Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has been likened to Vladimir Putin after he threatened the jobs of two radio hosts following Dallas’ blowout loss to the Lions.
After the 47-9 defeat, Jones appeared on Shan & RJ on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday – and did not take kindly to being pressed about Dallas’ offseason moves.
And the following day, co-host Shan Shariff – who noted that Jones is usually generous with the media – compared the Cowboys’ owners actions to that of the Russian dictator Putin.
‘The second biggest mistake I think Jerry made yesterday besides ‘I’ll threaten your jobs’… destroying the well-earned reputation of not controlling the media,’ he said. ‘Giving the impression that you want state-run media like you’re Vladimir Putin… that is so damaging.’
Shariff’s co-host Bobby Belt added that Jones outburst made him look like a ‘little man.’
Jerry Jones blasted radio hosts in a bizarre rant amid questions on Dallas’ dismal start to 2024
And on Thursday, his actions were compared to that of Vladimir Putin by one of the hosts
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Jerry Jones hits out at radio hosts in fresh attack after tense interview over Cowboys’ 3-3 start
‘I think he just got angry and snapped and it was received poorly. It was dominant, what Jerry said, and I don’t think he anticipated that,’ Belt said.
While Jones later told The Athletic that he won’t be grilled ‘by the guys I’m paying,’ the show has since clarified that Jones in fact does not pay their bills, as the station is owned by Audacy.
Even in criticizing Jones, Shariff was complimentary of the longtime Cowboys owner, calling him ‘the greatest media ally and friend you could ever dream for in this position. Never has he controlled the message, ‘ask me this, here’s this piece of paper,” he said.
Still, he admitted that he’d never seen this type of ‘venom’ and ‘disgust’ from Jones after he and Belt pressed him about the team’s 3-3 start to the season.
On Tuesday, Jones apologized to fans, saying he was ‘sick’ about Sunday’s loss, but dug in his heels when asked about his offseason moves.
‘If you think if I’m interested on a phone call with you over a radio and sitting here, throwing all the good out with the dishwater, you have to be smoking something over there this morning,’ Jones, officially the team’s general manager, said.
Shan Shariff (left) and Bobby Belt of 105.3 The Fan had their jobs threatened by Jones
The Cowboys were trounced at home last weekend against the Lions, losing 47-9
‘This is not your job… your job isn’t to let me go over all the reasons that I did something and I’m sorry that I did it. That’s not your job. I’ll get somebody else to ask these questions. I’m not kidding.’
Jones then sarcastically suggested the radio hosts belonged at Tuesday’s meeting of NFL teams if they were such ‘geniuses’.
‘You’re not going to figure it out what the team is doing right or wrong. If you are… you need to come to this meeting,’ Jones continued. ‘You really think you’re gonna sit here with a microphone and tell me all of the things that I’ve done wrong without going over the rights?’
Since then, Shariff branded the comment as ‘petty,’ while ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe blasted the remarks as well.
‘I hate, I detest, I despise someone that will prey on the weak,’ Sharpe said on First Take. ‘That tells me a lot about a man that has power and would abuse that power… Jerry wants all the credit when things go well but none of the blame.’
The Cowboys will hope to rebound on Sunday at the 49ers.
