Cowboys owner Jerry Jones became a Hall of Famer in 2017. He recently said it never would have happened without the presence of one key player when Jones bought the team in 1989.
“I have a gold jacket,” Jones recently told TMZ. “I wouldn’t have the gold jacket had Michael Irvin not played for the Cowboys, in a manner of speaking.”
It sounds like it’s less about Irvin’s direct contributions and more about Irvin’s attitude.
“To be involved and be around the winning mentality or that winning physicality — when Michael says it, I listen,” Jones said.
Irvin had, and still has, a singleminded desire to win. He helped coach Jimmy Johnson identify the players who needed to stay, and the players who needed to go, when Irvin reunited with his former college coach in Dallas.
That said, it’s been 30 years and counting since the Cowboys made it to the NFC Championship. Which means Irvin’s influence only goes so far.
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