Jones Talks Cowboys, NFL’s Future in L.A.

As is their custom, the Dallas Cowboys have a new T-shirt at training camp worn by players and team personnel. This year’s version features two hands pushing a pile of Cowboys-logo chips into the pot, under the words “Who’s All In?”

The slogan was coined by Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who has taken a significant gamble this season in signing Terrell Owens, the talented but controversial receiver who wore out his welcome last season in Philadelphia.

That was one of the many subjects Jones discussed recently when he sat down for an interview with Times staff writer Sam Farmer and reporters from USA Today, the Washington Post and Philadelphia Daily News.

Excerpts from that interview:

Question: Once the NFL appoints a new commissioner, what is Job One? Further defining revenue sharing between clubs? Putting a team in the Los Angeles area? Continuing to build the NFL Network?

Answer: I’m not going to rank it. I will say you’ve listed Los Angeles as a priority. Certainly the league and our players’ relationship is a priority.

Our media, the opportunities and challenge we have ahead in showing our games, that’s certainly in the high-priority area. I list those in the top five.

Q: This time last year, you said that proposed changes in revenue sharing could discourage some potential owners from investing in an L.A. team and stadium. Is that still the case?

A: What I’m looking at is there is more momentum right now, today, than there was this time last year. There’s a more roll-your-sleeves-up, let’s-get-down-to-business feel. That’s not just arm-waving. ...

We don’t have the business model or the key players in place. It’s going to have to have real serious support from a lot of people relative to attending the games and financially contributing to it. My new stadium in Dallas has to have that. I couldn’t make it work if it didn’t have that.

It’s not just about the corporate support because that only gets you so far. That may get you to midfield, that may get you to the 30. But then that’s just assuming that we’re going to have a racehorse, thoroughbred owner (in the L.A. area) with big-time commitments, not delegated commitments, genuine fanny-on-the-line, make-it-go skills to get in there to energize the community.

Q: Will it make sense under the new revenue-sharing system?

A: I haven’t met any owner that’s come into the NFL where it made financial sense. That’s not why you do it. Did they automatically come in going to the guillotine financially? No. I never met anybody that thought they were going to get slaughtered by coming into the NFL. But they sure didn’t come into the NFL to, quote, make money. There are other reasons. ... It’s the pride of being part of something as special as the NFL.

Q: Once upon a time, you would make brash predictions when you felt good about the Cowboys. What about now that you’ve signed Terrell Owens?

A: I feel good. I’ve gotten a lot of the fire knocked out of my fanny the last few years about those predictions. It’s humbled me to not have been in playoff games, or to not have won playoff games.

When I first became involved in the NFL there was no honeymoon and I got humbled pretty good with all that criticism. I’m not saying it doesn’t create incentive, but what it does do is it limits me from being as optimistic as we start our season.

Having said all that, we’ve put together players here that let us be the best team on paper that we’ve been in the last five or six years.

Q: What enabled you to feel comfortable enough to sign Owens, considering the problems he had with teammates in San Francisco and Philadelphia?

A: We have his money right. We agreed in about every way you can: Is the money right? Is the money fair? ... There’s something deep in me that says if you look over the last several years that hadn’t been reconciled in his mind. And then I’ve had the good fortune to be involved with players that have had criticism off the field, but have been inordinately hard workers and competitive in practice and games. He fit that. ...

So I bought into the fact that I had to accept or be comfortable with some of the things that you see that are criticized. Those things are all about winning the ballgame. Several people asked me, ‘What are your thoughts about him demonstrating on the star? How mad did that make you?’ Not half as mad as the touchdown he made right before he went to the star.

Q: Owens is brilliant when it comes to marketing himself and creating interest. In that way, do you feel a kinship?

A: I sure do not create take-aways from individuals that have a flair for marketing. I couldn’t look in the mirror if I did that. But I also know that you can have a flair for marketing but also be very sound in the way you go about the business. You usually never have a chance to have the marketing unless you get it done.

You can go to bars throughout this country and you’ll see a lot of guys that can make clever statements, get up and make somebody smile. But the reason why they’re not at a much higher level is they haven’t done it. Look at Deion (Sanders). He walked the walk, and he had a flair. There’s a place for that. You can overdo it, get caught up in it, and forget what it is people are really interested in. But to basically have an entertaining flair about what you do, I can identify with that.

Q: A lot of people predicted a nuclear meltdown between you and Bill Parcells. Now, people are waiting for a similar implosion between Parcells and Owens. How can you prevent one?

A: I think awareness. ... You can’t take your relationship for granted. When Jimmy [Johnson] and I parted ways, Bill Walsh got on “Nightline” and said it’s a classic example of two friends who grew careless with their relationship. Bill and I have not been careless with our relationship.

I have every reason to believe that Terrell and Bill will be very mindful of that.