By Darin Hayes October 13, 1942, Los Angeles, California – Jerral Wayne “Jerry” Jones is born. When Jerry was about three, the Jones family moved back to North Little Rock, Arkansas, and opened up a couple of grocery stores called Pat’s Super Markets, aptly named for Jerry’s father, J. W. Pat Jones.
After Jerry’s graduation, Pat moved the family to Springfield, Missouri, as he took a position with the Modern Security Life Insurance Co. Meanwhile, Jerry attended the University of Arkansas and played football for the Razorbacks. He was pretty good, too, as he was a co-captain of the 1964 National Championship team. Also, on top of the nation, the Razorback team was led by a man named Jimmy Johnson.
After college, Jerry took a position with the Life Insurance company, his father had basically taken over and was listed as the executive vice-president. Jerry soon took full ownership of the insurance company, sold it in the early 1970s, and then took up a hobby of oil wildcatting, really making a name for himself and a boatload of money, according to Forbes.com.
On February 25, 1989, Jerry Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys for $150 million. According to a recent Forbes report, the Cowboys franchise is now worth $5.5 billion, while Jerry himself has a net worth of $8.6 billion. Jones’ first action was to release the only coach the Cowboys had ever known, Tom Landry, hire his college buddy Jimmy Johnson, and fire long-time GM Tex Schramm. The team struggled at first, but then, after the monster trade for Hershel Walker, noted in our October 12 post, the Cowboys enjoyed glory days in the 1990s, including 3 Super Bowl wins. Jerry has been outspoken and often criticized for holding onto most of the player personnel decisions with the Dallas franchise. However, no one can deny that he has kept the Cowboys in the news, regardless of their record in the standings. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Jerry Jones in 2017.
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