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What you need to understand most about the story of Jerry Jones giving Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a Super Bowl ring, is that in doing so Jones accomplished something he’s done for decades: manipulate power, or the powerful, for his own benefit. Few NFL owners understand power − how it works, how to use it, how to take it, how to create it − like Jones. Other owners are rich; Jones is rich and a shark. Sharks like him know what a sucker looks like. He found one in Thomas.
It doesn’t matter if Thomas is a Supreme. Pffft. So what. Jones saw Thomas, wide-eyed and gullible, not understanding that he has more power than Jones by a billion light years, and Jones took some of that power for his own, like Highlander, and all it cost him was a Super Bowl ring.
Jones was an influencer before influencers. He builds alliances with the powerful (even if those powerful people aren’t always the most upstanding). But he’s not interested in morality. You don’t become a billionaire by taking lumps. You become a billionaire by snagging chumps.
Jones has always been able to sense the sucker in the room, and he likely knew that Thomas was open for business, and to Jones, a ring was a cheap price to get his designer boots in the door with Thomas. You never know when Cowboys business might need a helping hand from a Supreme.
People have missed why this story is so important. It’s not about Thomas. We already knew Thomas had issues. That’s old news. What we’ve learned is that Jones’ power goes far beyond football. We knew Jones had political influence but no one knew until now it was to this degree.
There’s been no indication that any of Jones’ business interests have appeared before the court. But Jones’ actions were also about the possibility that those interests could.
Read more NFL analysis:Is Rooney Rule ready for reform? Why ex-NFLPA director says change could take decades.
The Dallas Morning News published a story recently about Jones’ political contributions and when you combine that with news of Clarence and The Super Bowl Ring, it reveals a picture of an owner who is among the most powerful and connected in American sports history. Jones donated $525,000 to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and $200,000 to both Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and attorney general Ken Paxton.
Paxton is currently facing impeachment after accusations of bribery and other abuses.
And these are the examples of Jones’ attempts at political influence that we know about. Imagine the stuff we don’t know.
Jones has long had the reputation in the NFL as perhaps its most ruthless owner. Other owners, like Washington’s Dan Snyder, who is in the process of selling the team, could be clumsily vicious, almost comedically so. Jones has always been slicker and he’s used those smarts and aggression to become the most powerful owner in the NFL and maybe all of sports. The Cowboys may not win championships but they are an ATM machine.
Along the way Jones has made a number of enemies. The late New York Giants owner Wellington Mara, in the Hall of Fame, once after the Giants beat the Cowboys, was asked if he was happy to beat Jones. “It’s nice to see arrogance humbled,” Mara said. “I enjoyed it very much.”
Jones the shark has been on display for decades now. He fired Jimmy Johnson and replaced him with friend Barry Switzer. He spent years cutting side deals with companies that rankled traditional owners like Mara. Jones is often called the “shadow commissioner” by some in the league and once launched what was essentially a coup against Roger Goodell. The coup obviously failed but Jones still sits as the league’s most powerful influence, unchallenged, and basically unpunished for attacking Goodell.
Thomas didn’t stand a chance.
Another owner attempted to influence Thomas as well. One of them was Wayne Huizenga, the late owner of the Dolphins. The New York Times says that in the late 2000s, Thomas met with the Dolphins, and at least once flew on the team plane, and was taken from a Dolphins practice on a helicopter. Huizenga was nonetheless still an amateur compared to Jones.
If you want to say Jones and Thomas are close friends, and the Super Bowl ring is about a deep friendship, I might pass out from LOL’ing. They could indeed be close friends but Jones, to me, doesn’t see friendship. He sees proximity to power.
Besides the ring, according to the Times, Thomas flew on Jones’ private jet, attended training camp practices, and sat in Jones’ private box when the Cowboys played at Washington.
Thomas has been scrutinized recently following numerous reports of him receiving gifts and services from private rich citizens. The reason Jones courted Thomas is a simple one. If you can get a Supreme Court Justice to favor laws that help wealthy people like Jones, and the price is a visit to a luxury suite or a ring, that’s the bargain of the century.
Jones has probably had tough negotiations or people he couldn’t crack but Thomas obviously wasn’t one of them. Thomas seems to have a “grand opening” sign attached to him. Jones picked this up easily and did what Jones does: reel in the sucker.
This may have been the biggest sucker Jones ever caught.
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