their way under Jones

E xpect to see plenty of shots of Dallas owner Jerry Jones during today's Cowboys-Seahawks telecast.

Jones sitting in his suite. Jones roaming the sideline. Jones touring the construction site of his new bazillion dollar stadium. Jones ruining the Cowboys.

Wait! No visual evidence for that last one.

Business has been good for Jones, the owner. He's transformed a franchise he purchased for $150 million in 1989 into one that Forbes magazine valued at about $1.5 billion in 2007. And he's turned himself into the face of the franchise.

Under Jones the general manager, however, the Cowboys have gone in the opposite direction. Dallas hasn't won a playoff game since 1996. And it is clear that Jones values talent over character. The sideshow that is Dallas creates a never-ending stream of news clips for ESPN that makes the franchise more resemble the 1980s nighttime soap opera of the same name than a Football team.

Consequently, Jones should also be viewed as the face of failure for so-called America's Team.

Today, the Cowboys (7-4) continue their attempts to dig themselves out of a hole that threatened to derail their season by likely beating the beleaguered Seahawks.

But can Dallas ever live up to its talent level on the field in a circus-like atmosphere?

Jones has a little Bob Whitsitt in him. The former Portland Trail Blazers executive amassed a dizzying array of talent during his seven years running the team. But he gave little regard to chemistry, and it often seemed that the more criminal offenses a player had, the better.

Jones is not much different. That explains why he has no problem acquiring talented players despite their backgrounds, such as wide receiver Terrell Owens (headache), defensive tackle Tank Johnson (multiple criminal violations while in Chicago) and cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones (coming off a one-year suspension from the league).

All three are ultra talented. But none is a winner. What they do represent, however, is Jones' willingness to gamble, a trait that has paid off for him big time in the past, but that in recent years has backfired.

When he purchased the Cowboys, Jones, who made his money in oil (always a gamble), hired former Arkansas teammate Jimmy Johnson away from the University of Miami to coach the team and make personnel decisions.

That remains by far Jones' smartest Football decision to date. Johnson transformed the team from 1-15 in 1989 to Super Bowl champions in 1993 and 1994. Then, Jones' ego caused him to alienate Johnson out of town. Jones became the general manager, hired Barry Switzer to coach, won a third Super Bowl on the backs of Johnson's players and then essentially watched his team erode into an also-ran.

To say Jones lacked any Football experience before becoming the team's general manager would be unfair. He was a standout player at Arkansas and he did spend six seasons working shoulder to shoulder with Johnson as he rebuilt the Cowboys.

And to be fair, Johnson's winning years included its share of characters. But that team played to win first. The same can't be said for this group.

Jones the GM would have been fired by now by any other owner. Dallas is on its fifth coach since Johnson left. He has had some decent drafts but the team never got right again until he hired Bill Parcells out of desperation in 2003. Parcells took a roster that had produced three-consecutive 5-11 seasons and transformed it into one that had 13 Pro Bowl players in 2007, a year after his departure.

Parcells left to become Miami's executive vice president of Football operations in part because Jones insisted on acquiring high-maintenance Owens, the antithesis of the type of player the disciplinarian Parcells would want to coach.

So what does Jones do? He trades for Adam Jones, who can't stay out of trouble. Ironically, the team that unloaded him, Tennessee (10-1), is being led in interceptions by 2006 seventh-round pick Cortland Finnegan, while Jones, a 2005 first-round pick, has four career interceptions, none for Dallas.

Last month, Pacman got arrested again and Jones blamed himself for hiring the body guard Pacman got into a fight with. Huh? Creative deflection at best.

Fortunately for Jones, he doesn't need excuses for his own actions. It's his team. Unfortunately for Cowboys fans, it's not the team it once was.

Chances are, Dallas will end up with a wild card berth on talent alone. But nothing about this team suggests that it has the character to win on the road in the playoffs.

And the problem starts at the top.

Aaron Fentress: 503-221-8211;

aaronfentress@news.oregonian.com

Read his NFL blog at

blog.oregonlive.com/NFL