Jason Kelce, the patron saint of the Philadelphia Eagles, faced the Dallas Cowboys 24 times in his storied career, coming away with a hard-fought 11-13 record. For more than a decade, he had an all-consuming rivalry with the Cowboys. He was an emissary of the unwritten Philly code, a tribal oath passed down from one generation of players to the next: thou shalt hate Jerry Jones.
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On a recent episode of the New Heights podcast, the guy who’s heard ‘Dallas S–ks’ chanted more than he’s heard his own name, offered an admission that must have felt like a betrayal to some in the city of Brotherly Love. “I got to say from this documentary in Dallas, as an Eagles fan, or as an Eagles player, and on this side of it, you’re taught to hate Jerry Jones,” Kelce revealed. “I gotta say, I kinda like what I’m seeing out of him. I gotta admit… between this documentary and then his deal on ‘Land Man’ when he talks about buying the franchise and like his family and everything, I’m like, you know what? I’m kind of turning into a Jerry guy. I kind of like what I’m being told.”
Jason Kelce had a sense of respect for the old man, thus breaking the longtime Eagles’ tradition of hating Jerry. And it wasn’t just Kelce. Deion Sanders, a guy who knows the Cowboys’ owner as well as anyone, immediately jumped in to give him more than just a taste of that legendary Jones charm.
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NFL, American Football Herren, USA 2023: Cowboys vs Eagles Nov 05 November 5, 2023: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is seen on the field before a game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eric Canha/CSM/Sipa USA Credit Image: Eric Canha/Cal Media/Sipa USA Philadelphia Lincoln Financial Field PA USA NOxUSExINxGERMANY PUBLICATIONxINxALGxARGxAUTxBRNxBRAxCANxCHIxCHNxCOLxECUxEGYxGRExINDxIRIxIRQxISRxJORxKUWxLIBxLBAxMLTxMEXxMARxOMAxPERxQATxKSAxSUIxSYRxTUNxTURxUAExUKxVENxYEMxONLY Copyright: xCalxSportxMediax Editorial use only
“I’m watching ESPN,” Sanders began, launching into a story about a former teammate, Alonzo Spellman, who was struggling in Chicago. “I said, ‘Jerry, I could help him. I could help.’ He flew his jet to pick the kid up, brought him to the Cowboys, and changed his life.” The Cowboys were the only NFL team to bid for Spellman when no one else did.
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Although Spellman didn’t do much for the team, he racked up a total of 40 tackles and 10 sacks for the Cowboys. But the thing is that he saw a new light when everybody gave up on him. And it was Jerry Jones, who handed him a new life. It’s a story that clearly resonated with Kelce. “That’s the kind of guy you want to play for, man,” he mused, to which Sanders replied with a firm, “Absolutely. We wanted to win for him.”
And yet, that human side is constantly at war with the football side. That’s the rub, isn’t it? The same weekend those personal stories were getting out, the on-field reality for the Boys was a whole other kettle of fish. Following a disheartening 31-14 loss to the Bears, Jones told reporters he “really thought we came out and were ready to play.”
That sentiment seems to completely miss the on-field reality. To put the defensive struggles into perspective, second-year QB Caleb Williams went 19/28 on throws for 298 yds and all 4 of his passing TDs. He had an average of 3.2 seconds to throw, a veritable lifetime in the NFL. The Cowboys’ pass rush, the very thing they’ve built their identity on, registered just 7 QB pressures and zero sacks. It was a failure of execution, not preparation.
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The cost of Jerry’s calculated decision
The Parsons trade, while a boon for a team’s future, costs the team dearly right now. The defense, which was ranked best in the NFL in EPA per play when Parsons was on the field since 2021, has been arguably nonexistent without him. These are facts that don’t lie.
On one of the episodes of his podcasts, Kelce weighed in on the drama (on the Eagles’ legendary comeback, too), noting that while he gets that Jones has an old-school way about how he approaches things, he still felt the situation was going in the wrong direction. “There’s one common denominator here, and that’s Jerry, right?” Kelce remarked, pointing to Jones’ long history of organizational conflicts and the uncharacteristic choice to trade a generational talent.
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When asked if the team’s defensive struggles had given him any sense of urgency to use those two future first-rounders, Jones offered a surprisingly honest take. “That implies that being more urgent, I can create an opportunity to use them,” he said. “That usually doesn’t work that way at all.” It’s a sentiment that speaks to his long-standing approach, the calculated gambler who waits for the perfect moment. But for a franchise that has won just 4 playoff games since 1997, the question remains: at what point does patience turn into complacency?
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And that’s the beautiful, maddening contradiction of it all. The very guy Jason Kelce is starting to like is the same one who’s made the Cowboys the sport’s most valuable underachiever, as we explore the worst times the Cowboys lost to the Eagles.