The Last Dance started a trend in documentary television. Suddenly, any sports star willing to sit in front of a camera was worthy of a multi-part series. Jerry Jones will be the latest name to get the treatment. Netflix recently announced that it had acquired a ten episodes series on the life and career of the Dallas Cowboys owner.
“Nobody will be more pleased with that than Jerry, who has got, you know, one of the more sizable egos in history of mankind,” Mike Francesa joked Monday on his BetRivers podcas
One of the common criticisms of The Last Dance and other sports documentaries like it is that the subject of the story is given too much control. That means the story is often manipulated to make its subject, Michael Jordan in the case of The Last Dance, look good. Derek Jeter, Tom Brady, and others have faced the same criticism.
Francesa is confident that will not deter Jones at all.
“Jerry can’t not be involved in everything because Jerry has to be in the middle of everything that’s going on and he wants attention all the time,” he said.
Who is the audience for this series? On its face, the appeal seems limited. Dallas Cowboys fans will certainly love it, but the Cowboys have not been “America’s Team” for a long time. Francesa points out that since the 90s, the team has largely been a non-factor in championship discussions.
That doesn’t mean the series is destined to be boring. Francesa says that if Jerry Jones allows cameras and producers to delve into his relationships with his coaches, it could make for good television.
“He can’t leave anybody alone with the football because he fashions himself a football guy, because he played football in college. He thinks he’s a football guy, and that’s very detrimental to the team because he undermines his coaches. He undermines the discipline of his coaches because the players have a back door to Jerry all the time.”
The doc-series is part of a partnership between NFL Films and Skydance Sports. The league is looking to leverage some of its stars and stories into entertainment content. A feature film about the life of John Madden and starring Will Ferrell is next on the docket.
