Another year and another disappointing exit in the playoffs for Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys haven’t been past the Divisional Round of the playoffs in 28 years, and with an embarrassing showing in the Wild Card Round this year against the Green Bay Packers, the drought continues.
While many fingers point at the team for their inability to get over the hump, ESPN personality Shannon Sharpe believes he knows why the Cowboys have struggled over the last quarter century, and it doesn’t have anything to do with the on-field talent.
Shannon Sharpe Chastises Jerry Jones for Cowboys’ Culture
Jones is known for doing things his way. The polarizing sports figure is unafraid to blaze his trail and do things how he sees fit. While it has worked for him in his professional life, Sharpe believes Jones has had a direct impact on the Cowboys’ lack of postseason success as of late.
"The problem that they have is something that's beyond repair, that's beyond fixing. And that's Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones created the culture."
—@ShannonSharpe on the Cowboys' culture pic.twitter.com/CwA2KL20zd
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 20, 2024
“The problem that they have is something that’s beyond repair, that’s beyond fixing. And that’s Jerry Jones. Jerry Jones created the culture,” Sharpe said.
“So this is what you get right now. You get guys making excuses, and the Cowboys have had the better team a number of years in the postseason, but they lose.
“It’s something they can’t overcome because the coaches can’t coach because Jerry is the coach, and whatever Mike McCarthy says, whatever the D-Coordinator says, they can go upstairs to Jerry and override because he’s emasculated the head coach. The coach is the coach in theory, in title only.”
The sentiment being shared by Sharpe is not a unique one and has often been the shared opinion of the dynamic in Dallas.
How true it is and just how far Jones is willing to reach to get his way on the day-to-day operations of the team can be debated from the outside in.
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How far it goes is unknown, but what Sharpe is saying is not a new thought. The Cowboys have always been known to try and do things their way, with Jones leading the way in that. It has led to far more questions than answers and zero Super Bowls in the 2000s.
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