February 25, 1989 is a very dark day in the eyes of many Cowboys faithful.

For twenty nine years, Tom Landry patrolled and managed the Dallas sideline as he led this team to thirteen divison titles, five NFC championships, five Super Bowl appearances, two world championships, and an overall 270-178-6 record. This also included an NFL record 20 straight winning seasons which may never be beat.

The former 2nd lieutenant bomber of the 860th Bomb Squadron built not only a great resume’, but a stellar reputation as a football general who was innovative, loyal, and always kept God and family ahead of his profession. His players would have taken a bullet for him.

New owner Jerry Jones flew to Landry’s vacation home near Austin, TX  on that February day and unceremoniously removed The Fedora forever.

He became known as “the man who fired Tom Landry” and instantly became one of, if not the most, hated man in professional sports especially in Big D.

There is still bitterness and unforgiveness in the hearts and minds of many ex-Cowboys lovers, but Jones has accomplished what he set out to do when he purchased this team. He brought the business aspect to the sport and increased the value of this team to 1.5 billion dollars which is quite a ways from the $140,000,000 purchase price.

Along the way, as owner and GM, he assembled a franchise that has won three more Super Bowls and was extremely dominant in the 1990’s. After ten years of misery, Jones finds himself staring at another possible Super Bowl team thanks to the foundation that Parcells built from 2003-2006, key draft choices, and a particular free agent signing on March 18, 2006.  

When Jerry Jones inked Terrell Owens, fans and media everywhere laughed. Once again, the old man had lost his sense of reasoning and stepped into a lions den. This time it was bringing on an eternally-gifted athlete who carried more baggage with him than a 747 from New York to L.A. during Christmas. His ego was larger than China. His coach was going to be the embattled tyrant, Bill Parcells. This was another train wreck waiting to happen.

His only year under Parcells was pretty typical for Owens. There was the excuses to get out of training camp, and that didn’t set well with Parcells towards “the player.” Then, there was the griping about not getting the ball enough, and who can forget the pill-popping episode that landed T.O. in the hospital on suicide watch and on the national media stage which was home to him. Everyone began saying that, this time, Jones had really lost it.

T.O. actually had a pretty good year statistically, but it became very apparent that either Parcells or T.O. had to go so after the bitter loss to Seattle, Big Bill resigned, and I will always believe that Jones worked his magic and came to “an understanding” with Parcells of where he wanted to take this team.

The next move may go down as Jones’ best ever.

When Jones hired Jason Garrett to be part of the Cowboys coaching staff, it wasn’t known whether it would be as head coach or O-coordinator. He became the latter as Wade Phillips was brought in as the top man. The naysayers went ballistic again as they couldn’t believe he would go after a washed-up, old-school hick and that he would also hire a young pup whose only coaching experience was as quarterbacks coach from 2005-2006 with the Dolphins.

Garrett’s hiring had brought an aggressive and creative offensive scheme that has transformed an undrafted Tony Romo into a fledgling star and has taken advantage of T.O.’s gifts which is catching the ball, intimidating secondaries, and scoring TD’s.

This reached the pinnacle yesterday vs. the Redskins after “the player” scored four touchdowns on eight catches for 173 yards. Over the last four games, he has amassed 27 catches for 559 yards and 9 TD’s. And, isn’t it ironic that as this season has rolled along, Mr. Owens has morphed into a steady team player and is actually part of the glue that is forging this team into one of the better ones in Cowboys history.

At the news conference following the signing and Terrell Owens proclaiming that he knows what is expected of him and that he won’t let Dallas down, Jones said, ”It’s more than his word, it’s about logic. This is an opportunity for him to basically put it all together and come in here and have a very positive experience. Whoever got him after those two experiences (San Fran and Philly) was going to get a more knowledgeable and educated player.”

Terrell Owens was 16 when Tom Landry stood in front of his 1988 team and cried following his dismissal by Jerry Jones. This was a business decision by Jones, and one he had to make. It looked like a sin at the time, but the NFL was entering a new age and Cowboys fans, old and current alike, should realize that the Cowboys have an owner/GM whose work has revolutionized the league and this team.

From The Fedora to The Player, Jones has paved a road that few would walk.