NFL Draft: The True Story Of Jerry's Cowboys And (Almost?) Johnny Manziel
FRiSCO - It's going to happen every April now, and as the years go by, the tale will grow taller. "Jerry Jones almost forced his Dallas Cowboys to take Johnny Manziel in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft.''
It's a helluva story. It's got it all. Controversial owner, colorful kid, Texas QB, first-round arguments ... Unfortunately, it's mostly all baloney.
The truth, via those who lived it:
The Cowboys certainly considered the Texas A&M sensation at some point way before their turn came around to the No. 16 overall pick in that spring's NFL Draft. The team had no heir to the aging Tony Romo and imagine what the Cowboys marketing department could've cooked up with "Johnny Football''!
In the days leading up to the draft, owner Jerry Jones still liked the idea. But by Draft Day, he'd been made to see the light: Manziel wasn't going to be graded or rated higher on Dallas' Big Board than two potential stars who the scouting department predicted would be there:
Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier and Notre Dame guard Zack Martin.
And then Draft Day came. And the night inched toward Pick No. 16 ...
By this time, personnel boss Will McClay's stewardship worked to avoid the confusion of the spring before, when Jones' Cowboys clearly allowed themselves to be embarrassed by indecision regarding highly-ranked (but oddly passed-over) first-round defensive tackle Shariff Floyd.
And in 2014, there was no confusion. Staffer Robert Blackwell was in New York and he was instructed to write two names on potential turn-into-the-league cards.
The two names: Shazier on one card. Martin on the other.
Two cards. Not three.
In the immediate aftermath of what actually happened, Jerry did indeed tell Stephen that he hoped they wouldn't end up regretting passing on a "potential franchise QB.'' But that's as far as the sadness went ...
Until Jim Dent's wrote an e-book called "Manziel Mania.'' In the quickie book, Dent claimed there was so much drama involved here that it required team COO Stephen Jones to physically accost his father, Jerry, to prevent the owner from "scribbling the name of Johnny Manziel on the draft card.''
Dent's book created a firestorm. Typical reaction in the aftermath, from Deadspin: "It appears that Jerry Jones is still operating the Dallas Cowboys by following the "Drunk Uncle" school of management. Which is to say, his own children still need to physically prevent him from making franchise-altering decisions on the fly. ... Jerry Jones is just too old and too rich to really give a shit about anything anymore.''
But again, to the actual facts from the people involved:
*There are no "draft cards'' in the Valley Ranch war room where Jerry and Stephen oversaw the selection process along with McClay and then-coach Jason Garrett. There are computers, notepads and magnetized name tags. There are no "draft cards.''
*The "draft card'' was actually in New York, where each of the 32 teams had representatives who carry their card with their selected player's name on it up to the commissioner for him to announce. The Cowboys' rep is Blackwell. There is no way for Blackwell to "be handed a card'' by Jerry as they were sitting 1,600 miles apart from one another.
*There was no Jones-vs.-Jones wrestling match. By virtue of our live coverage on the draft on the official station of the Cowboys, 105.3 The Fan, I was able to watch the WarRoomCam at times even when the telecast is not being shared with ESPN and NFL Network.
I watched - along with colleagues Bryan Broaddus, Shan Shariff and others - as Jerry and Stephen and staff talked through the process of the No. 16 pick. There seemed to be some disappointment over Shazier going off the board at 15, to Pittsburgh.
I was later told that Jerry finally asked his entire staff, "So no one in this room wants to take Johnny Manziel?"
Which was correct. No one in the entire building - except maybe Jerry - viewed Manziel as worthy of being taken ahead of Martin. (I've since been told that placing Manziel on the board even as a first-round possibility was only done as a courtesy to the owner.)
And then we saw Jerry mouth the words, "So it's Martin.''
And then the cogs churned into motion. Jerry relayed the decision to scouting staffer Chris Hall in a Valley Ranch office adjacent to the war room. Hall immediately barking "Zack Martin'' to Blackwell in New York. Blackwell, having those two cards in front of him. The one, suddenly worthless one, read, "Ryan Shazier.'' The second said "Zack Martin.''
Blackwell handed the Martin card to the front of the room.
Story-teller Jerry has kept alive the what-if-Manziel tale, even still after Manziel busted, because it's marketing-wise fun.
Story-teller Jim Dent does not, I don't believe, tell the story much anymore. Because he knows it's not true. But that spring? Dent was looking for material for his Manziel book and understood well that he might enjoy the benefits of connecting the Cowboys somewhere in there, too.
Which e-book sells better? One about "Johnny Manziel and the Browns'' (who eventually took him)'' or one about "Johnny Manziel and the Cowboys''?
Not long after that draft, I booked Dent as a guest on 105.3 The Fan. We asked him about the origin of the "Jerry's-Manziel-card'' story.
"Aw,'' drawled ol' Jim in the middle of dozens of non-sequitur question dodges, "I got that off (watching TV) ...''
In the book, Dent writes with imaginary prose, "I could just see Jones grabbing Manziel with the 16th choice of the first round. ... I knew that Jones' hands were shaking when the Cowboys went on the clock with Manziel still on the board. I could envision Jones scribbling the name of Johnny Manziel on the draft card.''
In short, Dent listened to silly speculation and "envisioned'' a tall tale. ... and used the tall tale to help sell a book. The book excerpt actually ran in the Dallas Morning News, adding another level of seeming credibility. And Jerry enjoys the ride. A year later, Jerry was on The Fan with "Shan & RJ'' and was asked the "how close?'' question about Manziel to the Cowboys.
“It certainly was a big debate going on,'' Jerry replied, and you could almost hear the grin through your radio, "if no place else other than my mind.”
