My first NFL assignment was helping the Dallas Morning News staff cover the arrival of Jerry Jones, the firing of Tom Landry and the hiring of Jimmy Johnson.
Jones stood at the front of a room crowded with reporters and promised he would manage everything in the Cowboys franchise "from socks to jocks.'' Fans laughed at him through their tears.
After buying the Cowboys in 1989, Jones quickly proved he could win, capturing three Super Bowls by the mid-1990s. He proved he could overmanage, firing Johnson and ushering in 2½ decades without a title.