Jerry Jones Stands by His Criticism of the Cowboys’ Previous Regime

In the wake of his latest public criticism of the team’s previous regime, Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry Jones isn’t backing down from his remarks.

“I don’t play games,” Jones said Sunday about a speech he gave to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon in Little Rock, Ark. “I don’t leave things unsaid because they don’t look good in print or sound good on television. I’m honest. All my life I’ve said things that I’ve made myself accountable for.”

Jones told the business group Friday that former coach Tom Landry was too old to effectively communicate with young players. He also continued to justify his cost-cutting reduction of the Cowboys’ organization, which he called “underworked.”

Former Cowboy president Tex Schramm responded to Jones’ latest remarks by questioning the new owner’s integrity. He said Jones must “wrestle with the honesty and dignity of what he’s saying.”

But Jones told the Dallas Morning News that he has no problem with his conscience.

“I do accept Tex’s advice on a lot of things,” Jones said. “He can help me with things like marketing and media relations. But as far as integrity, accountability, honesty and doing what’s right--well, I’ve been living with those things in my world for a long time, way before I knew Tex Schramm. I do not need his advice there.”

While not retracting his statements, Jones said his remarks about Landry’s age, 64, were taken out of context.

“Before mentioning Coach Landry to the group, I said that men of that age make the best leaders of a country, make the best leaders of a giant corporation, make the best businessmen,” Jones said. “But when it comes to coaching, I told the group I believed that the generation gap that existed between Tom Landry and his players was too much.”