Answering the call
Stephen Jones was working for JMC Exploration, his father's oil and gas company, when Jerry Jones began to look into purchasing the Cowboys. Stephen actually saw the organization's books before his father.
As the elder Jones negotiated, Stephen returned to Fort Smith, Arkansas. JMC was selling off its reserves. As a reservoir engineer, Stephen helped determine how much oil and gas was actually in place. Once Jerry had a handshake deal with Bum Bright to purchase the Cowboys, he called his son.
"I know you spent a lot of time getting that engineering degree. How are you going to feel about maybe learning this football business with me?'' Jerry asked
"I'm on my way,'' Stephen responded. "How fast can I get there?''
Stephen remembers thinking this would be great. He was involved in selling an oil and gas company and the acquisition of an NFL team. That would really impress one of the top business schools when he decided to go back and get a Masters degree in business.
He quickly found out he was being naïve.
"I never thought about going back to school, because I never had time to look up,'' Stephen said.
Rarely do you hear Stephen call his father anything but Jerry in public. The same goes for the patriarch's other two children, Charlotte Jones Anderson and Jerry Jr.
Why?
"He pushed it early,'' Stephen said. "He wanted it to be professional and had read and seen some things that said that was the best way to do it. It stuck.
"Every now and then, when my guard is down, I'll say Dad in public. But I never call him Jerry when I'm talking to him or in meetings with our crew with the Cowboys.
"Then it's always Dad.''
Pressure was building. The defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys had lost the first two games of the 1993 season and Emmitt Smith was still holding out.
Jerry was in New York on business. Stephen was at Valley Ranch when Smith and his agent, Richard Howell, set up a conference call. Stephen remembers Smith telling his father he was going to pack up his stuff at the facility and leave unless he was paid like quarterback Troy Aikman.
"In all due respect, you need to come get your stuff,'' Jerry said.
Smith asked if he could get his Super Bowl ring. Jerry said he could, but he wanted Smith to understand they weren't going to pay him like a quarterback and the club would move on without him.
Once Smith and Howell hung up Jerry told his son he was going to dinner.
"I'm done with this,'' Jerry said. "I'm at peace. We've done all we can do.''
About 45 minutes later, Howell and Smith call Stephen. The two have talked and Smith said he didn't want to continue to do this to his teammates and fans. He would agree to the Cowboys offer, but he wanted to tell Jerry in person.
Stephen tried for hours to reach his father in New York without success. He finally got in contract with him around one in the morning.
"I think he was drowning his sorrows,'' Stephen said.
Jerry and Smith spoke a few minutes later and the deal was done.