Jerry Jones has not forgotten his roots, even though his growth in America's No. 1 sport has taken him to some dizzying heights.
When he bought the Dallas Cowboys in 1989, he met with longtime head coach Tom Landry and gave him a retirement bonus of $1 million, something he wasn't obligated to do.
Shortly after that meeting, his jet made its way to Little Rock to pick up local media for the news conference at the old Valley Ranch facility. The Texas media were not happy they had to wait, but then, they weren't exactly thrilled that someone from Arkansas had bought the Cowboys.
Despite the fact the Cowboys had been losing money around the Metroplex, hope was that an oil-rich Texan would take on the chore of restoring America's Team to its top-shelf status.
Instead, it was a classic overachiever, a former Arkansas Razorback football player who proved to not only be up for the challenge but also was armed with difference-making ideas.
Jones has earned his power in the NFL. A few days ago, USA Today named him the No. 1 most important person in the NFL, even ahead of NFL czar Roger Goodell, who was second.
His daughter -- Charlotte Jones Anderson, executive vice president and chief brand officer for the Cowboys -- was 89th.
Jones, with the help of his entire family, has made the Cowboys the most valuable brand in all of sports.
Jones paid $140 million for the Cowboys in 1989. A few months ago, Forbes magazine valued the franchise at $4 billion, surpassing longtime most valuable franchise Real Madrid, the successful soccer team.
One of the first things Jones did when he bought the Cowboys was start selling signage around Cowboys Stadium, something no other NFL team had done. He added suites before any other NFL franchise had put a pencil to the additional revenue that came from corporate America, which wanted to entertain clients in private at football games.
Jones also took a shot when he worked to bring a fledgling network, Fox, into the NFL. All 32 teams have benefited from Jones spearheading the charge to rethink television rights.
Everything Jones has done improved the value of the NFL and all of its members.
Just how incredibly adept Jones is at making money is well-documented, but not all of it has been obvious. In his fourth season owning the Cowboys, who had been 36-43 the five seasons before he bought them, they advanced to San Francisco to play the favored 49ers for the NFC championship. They won the game 30-20 on the way to their first of three Super Bowl victories under Jones.
On the night before the team flew out, Jones opened Cowboys Stadium for a pep rally. It was free, and it filled up fast with people who normally only get to see their Cowboys on a TV.
That night, the Cowboys sold more than $500,000 in T-shirts and beer. Not a bad night's work.
Jones and his son, Stephen, moved the Cowboys to Arlington and into AT&T Stadium, the state-of-the-art facility that is still unrivaled. While it has been the venue for many events, it probably should be the home of the College Football Championship Game and the Super Bowl until a stadium as nice and functional is built.
Next month a new team headquarters is scheduled to open in Frisco, Texas, and it has been dubbed The Star.
Cowboys fans know it has been more than 20 years without a Super Bowl for their team. They would like to win more games, and so would Jones, and he will.
Jerry Jones is the most important person in the NFL, and it started when he saved the Dallas Cowboys.
Sports on 07/10/2016