Jerry Jones will turn 79 this fall, and if we are lucky this time 100 years from now he will be preparing for his 179th birthday.
Don't rule it out.
For better (usually worse), Jerry remains the face of the Dallas Cowboys, and their most interesting player or coach.
HBO's "Hard Knocks" on the 2021 Dallas Cowboys should be used in every film school in America. HBO is blowing it.
It has complete access to one of the most interesting figures in pro sports, and we need to see more of him.
The third episode of "Hard Knocks" made its debut on Tuesday evening, and rather than be handed a plate of more Jerry we were given more backups, and a mailman.
The first 10 minutes of the third episode offered promise. Seven minutes in, Jerry was the "feature." This was going to be Jerry behind the scenes.
Leading up to this segment, there was drone footage of The Star in Frisco that deserves an Emmy.
That segment on Jerry lasted less than three minutes.
Nothing against Cowboys backup-backup offensive lineman Isaac Alarcon, or his family, who all remain a focus on this show; they sound like wonderful people but ... no.
HBO producers and directors are falling for stories they find interesting, but the public will not.
When you have a subject as interesting, and endlessly funny, as Jerry Jones, you show more of Jerry Jones.
The next James Bond movie will focus on James Bond, not the CIA operative who helps him. Indiana Jones (no relation to Jerry) is about Indiana Jones, not Sallah.
Jerry is a man who took the subject as exciting as eating breakfast and turned it into marketable content.
Episode 1 of "Hard Knocks" showed Jerry tapping some salt on a McDonald's McGriddle, easily the worst selection on an already horrid menu. That remains the highlight of this boring "Hard Knocks" season.
Episode 3's best part was Jerry in his helicopter flying to the preseason game in Arlington, and him responding to the pilot's suggestion of having to go back to pick up his son, Stephen.
The slow motion video of Jerry entering JerryWorld with Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" was absurd. It was also perfect.
"I've had more shots than a Cocker Spaniel," Jerry says about his COVID-19 shot status during the Cowboys' preseason game against Houston.
HBO's directors and producers of "Hard Knocks" are focusing on the usual suspects of borderline players, Dak Prescott's injured ankle, and other typical training camp cliches.
Not even the narration by Liev Schreiber can make what we have seen several times before more than what it is.
The one element that separates the Cowboys from the remaining 30 NFL teams that could be featured on "Hard Knocks" is Jerry. The rest is the just typical training camp football footage.
(I know it's technically 31 other NFL teams but the New England Patriots don't count. The Supreme Court could rule in favor of HBO's cameras, and Bill Belichick would still not allow this sort of access to his day, team or preparation).
Because of the NFL's negotiated policies with the NFL Players Association on practice time, training camp and the fake season have grown increasingly dull. Not much happens for fear of injury.
So the third episode focused on receiver Amari Cooper and his return from injury; and backup running back JaQuan Hardy, who would be fourth on the depth chart, and his need for prescription eye glasses.
The ratings thus far for this edition of "Hard Knocks" have been a thud; according to ProFootballTalk.com, "295,000 Americans are watching America's Team on Hard Knocks."
Those 295,000 are the diehards.
If HBO wants to double, or triple, that number, show us more of the real star of The Star, Jerry Jones.
