Cowboys Boss Jerry Jones Gets Candid About Surviving Stage 4 Cancer Which Lasted for over a Decade

Dallas Cowboys GM Jerry Jones, as well as head coach Brian Schottenheimer, opened up on their struggles with cancer.

Cowboys Boss Jerry Jones Gets Candid About Surviving Stage 4 Cancer Which Lasted for over a Decade

Jerry Jones (Image via IMAGO)

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Jerry Jones, general manager and owner of the Dallas Cowboys, has braved many scandals, minor and major issues, and hurdles, including personal health difficulties. The octogenarian business mastermind recently opened up about surviving a stage four cancer, which lasted over a decade.

In an upcoming episode of America’s Team: The Gamble and His Cowboys, the 10-part documentary set to premiere next Tuesday, Jerry Jones reveals he underwent cancer treatment “about a dozen years ago.” Then, on Wednesday morning, the Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News reported that Jones had beaten stage 4 melanoma after a decade-long fight that began with his 2010 diagnosis.

I was saved by a fabulous treatment and great doctors and a real miracle [drug] called PD-1 [therapy]. I went into trials for that PD-1 and it has been one of the great medicines. I now have no tumors.

Jones told the Dallas Morning News

Jerry Jones was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in 2010, meaning the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. In his case, it led to four surgeries on his lungs and lymph nodes. The business mogul is among the fortunate survivors, as melanoma patients with a distant distribution of malignant tumors have a five-year survival rate of 35%.

The American Lung Association explains that PD-1 therapy works by targeting the PD-1 protein on immune cells. Checkpoint therapies, like this one, aim to block PD-1 from attaching to PDL-1, which is a different protein seen on some cancer cells that connect to PD-1 and use it to hide from the immune system. The therapy is, however, not without any side effects.

Brian Schottenheimer opened up about his own struggles while speaking about Jerry Jones’ cancer battle

During Wednesday’s training camp press conference, Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer shared his thoughts on Jerry Jones’ fight with stage 4 melanoma. In the meantime, he draws parallels to his own cancer experience.

Brian Schottenheimer
Brian Schottenheimer (Image via Open Source)

Schottenheimer was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age 28, during his first year as quarterbacks coach for the San Diego Chargers under his father, Marty Schottenheimer.

Mine was certainly less serious… nothing like stage four. But you hear that word ‘cancer’ and it scares the hell out of you.

Schottenheimer said

He recalled breaking the news to his father, who immediately reached out to former Washington owner Dan Snyder, a thyroid cancer survivor. Schottenheimer claimed that Snyder intervened in the matter and led to an almost immediate treatment for the young coach. He was on an operating table in Rochester, Minnesota, within 24-36 hours.

Surgeons at the Mayo Clinic removed his thyroid and 17 lymph nodes. At the time, his wife Gemmi was pregnant with their first child, Sutton. He admitted that he was lucky to have no side effects from the invasive disease. Furthermore, he noted that it was traumatic and scary as he feared that he would lose his ability to speak, which would hinder his aspiration to become a head coach.

Schottenheimer credited his faith as a key source of strength during his recovery. “I became a much better Christian, a much stronger believer,” he said.

The 51-year-old has stepped into his first top coaching role as he looks to bounce the Dallas Cowboys from a 7-10 record last year. Schottenheimer replaced Mike McCarthy, a former Super Bowl-winning coach, and has an uphill battle in Texas. It won’t be an easy task leading America’s Team to a playoff in his first year as head coach, much less a ring.

They started the preseason, Schottenheimer’s first, against the Los Angeles Rams last week and were dropped. The Cowboys have two more games before the official start- against the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons, before which Schottenheimer needs to address some major plot holes in their starting squad and overall roster.

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