The rise and fall of Jerry
The new Netflix account of Jerry Jones and his Dallas Cowboys is a raw and worthy recount of one of the sport's most compelling stories.
In its ongoing quest to replicate the cultural phenomenon of The Last Dance, Netflix may have found an unlikely heir in Jerry Jones and the story of his Dallas Cowboys dynasty.
Nowadays, the Cowboys are the punchline of jokes across the NFL, a source of derision in the sports media landscape as they hobble from one disaster to the next, the latest occurring just this week when their star linebacker Micah Parsons was dealt to the Green Bay Packers in one of the biggest trades of the decade.
But in America’s Team: The Gambler and his Cowboys, we’re cast back to an era where the Texan club were at the top of the game and Jones, ever the maverick, upended the sport to his amusement and, sometimes, the betterment of it, not to mention the coffers of owners and teams across the country. The story takes us through their three Super Bowl wins, the failures in between, the public disputes and deeply personal grudges and flaws and a star-studded cast of characters.
What Netflix captured in The Last Dance, the story of Michael Jordan and the 1990s Chicago Bulls era, was a biographical account of a deeply flawed but otherworldly figure, told through his eyes and the point of view of his teammates and opponents, but an account which always held the veil of what Jordan wanted you to see. It was a peek behind the curtain with extraordinary behind-the-scenes footage, but at no point was the curtain truly cast aside leaving just Jordan facing himself in the mirror.
There is still that creative framing, a touch of “Jerrywashing” if you will, but this series feels grittier and more honest. On several occasions, the mirror is held up to its cast of characters, revealing as many regrets as triumphs.
Beginning with the purchase of the organisation by the Arkansas entrepreneur, it takes us from a plucky underdog story to one of a fallen star, forever unable to rocket upwards like it had in the early years. Through the arrival of mercurial coach and good friend of Jimmy Johnson, who delivered the Cowboys two Super Bowls in a row, an overarching theme of the series is the rise and fall of the relationship between Jones and his once good friend and college teammate Johnson, before the eventual reconciliation many years later having barbed and bloodied each other in the media for decades.
It tells the story of Emmitt Smith, the league’s leading rusher to this day, and his holdout and contract dispute, going toe-to-toe with the Gambler before they find a resolution, culminating in his eventual departure and realisation that, for him, it was only ever the Dallas Cowboys.
We come to know Michael Irvin, the star wide receiver and three-time Super Bowl champion, and his deep flaws and harsh regrets. From basic roots out of a huge Florida family, the boisterous Irvin became one of the NFL’s great larger than life characters. But even in his current voice as a leading NFL pundit, his flaws are exorcised in a remarkable and painfully honest fashion, be that in the White House affairs or the stunning retelling of an incident with teammate Everett McIver when, over a barbershop dispute, took a scissors to his neck. The incident was quietly dealt with without legal repercussion, something Irvin seems painfully aware of, that his teammate and the powers surrounding him allowed him another chance at freedom.
One of the more interesting side stories is that of quarterback star Troy Aikman and his rocky relationship with Johnson’s successor, Barry Switzer, something that tallies strongly against the overwhelming love his teammates and even Jerry Jones have for Switzer, to this day, the man who delivered the third Super Bowl trophy. The 87-year-old Switzer comes out as one of the purer figures of this time, clearly loved and respected by almost everyone, and in an era plagued by scandals and overpowered by the brashness and bravado of Jimmy Johnson, Switzer is given a small platform to shine.
Altogether, the Cowboys documentary is one of the most unvarnished accounts of a sporting dynasty and all its grubby nuts and bolts. Jones may lead the line in a manner that attempts to shine on the billionaire, but it’s allied by remarkable stories of conflict, reconciliation and the pointed aging of time, as the 82-year-old Jones comes to the realisation that although his club hasn’t delivered a Super Bowl since 1996, it’s been one hell of a ride with not a lot of road left, to the measured and melancholic note of his children.
America’s Team: The Gambler and his Cowboys is an unlikely triumph of the sports documentary medium. There is underdog hope and exhilaration, daring efforts to revolutionise a sport and a pain and rawness not often seen in these endeavours. We don’t have to like Jerry Jones coming out of it, not the man nor the NFL owner and general manager, but you have to respect the blood, sweat and tears he put into making the Dallas Cowboys one of the most fascinating shows in town and, to this day, one of sport’s most compelling dramas.