Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones is not quite on the same page with the NFL, and they used to have a better relationship in the past. Namely, Jerry Jones is opposing the contract extension for commissioner Roger Goodell, and it has been said that those league owners who are against Jones could take a drastic step – trigger the forfeiture of the Cowboys franchise.
According to the report, some owners believe that Jones was involved with Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter disparaging the NFL. After that, the NFL leadership was blamed for lower television ratings and lower revenues of the company. For those of you who don’t know, Papa John’s is the official pizza of the league. Recently, the proposed contract extension for Goodell made Jones threaten litigation, and PFT’s Mike Florio wrote this about the specific bylaw which might come into effect:
Specifically, Section 8.13 authorizes the Commissioner to determine that an owner “has been or is guilty of conduct detrimental to the welfare of the League or professional football.” If the Commissioner believes the available sanction (a $500,000 fine) is “not adequate or sufficient,” the Commissioner may refer the issue to the NFL’s Executive Committee, which has the power to compel “[c]ancellation or forfeiture of the franchise in the League of any member club involved or implicated,” with a directive to sell the team.
This isn’t something that will be resolved in a few days, and if the owners opt for this move, the case would be in courts for years, before Jones steps down as the Cowboys owner. However, this is a big deal to know that this option is taken into consideration at all. Another notable news is that Jerry Jones was fired from the league’s compensation committee by Arthur Blank, the Atlanta Falcons team owner, who is also the committee chairman.
