Jerry Jones joined the likes of George Halas, Art Rooney and Al Davis, owners in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, when he was inducted into the shrine Saturday night.
Jones took the NFL by storm when he bought the Dallas Cowboys and, within three years won the Super Bowl. He added two more in the next three seasons, but his inclusion in the Class of 2017 was built on his overall contributions to the NFL.
A key figure as the league grew to a multi-billion dollar business, Jones has had a hand in many important decisions, from TV contracts to sponsorships to labor issues.
Yet he admitted in his speech that before buying the franchise, he had "become afraid of business heights" after having several failed enterprises. But he also had learned, "Don't let anyone know you are scared and just keep on keeping on."
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He swallowed hard, bought the team that was losing $1 million a month and, now, his Cowboys are valued at $4.2 billion by Forbes, the most valuable franchise in the world.
"As someone who owned a team, I was always thinking how we could go to the next level," Jones said.
In front of nearly the entire current Cowboys team, Jones wore a pair of custom-made shoes gifted to him by Phil Knight, was presented for induction by his wife, Gene, who has never missed a Cowboys game since the Jones family bought the team in 1989.
