Jerry Jones engenders fairly strong emotions among those who follow professional football in the United States of America.
He bought a team in 1989 and then fired the only coach the team ever had, the iconic Tom Landry. Then he decided to forgo hiring a general manager and he took over the job himself. He made some comment at the time about getting involved in “everything, including washing jock straps.” (I know it’s not a precise quote, but it’s close enough.)
How have the Dallas Cowboys done since then? Well, they’ve won some and lost some. Yes, they have won three Super Bowls since Jones took over as owner. Still, the team, it’s safe to say, has fallen far short of the expectations its brash new owner set for it.
The word on Jones ever since he bought the team, though, is that he’s not necessarily a good “football guy.” Brilliant businessman, sure.
Now he’s popping off about the effect of the sport in which he participates on a brain disorder called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
The good “doctor” says there’s no connection between gigantic men colliding full-force into other men, knocking them senseless and then being afflicted with CTE. He calls assertions linking football to CTE “absurd.”
Jerry Jones needs to have his own head examined.
He said the National Football League lacks sufficient data to suggest the existence between CTE and the collisions that occur on the football field.
I do believe Jones is seriously — and tragically — mistaken.
Thus, I should recommendĀ that Jones watch a brilliant PBS documentary that got the nation’s attention a couple of years ago. “Frontline” broadcast “League of Denial” that chronicles a gripping series of cases involving men whose lives were shattered by CTE.
What didĀ these menĀ have in common? Every one of them played competitive American football.
“Frontline” peeled the skin off a disorder that has shattered many lives. Insufficient data? It’s out there, Jerry. Really.
The NFL acknowledges it. So should the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.