Stephen A. Smith blames Jerry Jones for killing the buzz of Cowboys fans with recent moves
The Dallas Cowboys ended the season with a 7-10 record, including seven losses at AT&T Stadium in Texas.

Jerry Jones, Stephen A. Smith (Images via Imago)
Stephen A. Smith, an ESPN analyst, has frequently critiqued the Dallas Cowboys and their fans, often using his platform to comment on the team’s decisions. Recently, he criticized the Cowboys’ choice to hire Brian Schottenheimer as head coach instead of Deion Sanders, a move he described as uninspiring.
On First Take, Smith suggested that the timing of Schottenheimer’s introduction, just a week before the Super Bowl, was a deliberate effort by the franchise to generate headlines. As for the headlines, they died a day or two after the introduction of the new head coach, with the fans becoming uninterested due to hopelessness in the team’s management.
Smith alleged that the fanbase has gone silent as he maintained that Cowboys owner and GM Jerry Jones has sucked out the fun of being a fan of the most valuable team on the planet Earth.
You hear how quiet they are right now. It’s like crickets. Before they were delusional, that’s what made me laugh, and that’s what made me troll them all the time because they were delusional. I’m not going to hear any Cowboys say ‘we’re going to win the Super Bowl next year,’ we ain’t going to hear that anymore. He’s taken the fun out of it all.
Stephen A. Smith said
"The Dallas Cowboys' fanbase, you hear how quiet they are right now?" 😳 @stephenasmith says Jerry Jones has "taken the fun out of it all" for Cowboys fans with his recent moves. pic.twitter.com/ZU07Gr4dAq
— First Take (@FirstTake) January 28, 2025
Stephen A. Smith also criticized Jones for his Monday’s press conference where Jones made several baffling remarks. He argued that Jones’ decisions have eroded the solid foundation one would expect from a franchise as prominent and storied as the Dallas Cowboys.
I just thought there was a level, a floor that you couldn’t go lower. Jerry Jones is in the basement, and it’s like he’s in the basement, and he doesn’t know, and nobody is telling him. He doesn’t know.
Stephen A. Smith added
Stephen A. Smith believes that the Dallas Cowboys had a worse fumble than the New York Giants
Stephen A. Smith highlighted the dominance of the NFC champion Eagles and the rise of the revamped Commanders, stating they have surpassed the Cowboys. He added that Dallas’ only silver lining in this tough landscape is still being better than the Giants.

Nevertheless, Smith had an interesting take on the past offseason. Smith strongly feels that the Dallas Cowboys made a heavier mistake than the New York Giants who let NFL rushing yards leader Saquon Barkley go into the offseason by skipping out on Derrick Henry.
Henry had expressed his desire to join the Cowboys in the Big D, but he didn’t receive any calls from the mute management. Smith expressed that Jones’ comment on Henry after the entire camaraderie was also bamboozling – one which clearly put his literacy about football on showcase as per many analysts.
But in the case of the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones’ quote sealed the deal, ‘I don’t know if Derrick Henry would have been what he is with us.’ That did it.
Stephen A. Smith said
Despite surpassing 1,900 rushing yards, Derrick Henry still finished second on the season’s rushing list. He could have been a game-changer for the Cowboys, keeping them competitive instead of settling for face-saving wins.