ESPN star torches Jerry Jones, says network devotes excessive airtime to Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys continue to be one of the most talked-about sports franchises in the nation. But former sports columnist and longtime TV commentator Michael Wilbon suggested the talk about “America’s Team” should be tempered.

During their heyday, which included three Super Bowl titles in the first half of the 1990s, the Cowboys were known as “America’s Team.” The club also won a pair of titles in the 1970s and had rosters filled with star players.

But since winning the Super Bowl in the 1995 season, success has been sparse. The franchise hasn’t advanced to a conference championship since that season.

But the limited on-field victories have not stopped the national media from discussing the team. Wilbon argued Dallas becomes irrelevant once the calendar turns to January. 

JERRY JONES FACES ‘PAY MICAH’ CHANTS FROM COWBOYS FANS AT TRAINING CAMP SESSION

“The Cowboys, they’re not in the big action late,” Wilbon said on Monday’s episode of “Pardon the Interruption” during a discussion about longtime team owner Jerry Jones.

“They’re not relevant in January. So, he could be hurting his team while he’s doing it. Again, I don’t care about that because I don’t care about the Cowboys, even though I know most of the programming on this network is devoted to Jerry Jones and the Cowboys.”

Wilbon further explained he mostly ignores what Jones says during his frequent news conferences. 

“There’s nothing Jerry Jones says that I pay any attention to. Nothing,” Wilbon added. “Because the point of trying to decipher what he says and assign meaning to it is a damn waste of time, and I don’t have that much. Jerry Jones likes to hear himself talk. He likes to talk. He likes to stand in a room with reporters and talk. I’m sure if there’s nobody in the room, he’d stand there and talk.”

While the Cowboys have not found their way back to the NFL mountaintop in nearly three decades, Jones has reached the pinnacle in terms of business operations. In 2024, a valuation from Forbes estimated the Cowboys were worth an estimated $10.1 billion, making the franchise the most valuable sports team in the world.

Jones is in the midst of a closely watched contract extension negotiation with Micah Parson’s reps. Jones has commented on the situation as he weighs whether to offer Parsons a long-term deal that would presumably make the pass rusher the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL.

Jones contended with fans chanting “re-sign Parsons” at training camp this week. Jones acknowledged the message from fans and compared it to last year’s situation with star receiver CeeDee Lamb.

“I heard it light, but not compared to how I heard them say, ‘Pay Lamb [last year],’” Jones said Sunday. “That was a faint little sound compared to the way they were hollering last year, ‘Pay Lamb.’ … Whoever’s not in, you can count on a few hollering that. But it was a big loud chant last year on Lamb.”

The Cowboys finished last season with a 7-10 record.

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