in 2023, assuring him the defeat wasn’t his fault.

Parsons, visibly frustrated, could only reply, “I just wanna win.”

This exchange highlights the stark contrast between the Cowboys’ 1990s glory days and their present struggles, underscoring the frustration of a generational star still waiting for the franchise to deliver on-field success.

But Jones, now 82, remains defiant. He credits relentless marketing and hard work for keeping the Cowboys the NFL’s most valuable franchise at $12.8 billion, even as fans lament another missed championship run. He points to playoff near-misses, strong regular-season records, and the team’s unmatched visibility as proof that the Cowboys’ formula doesn’t need to change.

“What’s the common denominator? Jones. I get it,” Jones said before comparing the team’s lack of success to the Buffalo Bills, who have never won a Super Bowl. “I just can’t get as convicted that the way we’re doing it, that our approach to trying to win a Super Bowl, that that needs to change. I guess that’s why I’m so defensive.”

For Jones, winning the Super Bowl is a rare feat and the fact that he’s already done it a few times is pretty dang good. Nevermind that it was nearly three decades ago. If he gets wins, it’s a bonus, but staying relevant is the real prize.

“I hang my hat on the fact that nobody gets to be in 20 of them. Maybe they experienced four of them, or three of them, or like Charles (Haley), five,” said Jones. “Thirty years sounds like you should be in half of them. I don’t look at it that way. I look at it like how many people have never been in one? I look at the three (Dallas won in the ‘90s) and I feel like I at least have three years left, or four or five years left, and there’s always the promise that I can get it this season. Or get it next season.”

The fans want a winning team. Jones is a businessman. For him - and he’s not entirely wrong - the Cowboys’ ability to remain both relevant and profitable without titles is its own kind of victory.

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