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As Hall of Fame presenter, Jerry Jones' bond with players evident
03:11 AM CDT on Sunday, August 1, 2010
By BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News
bhorn@dallasnews.com
Jerry Jones has replaced Tom Landry. Not on the sideline, as critics suspect has been his ultimate dream. Rather, Jones has emerged as the successor to the Hall of Fame coach as the favored presenter of former Cowboys players as they cross the threshold in Canton.
It will be Jones who introduces Emmitt Smith at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony this Saturday, just as the Cowboys owner presented Michael Irvin three summers ago.
Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, considered teammate Daryl Johnston, the fullback whose ferocious blocking led to so many of Smith's yards.
Irvin, the wide receiver and spiritual leader of the Cowboys' three Super Bowl championships of the 1990s, considered former coach Jimmy Johnson as his presenter. But in the end, Jones, who has supported Smith and Irvin on and off the field, won out.
"It was tough, because it was Daryl Johnston and Jerry," Smith said. "The tough part in making that decision was that only one person could do it. When I started sitting back and reflecting and thinking, as much as I love Daryl – and trust me, I do – I had to think about Jerry Jones and what he has meant to my life."
And so Smith sent an elaborate invitation accompanied by an expensive bottle of champagne to Jones' home in asking his former boss to do the honors. Irvin and wife Sandy made a pilgrimage to Jones' office. A simple phone call would have gotten both Hall of Famers the same response.
"No one has ever asked me anything that has meant more to me," Jones said in discussing the honor in an interview last month.
And if Jones' reckoning is correct, he may be similarly smitten if Deion Sanders, Larry Allen and Charles Haley are ultimately voted into the Hall.
Jones didn't volunteer the names when asked if he could envision himself returning to Canton to introduce more Cowboys.
"I don't want to be presumptuous," was his initial response.
Pressed, he offered the possibility of returning to Canton for "Deion, Larry and Charles." He obviously has thought about it.
"I look at my relationships with them, and I believe I will be considered," Jones said.
Sanders, who played five seasons for the Cowboys and nine seasons for three other teams, and Allen, who played a dozen seasons on the offensive line for Jones' team, appear to be Hall of Fame cinches. Haley, who also played for the 49ers and remains the only player with five Super Bowl rings, is more of a long shot.
If Jones does get calls from Sanders and Allen, that would put him at four Cowboys Hall introductions, the same number as Landry.
Landry traveled to Canton to present Bob Lilly in 1980, Roger Staubach in 1985, Tony Dorsett in 1994 and Mel Renfro in 1996. Two of Landry's other players in the Hall – Rayfield Wright (2006) and Bob Hayes (2009) – were inducted after Landry's death in 2000. The lone player not to ask Landry was Randy White, who was inducted alongside Dorsett.
One reason White chose his old defensive line coach and mentor Ernie Stautner?
"Tony asked Coach Landry first," White said.
"Coach Landry was kind of an easy choice for all of us," Renfro said. "He changed our lives. Not only did he make us better players, he made us better men."
The right choice
Owners introducing players has been a fairly common practice since 1969, when the Hall's seventh class was inducted. That year, Stautner selected Steelers boss Art Rooney, while the San Francisco 49ers' Leo Nomellini and Joe Perry picked co-owners Jane Morabito and Josephine Morabito for their introductions.
But it wasn't until almost four decades later when Irvin made Jones the first Cowboys owner so honored. Neither the relatively reclusive Clint Murchison nor the distant Bum Bright ever introduced a player. Neither did Tex Schramm, who acted as a de facto owner in running the team for 29 seasons.
Players never seemed to forget that Schramm was an adversarial representative of ownership with a well-earned reputation for protecting his bosses' money.
When Landry was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990, he sought out Staubach to make the introduction rather than ask Schramm, who had been in on hiring Landry before the NFL even granted Dallas a team in 1960. When Schramm was inducted in 1991, he went outside the organization, selecting former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle.
By all accounts, Jones has been more collegial with his stars.
"The guys we are talking about were my first dance," Jones said. "They were tolerant of me. They recognize that at times we disagreed, but in the end we all had meaningful relationships. I was involved with all of their contracts and contract extensions, and there has been an ongoingness of our relationships beyond their playing days."
Obviously, Smith bears no hard feelings toward Jones about their acrimonious post-Super Bowl XXVII contract negotiations in 1993 that ended only after Smith missed the first two games of the season, both Cowboys losses. After all, Jones did make Smith the league's highest-paid running back at the time.
Three years later, Jones signed Smith to an eight-year, $48 million contract that included a record $15 million signing bonus. That made Smith the NFL's second-highest-paid player, behind only Troy Aikman and his $50 million deal.
Said Smith: "[Jerry's] given my family an opportunity to have the lifestyle we have now. Not only that, but the Cowboys have provided a platform for us to go out and do the things we're trying to do. When I had to weigh it all, Jerry is part of my destiny. I had to give Jerry the opportunity because of what he's done for me."
Jones has no hard feelings that his first Hall of Famer, Troy Aikman, chose Norv Turner, his offensive coordinator/position coach, for his 2006 induction.
"I understand his relationship with Norv," Jones said. "Troy could never disappoint me."
Said Aikman: "For me, it came down to Norv and Jerry. I was Jerry's first draft pick, but I just felt I was going in for what Norv did for my career."
A special honor
Hall of Fame presenters have come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. They have ranged from inductees' children to friends, to agents, to high school coaches, to college coaches, to position coaches, to teammates and, of course, owners.
In 2003, Joe DeLamielleure, a guard for the Buffalo Bills, chose a hometown sportswriter – Larry Felser.
The new millennium has seen the advent of fathers presenting. Over the last decade, Steve Young , Barry Sanders , Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott all asked their dads. Father Benedict Dudley, a team chaplain, introduced former Giants defensive back Emlen Tunnell in 1967. No one has yet invited their mother.
This time around, owners are in vogue. Three of the seven inductees Saturday will be introduced by their one-time bosses.
In addition to Jones, former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. will introduce Jerry Rice and New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson will present Rickey Jackson.
The Oakland Raiders' Al Davis rules the owners' roost. Davis, who also coached the Raiders and before that served as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers, has presented a record number of Hall of Famers.
Davis started in 1978 with Chargers wide receiver Lance Alworth. Davis' last was John Madden , who coached his Raiders for a decade. In between, Davis introduced Raiders players Jim Otto (1980), George Blanda (1981), Willie Brown (1984), Gene Upshaw (1987), Fred Biletnikoff (1988), Art Shell (1989) and Ted Hendricks (1990).
"It was Al who first told me about how special the honor is," Jones said. "And I can assure that Al was right. I don't know a better feeling."
TOP PRESENTERS Top five presenters to members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
Al Davis (9)
John Madden '06
Ted Hendricks '90
Art Shell '89
Fred Biletnikoff '88
Gene Upshaw '87
Willie Brown '84
George Blanda '81
Jim Otto '80
Lance Alworth '78
Paul Brown (6)
Mike McCormack '84
Weeb Ewbank '78
Bill Willis '77
Dante Lavelli '75
Lou Groza '74
Otto Graham '65
Don Shula (5)
Dwight Stephenson '98
Larry Little '93
Bob Griese '90
Larry Csonka '87
Jim Langer '87
Tom Landry (5)
Mel Renfro '96
Tony Dorsett '94
Roger Staubach '85
Sam Huff '82
Bob Lilly '80
Hank Stram (4)
Jan Stenerud '91
Buck Buchanan '90
Len Dawson '87
Bobby Bell '83
Eddie DeBartolo Jr. (4)
Jerry Rice '10
Fred Dean '08
Joe Montana '00
Bill Walsh '93
03:11 AM CDT on Sunday, August 1, 2010
By BARRY HORN / The Dallas Morning News
bhorn@dallasnews.com
Jerry Jones has replaced Tom Landry. Not on the sideline, as critics suspect has been his ultimate dream. Rather, Jones has emerged as the successor to the Hall of Fame coach as the favored presenter of former Cowboys players as they cross the threshold in Canton.
It will be Jones who introduces Emmitt Smith at the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony this Saturday, just as the Cowboys owner presented Michael Irvin three summers ago.
Smith, the NFL's all-time leading rusher, considered teammate Daryl Johnston, the fullback whose ferocious blocking led to so many of Smith's yards.
Irvin, the wide receiver and spiritual leader of the Cowboys' three Super Bowl championships of the 1990s, considered former coach Jimmy Johnson as his presenter. But in the end, Jones, who has supported Smith and Irvin on and off the field, won out.
"It was tough, because it was Daryl Johnston and Jerry," Smith said. "The tough part in making that decision was that only one person could do it. When I started sitting back and reflecting and thinking, as much as I love Daryl – and trust me, I do – I had to think about Jerry Jones and what he has meant to my life."
And so Smith sent an elaborate invitation accompanied by an expensive bottle of champagne to Jones' home in asking his former boss to do the honors. Irvin and wife Sandy made a pilgrimage to Jones' office. A simple phone call would have gotten both Hall of Famers the same response.
"No one has ever asked me anything that has meant more to me," Jones said in discussing the honor in an interview last month.
And if Jones' reckoning is correct, he may be similarly smitten if Deion Sanders, Larry Allen and Charles Haley are ultimately voted into the Hall.
Jones didn't volunteer the names when asked if he could envision himself returning to Canton to introduce more Cowboys.
"I don't want to be presumptuous," was his initial response.
Pressed, he offered the possibility of returning to Canton for "Deion, Larry and Charles." He obviously has thought about it.
"I look at my relationships with them, and I believe I will be considered," Jones said.
Sanders, who played five seasons for the Cowboys and nine seasons for three other teams, and Allen, who played a dozen seasons on the offensive line for Jones' team, appear to be Hall of Fame cinches. Haley, who also played for the 49ers and remains the only player with five Super Bowl rings, is more of a long shot.
If Jones does get calls from Sanders and Allen, that would put him at four Cowboys Hall introductions, the same number as Landry.
Landry traveled to Canton to present Bob Lilly in 1980, Roger Staubach in 1985, Tony Dorsett in 1994 and Mel Renfro in 1996. Two of Landry's other players in the Hall – Rayfield Wright (2006) and Bob Hayes (2009) – were inducted after Landry's death in 2000. The lone player not to ask Landry was Randy White, who was inducted alongside Dorsett.
One reason White chose his old defensive line coach and mentor Ernie Stautner?
"Tony asked Coach Landry first," White said.
"Coach Landry was kind of an easy choice for all of us," Renfro said. "He changed our lives. Not only did he make us better players, he made us better men."
The right choice
Owners introducing players has been a fairly common practice since 1969, when the Hall's seventh class was inducted. That year, Stautner selected Steelers boss Art Rooney, while the San Francisco 49ers' Leo Nomellini and Joe Perry picked co-owners Jane Morabito and Josephine Morabito for their introductions.
But it wasn't until almost four decades later when Irvin made Jones the first Cowboys owner so honored. Neither the relatively reclusive Clint Murchison nor the distant Bum Bright ever introduced a player. Neither did Tex Schramm, who acted as a de facto owner in running the team for 29 seasons.
Players never seemed to forget that Schramm was an adversarial representative of ownership with a well-earned reputation for protecting his bosses' money.
When Landry was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990, he sought out Staubach to make the introduction rather than ask Schramm, who had been in on hiring Landry before the NFL even granted Dallas a team in 1960. When Schramm was inducted in 1991, he went outside the organization, selecting former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle.
By all accounts, Jones has been more collegial with his stars.
"The guys we are talking about were my first dance," Jones said. "They were tolerant of me. They recognize that at times we disagreed, but in the end we all had meaningful relationships. I was involved with all of their contracts and contract extensions, and there has been an ongoingness of our relationships beyond their playing days."
Obviously, Smith bears no hard feelings toward Jones about their acrimonious post-Super Bowl XXVII contract negotiations in 1993 that ended only after Smith missed the first two games of the season, both Cowboys losses. After all, Jones did make Smith the league's highest-paid running back at the time.
Three years later, Jones signed Smith to an eight-year, $48 million contract that included a record $15 million signing bonus. That made Smith the NFL's second-highest-paid player, behind only Troy Aikman and his $50 million deal.
Said Smith: "[Jerry's] given my family an opportunity to have the lifestyle we have now. Not only that, but the Cowboys have provided a platform for us to go out and do the things we're trying to do. When I had to weigh it all, Jerry is part of my destiny. I had to give Jerry the opportunity because of what he's done for me."
Jones has no hard feelings that his first Hall of Famer, Troy Aikman, chose Norv Turner, his offensive coordinator/position coach, for his 2006 induction.
"I understand his relationship with Norv," Jones said. "Troy could never disappoint me."
Said Aikman: "For me, it came down to Norv and Jerry. I was Jerry's first draft pick, but I just felt I was going in for what Norv did for my career."
A special honor
Hall of Fame presenters have come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. They have ranged from inductees' children to friends, to agents, to high school coaches, to college coaches, to position coaches, to teammates and, of course, owners.
In 2003, Joe DeLamielleure, a guard for the Buffalo Bills, chose a hometown sportswriter – Larry Felser.
The new millennium has seen the advent of fathers presenting. Over the last decade, Steve Young , Barry Sanders , Marcus Allen and Ronnie Lott all asked their dads. Father Benedict Dudley, a team chaplain, introduced former Giants defensive back Emlen Tunnell in 1967. No one has yet invited their mother.
This time around, owners are in vogue. Three of the seven inductees Saturday will be introduced by their one-time bosses.
In addition to Jones, former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. will introduce Jerry Rice and New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson will present Rickey Jackson.
The Oakland Raiders' Al Davis rules the owners' roost. Davis, who also coached the Raiders and before that served as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers, has presented a record number of Hall of Famers.
Davis started in 1978 with Chargers wide receiver Lance Alworth. Davis' last was John Madden , who coached his Raiders for a decade. In between, Davis introduced Raiders players Jim Otto (1980), George Blanda (1981), Willie Brown (1984), Gene Upshaw (1987), Fred Biletnikoff (1988), Art Shell (1989) and Ted Hendricks (1990).
"It was Al who first told me about how special the honor is," Jones said. "And I can assure that Al was right. I don't know a better feeling."
TOP PRESENTERS Top five presenters to members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
Al Davis (9)
John Madden '06
Ted Hendricks '90
Art Shell '89
Fred Biletnikoff '88
Gene Upshaw '87
Willie Brown '84
George Blanda '81
Jim Otto '80
Lance Alworth '78
Paul Brown (6)
Mike McCormack '84
Weeb Ewbank '78
Bill Willis '77
Dante Lavelli '75
Lou Groza '74
Otto Graham '65
Don Shula (5)
Dwight Stephenson '98
Larry Little '93
Bob Griese '90
Larry Csonka '87
Jim Langer '87
Tom Landry (5)
Mel Renfro '96
Tony Dorsett '94
Roger Staubach '85
Sam Huff '82
Bob Lilly '80
Hank Stram (4)
Jan Stenerud '91
Buck Buchanan '90
Len Dawson '87
Bobby Bell '83
Eddie DeBartolo Jr. (4)
Jerry Rice '10
Fred Dean '08
Joe Montana '00
Bill Walsh '93
