Jerry Jones Says Removing Himself As Cowboys GM Is "Just Not Going To Happen"

Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones reiterated his stance that he is going to remain the team's GM. Speaking on his weekly radio show on KRLD-FM, Jones said, "There’s no way that I would be involved here and not be the final decision-maker on something as important as players, and that is a key area. That’s never been anybody’s misunderstanding. It’s been a debated thing but it’s just not going to happen. We’ve had success doing it this way and we’re going to have success in the future doing it this way.” Jones in an interview with NBC’s Bob Costas prior to Sunday's Cowboys-Falcons game said he probably would have made a change if the GM was a different person. Jones yesterday said, “I was asked the question, ‘If you were an owner and you had a general manager would you make a change?’ Under those circumstances I speculated that I probably would’ve made a change. But that’s not our situation. To change, I’d have to change myself. People don’t do that” (“The Jerry Jones Show,” KRLD-FM, 11/6). ESPN DALLAS' Calvin Watkins noted Jones "the owner and Jones the general manager have won three Super Bowls together," but the GM "has struggled ... recently." Only five players remain "from the 2009 and 2010 drafts combined," and the team is just 123-124 since '97. The GM's tenure "has been marred by questionable trades," including giving up three draft picks for WR Roy Williams. However, he also "has made some good moves," including trading up to draft CB Morris Claiborne this year (ESPNDALLAS.com, 11/6).

TIME TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR: ESPN DALLAS' Tim MacMahon wrote under the header, "It's Time To Fire The Man In The Mirror." MacMahon: "Jerry isn't so delusional that he believes he's done a good job as the general manager over the last decade and a half. ... But Jerry doesn't want to win. He wants to get the lion's share of the glory. That's why he'll never, ever consider putting his ego aside for the best interests of the franchise by giving up the GM duties." A "reasonable, honest man would stare in the mirror and see someone not fit to make the personnel decisions for an NFL franchise." But Jones "uses those three Lombardi Trophies as mirrors, rationalizing that his way has been proven as the right way" (ESPNDALLAS.com, 11/4). In Dallas, Rick Gosselin wrote if Jones “is trying to build this team in the image of those that won Lombardi trophies for him in the past, he is failing.” Gosselin: “When I look at the 2012 Cowboys, I don’t see a championship team. I’m not sure what Jerry is seeing. The man who provides the vision for a franchise appears to have lost that vision” (DALLASNEWS.com, 11/6). Also in Dallas, Brandon George writes Jones has “done it his way most of his life in becoming one of the nation’s richest men.” He has a new stadium in Arlington “that’s always sold out, and despite declining TV ratings for the Cowboys, Jones’ franchise is worth more money than any other in North America.” And the fans -- even the ones” who cry out for him to hire a general manger -- keep coming back for more despite the mediocrity on the field” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/7).

THE ADAMS FAMILY: In Nashville, David Climer writes Titans Owner Bud Adams is correct to criticize his team, as when an NFL team “performs as poorly as the Titans did on Sunday, something is horribly amiss.” Adams has put "everybody on alert" that if things "don’t improve over the next seven games, heads are going to roll." Climer: "Just wondering: Has an NFL owner ever fired himself? ... Let’s not ignore the man sitting in the owner’s booth.” Climer adds, “My only guess is that Bud had grown comfortable with what the Titans were under [former head coach Jeff] Fisher: a franchise that had occasional upticks but more often than not was stuck in neutral. Mediocrity was acceptable” (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 11/7).