FRISCO - Jerry Jones is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for an assortment of reasons, his leadership and his innovativeness and his three Super Bowls among them.
He's earned praise for that. ... as much as Dallas Cowboys haters (and Jerry haters) can't bear to concede it.
At the same time, just because you're in Canton or just because you're worth $10 billion or just because you're 82 doesn't shield you from legitimate criticism.
Praise. And criticism.
A balance.
Jones is a rock star, and so increasingly over the years, when NFL Draft prospects show up here at The Star in Frisco? Yes, they want to see the practice field and the locker rooms and ...
They want to meet Jerry.
As the Cowboys are getting in their final meetings and visits with guys who might be worthy of the No. 12 overall pick and beyond, Jones is involved.
Naturally. He's the general manager, right?
But "involved'' here also meets serving as a celebrity. And so when Texas wideout Matthew Golden made his trip to Frisco, he was among the many who found a way to get a photo op with the Cowboys owner.
It's really no big thing; Golden, who will likely be one of the first offensive players off the board on Draft Day and could be a real fit alongside CeeDee Lamb as the team's No. 2 receiver, might end up in Dallas. Or in 31 other places.
Either way, he'll always have his Jerry photo. Cool.
But ...
The picture sparked a post on Twitter from NFL insider Albert Breer, who for reasons we cannot fathom used it as an example of how deeply involved Jerry is in All Things Cowboys. ...
Which is absurd.
Breer writes that Jerry "could be on his yacht'' instead of being at The Star. That remark ignores two facts.
One, Jerry either recently was or soon will be "on his yacht'' or vacationing in some other way. One photo that took 5 seconds to snap doesn't stop that.
And two ... he's the GM. The draft is around the corner. Why wouldn't the GM at least be inside the team's headquarters this week?
The suggestion here is that Jerry is somehow deeply involved in personnel ... and that's simply not quite right. Titles aside, and God bless him, Jerry is more "owner'' than he is "general manager'' in the traditional sense.
And more than any of it, he's a rock star.
So he posed for a photo.
There's no reason for Cowboys Nation to bash him for this.
But there's also no reason for anybody to think it symbolizes anything of football-related importance that's worthy of praise.
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