S T A R P OW E R
stadium. Addother crowd-packingmaneu-
vers (including seating areas in large end-
zone plazas, where fans will watch onhuge
screens)andtheCowboyssaySuperBowlat-
tendance could reach 115,000. So the game
inNorthTexas is sure to crush theprevious
Super Bowl attendance record of 103,985.
ThatcrowdsawPittsburgh’s1980winat the
RoseBowl inPasadena, California.
Designed by HKS, the Cowboys’ 2.3-
million-square-foot facility, dubbed Jerry
World, will feature a pair of dominating
arches that seem destined to become re-
gional landmarks, a retractable roof, re-
tractable end-zone glass doors, a canted
glass wall, a signature center-hung video
board, and other gadgetry that should im-
press themost bookishof techies.
Jones sees even the cosmetic features
as important, as tied inwith the Cowboys’
substantial contributions to pro-football
loreandNFLbrand equity.
“If you extend that to the idea of a ven-
ue, the quality of the venue, the size of the
venue, it wasn’t much of a step to say this
must be recognizedasoneof thebest, if not
the
best, sports venue ever built,” Jones says
froma sofa inhis office.
“You need a big-market area to justify a
bigbuilding like this, yet youneed the com-
binationofpublicandprivatefinancial sup-
port in a big-market area, and it’s hard to
find one of those,” he says. “It’s hard tofind
that in Los Angeles, as we know, because
they can’t get a stadium built there. It was
difficult inChicago.And ittooktwoteamsto
get together andget it done inNewYork.”
Jones has immersed himself in the pro-
cess throughout,dating from1995,whenhe
beganmaneuvering through his own local
minefield of municipal politics. In 2002,
two years before hard-won final financial
approval for the stadium— aprocess laden
with emotional collateral damage through-
out the region— Jones already had a huge
wish list of design elements and features.
Jones’sscouting trips tostudyothermod-
ern venues took him to pricey soccer stadi-
ums in Paris, Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt,
Amsterdam, and London. During one of
his four visits to themonstrous newWem-
bley Stadium inLondon, hemetwithproj-
ect architects onadaywhen3,000workers
buzzed about. The scale ofwhat hewas en-
visioningbegan to emerge.
“It really gave me some perspective on
JerryJones’s
FiveForemost Super
BowlMemories
1
Dallasmet San
Francisco in
the 1992NFC
championship. Re-
ceiverAlvinHarper’s
late touchdown catch
clinched the Jerry
Jones-eraCowboys’
first Super Bowl
appearance. “When
he caught the ball, I
said tomyself, ‘We’re
in theSuper Bowl.We got it!’”
2
On the scenic, windingdrive to the
RoseBowl for Super Bowl XXVII,
Jones sat on the teambus next to
coach Jimmy Johnson, absorbing it all. Upon
arrival, he collected a football and, mostly
unnoticedby the gathering crowd, skipped
across the goal line. “I said tomyself, ‘Touch-
down!’ Not thatwe hadwon it, butwewere
there. Itwas a personal ‘that a boy.’”
3
Jones stood next to fullbackDaryl
Johnston before kickoff that day. As
theNavy jet flyover screamedmightily
by, Johnston, about to burstwith excitement,
said, “God almighty, just letme get out there!”
4
Hours after the lopsided victory over
Buffalo, Jones’s helicopter lifted from
the stadium andflew over Pasadena
on a crystal clear night. Born in nearbyEl
Segundo, Jones considered his journey. “I
thought, How could I have ever dreamed it,
lifting out of theRoseBowl afterwinning the
Super Bowl? Itwas almost surreal.”
5
Watching the 1995Super Bowl was
especially painful. TheCowboys had
won two previously andwould claim
the next one. But theirmemorable loss toSan
Francisco in theNFC championship closed the
bid for an unparalleled four-year run, leaving
Jones to tear up afterward. Now he better
appreciates the goodmoments because, as he
says, “Only a small percentage of the time do
you spend on the top of themountain.”
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