Super Bowl Musings

I don't think Jerry Jones is greedy. I think he is insecure. And I think those of us who are judging him are no better than he is.

I also can't believe I'm actually writing this post, given my propensity to avoid sports and all, to defend a person who is constantly being vilified on his home turf.

I've been watching the comments on Facebook over the last few days and they are altogether JUST LIKE MINE. Most of the last week I've been kind of doing the "happy dance" that Super Bowl week has been all messed up by weather. Hence, Jerry's been getting "what's coming" his way.

Who knows if God is trying to teach Mr. Jones a lesson? Surely, I don't. And, if this is a message to him on patience, God has been taking a whole lot of people off the grid for a very long time, just to teach one person a message.*

Now, I know that God has that supreme right. He can decide to do whatever he pleases to teach whomever he wants a lesson. But, I think we are jumping to hasty conclusions on this one.

I've started to realize "If I were in Mr. Jones' shoes, I wouldn't like people deducing who I am as a person without actually knowing me personally."

And I thought back to a "60 Minutes" interview Mike and I watched last December. And really analyzed my thinking.

I watched Mr. Jones squirm during that interview on "60 Minutes". He made an interesting point that maybe the Cowboys have gotten too full of themselves. He didn't directly state that this also applied to him, but I think that line of thinking was implicit in the comment, given that he has a VERY HARD TIME separating himself from the franchise. Further, I think, given the almost 180 degree change that came with the hiring of Jason Garrett and the tightening of the team to business-only, he may have a really good point.

Some would say change for the franchise really needs to start at the top. But, during that interview, Jerry stepped-up to take the blame. As GM, he admits, that the blame falls squarely in his lap. He admitted, if his good friend, George Steinbrenner, had been his boss he would been fired a long time back.

And, for the first time, I realized where that need to control comes from: he can't give up an incident where he was shamed by his credit card being cut up in front of him at Love Field years ago. He's terrified of being broke, even with $2 billion dollar in net worth.

He'll admit that he is running scared. Scared of going back to having nothing. Scared of losing everything. Probably, though he didn't say it directly, scared of being a "nobody".

This is a man who, under scrutiny for failing, takes that criticism and uses it as a fire of inspiration to do better. How many of us can say that?

He said he made a deal with God that he wanted three Super Bowls and, after that, he'd stop asking. Now, he half-jokingly says, he's trying to recraft the deal.

I'd like to humbly suggest that maybe Jerry needs to use that hotline to God for a better purpose: to actually figure out how to learn to let go of the need to control, the worry, the fear, and the anxiety. In essence, to realize that being at the top of your game isn't so great when it comes with all the basics necessary to fall victim to traits that aren't spiritually healthy.

Of course, most days, everyone I run into could use that little lesson. And most will never see a billion dollars of net worth.

But that doesn't give us the right to hate on a man who has worked hard to get where he is and is working hard every day to maintain it.

Personally, I hope Super Bowl Sunday is a gigantic win for the Cowboys. And for all the businesses that hope to reap the monetary rewards of being lucky enough to be in DFW. We, like most cities across the great USA, could use a little shot in the arm, financially.

Because, bottom line? We all stand to win from Jerry this weekend. Whether we like him or not. Faults and all, truth be told, Jerry is much more like us than we'd like to admit.

Just with a few more zeros in his bank book, a really big football team on his payroll, and a better view of the game come Sunday.


*Maybe there are others, like me, who have been going a little stir-crazy this week with kids at home or an icy driveway that makes it impossible to get out. I'm of the opinion that the lesson on patience wasn't just for Jerry.