34 AMERICANWAY
JANUARY 1 2008
Listening to Jerry Jones talkup
the Dallas Cowboys’ colossal new playground is like watching a
child be in charge of the TV remote control. The Cowboys’ owner
is all over the place, zigzagging with an excited vengeance through
the project details.
★
Questions are taken just as suggested start-
ing points by Jones, who sprays answers Gatling gun–style. Jones
launches responses with, “Okay, let me say three things about
that …” or “Well, I’d like to back up on that one and talk about …”
★
Nothing puts extra pep in his ownership step like talking up
the team’s new
baby. The Cowboys’ $1 billion stadium, on pace
for a splashy 2009 debut, was the centerpiece of a bid last year
that finally established the Dallas Cowboys as a Super Bowl host.
America’sTeam, as theCowboysareknown,
aproudoutfitwithfiveSuperBowl trophies,
has never presided over the big kahuna of
domestic sports happenings, a fact that ir-
ritates Jonesworse thanabad rash.
But even after the gold standard of sta-
diums had been secured, it took two other
unstoppable forces to finally make it hap-
pen inNorthTexas,which, after all, is foot-
ball country,where theymakemoviesabout
the high school game and book weekends
around collegeandproaction. The effort to
finally attract a Super Bowl needed Jones’s
hard-charging drive and energy as well
as the wile of a man respected across the
NFL continuum: Roger Staubach, a figure
as close to a Forrest Gump–type legend as
you’ll everfind.
Done. America’s Teamwill finally host a
Super Bowl and all its global pomp— the
opulent parties, the A-list sightings (“Hey,
isn’t thatPrince?”), andanationalTVaudi-
enceof 140million.
LastMay,NFLowners awarded the2011
Super Bowl to the Cowboys’ new home in
Arlington, Texas, a suburb roughly halfway
between downtown Dallas and downtown
FortWorth.Now it’sup to those threepow-
erful influences — Jones, Host Committee
chairman Staubach, and the world’s most
ambitious stadium — to convince NFL
owners thatDallas deserves a covetedplace
in the regular short rotation of Super Bowl
venues.
“This is a football region. The Cowboys
have a great history here, and people all
over theworldaregoing to see thatwehave
the resources for a great Super Bowl, one
that hopefully people will talk about and
say was done right,” Staubach says. “The
Super Bowl continues to grow and gain
momentum, and I thinkwe’re going to add
to that growth.”
Jones,progressiveinthoughtbut
folksy in his ways, has known all along
that his new facility would need to be
something special. He understands bet-
ter than anyone the burden of America’s
Team’s fame, the competitive legacy, the
national visibility, and the iconic sta-
tus of that fabled star on the helmet.
So what will distinguish this stadium?
Sheer size, forone. Itwill seatabout80,000
in the bowl, plus thousands more in 205
luxury suites, easily the most in any NFL
