Did Jerry Jones undermine the credibility of 105.3 The Fan this morning?
The pressure may be getting to him.
— KD Drummond (@KDDrummondNFL) October 15, 2024
Everyone knows that meme where the dog is sitting at a table with a cup of coffee, saying “this is fine,” but the cabin is engulfed in flames? That’s likely how fans who tuned into 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday morning felt as Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones made his weekly appearance talking to the hosts.
Shan and RJ have had an interesting relationship with Jones over the years, often times existing on each side of the proverbial line of being called too sympathetic with the Jones and other times pressing him on issues. It probably means they do their jobs relatively well when each side has something to complain about. But following yet another blowout home loss following a disheartening offseason of inaction laid at Jones’ feet, things got really testy.
After being asked about the lack of talent on the roster and whether it’s linked to his inactive offseason of not just the annual dismissal of signing external free agents but letting many of their own walk, Jones seemed to threaten the radio hosts.
“This is not your job. Your job isn’t to let me go over all the reasons that I did something and I’m sorry that I did it. That’s not your job. I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions. I’m not kidding. You’re not going to figure it out what the team is doing right or wrong. If you are, or any five or 10 like you, you need to come to this (NFL) meeting I’m going to today with 32 teams here, you’re geniuses.
“You really think you’re gonna sit here with a microphone and tell me all of the things that I’ve done wrong without going over the rights? Listen, we both know we’re talking to a lot of great fans, a lot of great listeners. And I’m very sorry for what happened out there Sunday. I’m sick about what happened Sunday.
“… One of the stupidest things I’ve ever done, that anybody had ever analyzed was buy the Cowboys. It was an idiot that did that. So idiot things can turn into good decisions. Smart things can turn into bad decisions. The facts are when you make one, you don’t really know if it’s going to be good or not at the time. You want some conversation this morning, you’re getting it.”
105.3 The Fan is owned by Audacy Inc, but it is the flagship home of the Dallas Cowboys and as such, they have access to Jones, his son Stephen Jones and other members of the Cowboys, along with broadcast rights for the games, the draft coverage and other things.
The relationship has often brought questions of whether or not the hosts across their shows have the latitude to really press out the team’s leadership without risk of losing the likely multimillion dollar arrangement. Jones’ comment “I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions. I’m not kidding.” without any hint of laughter or good-natured ribbing, is certainly something to consider.
The Cowboys were blown out, 47-9, on Jones’ 82nd birthday. The questions from the host ranged from their preparation, to whether or not Jones would consider firing Mike McCarthy in-season, to whether or not Jones would be looking to bring in players from outside the organization. Jones started getting testy at this point.
The follow-up question from Shariff is why they didn’t get more talent in the offseason and Jones cut him off before he could even complete the asking. Jones tried to move the goalpost to the fact that there’s not enough time to question all of the bad decisions he’s made. Shariff re-centers and says that it’s not 1970 he’s asking about, he’s asking about the recent offseason.
Jones tells the hosts what their job is, which lifts the veil over whether or not they are parameters around what he’s willing to put up with from what is supposed to be an independent media outlet.
“I don’t get mad at people that I can not be with if I don’t wanna be with.”
Following the show, Shariff clarified that he felt Jones’ threats are that he’d move his interview to another show on the station.
This article has been updated with additional context.