Jerry's Cowboys: 'Everything Comes Before Winning,' Says Ex Star

It's what we around here call "#53Brands,'' the idea being that the marketing of "The Star'' is so institutionalized as the core of the franchise that players become acutely concerned about their individual "brands.''

FRISCO - Former Dallas Cowboys standout Tony Casillas recognizes that there is a certain hypocrisy in what he's saying about Jerry Jones and the franchise's all-important "brand.''

"For me, even my role of being with that franchise, I've been able to parlay (that into post-NFL success) because I was on those great teams,'' says Casillas, a two-time Super Bowl winner in Dallas. "I guess it's because of the magnitude of the brand, and what Jerry has bestowed on everyone. And he's remarkable at that. But he hasn't been remarkable, as an owner and a general manager, he hasn't been remarkable about putting a winning product on the field, and it's been really, really disappointing."

"Everything else,'' Casillas says in a visit with "K&C Masterpiece'' on 105.3 The Fan, "comes before winning.''

Casillas is of course talking about what we around here call "#53Brands,'' the idea being that the marketing of "The Star'' is so institutionalized as the core of the franchise that players ("53'' of them), through osmosis, become acutely concerned about their individual "brands.''

And, next thing you know, the focus of the football team is on something other than football.

"Maybe,'' Casillas said, "there's some entitlement because of how big that brand is. If you go out to "The Star," that's just an unbelievable facility. ... But when you look at the Cowboys brand ... If you're a player, your whole incentive is to brand yourself as a player. And you're living off what Jerry has done over the last 25 years. Sometimes, that's secondary, because you're still celebrated like you've done something when you haven't.''

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This is a long-standing complaint among Cowboys players who actually won Super Bowls in the '90's - that some who came after them assumed they, too, were part of a championship legacy.

For Jones' part, the owner remains devoted to working toward another Super Bowl, recently telling The Fan, “Do ya'll have any idea how much I’d write a check for if I knew for sure I could get that Lombardi Trophy? It is the foremost thing. Not money. I had money when I bought the Cowboys. ... There has never been but one thing, and that is win.''

But in truth, the Cowboys are both a "business'' and a "team.'' There is always more than one thing. And Casillas thinks ownership is prioritizing its "things'' wrongly.

It should be (about), "What are we doing to do to win?'' he said. 

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