When Jerry Jones talks Hall of Fame, you’d expect Troy Aikman’s name first. Maybe Emmitt Smith. But at a Super Bowl week party, Jones made it clear who put him in Canton, and it wasn’t Aikman.

“Let me say this. What I’m for is whatever Michael Irvin is for,” Jones told TMZ Sports. “I wouldn’t [have] had the gold jacket had Michael Irvin not played for the Cowboys, in a manner of speaking.”

Jerry Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. What’s interesting is the reason he earned that honor. Jones became the first owner in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in his first seven years of ownership. He also transformed the Cowboys franchise from $140 million when he purchased it in 1989 to $13 billion as of today. ​

The driving force behind that dynasty was ‘The Triplets.’ Aikman arrived in ‘89, Irvin was already there from ‘88, and Smith came aboard in ‘90. From ‘92 to ‘95, they won three Super Bowls in four years and appeared in four straight NFC Championship Games. Six players from that roster eventually made the Hall of Fame. But what Jones meant wasn’t just about the championships. It was Irvin’s thought process. The mindset. The fire.​​

“To be involved and be around winning mentality or that winning physicality. When Michael says it, I listen,” Jones added.​

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However, what Jones said doesn’t necessarily dismiss Aikman’s contributions. But it appears suspicious given Aikman’s been an open critic of the show business surrounding the franchise lately.

“In some ways, I’m sure Jerry and the Jones family, and everyone is tired of the fact that they haven’t been to a championship game, let alone a Super Bowl, in 30 years,” Aikman said on the Rich Eisen Show in September.

“So then when you deflect that, that’s essentially the valuation of your franchise. Or the attention and the exposure, or the drama. Or as Jerry said the fact that the Cowboys are a soap opera 365 days a year, that then becomes the scoreboard.”

The reason for what Jones said traces back to Irvin’s recent comments to TMZ. The Hall of Famer believes the Cowboys are set to make the Super Bowl this season. Irvin spent the college football season whipping Ohio State gear with his belt after Miami beat the Buckeyes 24-14, promising to keep doing it until the Hurricanes won a championship.

Now he’s bringing that “belt to a**” energy to Dallas’ rebuild. That’s why Jerry praised him, because even Jones is ready to dream again about breaking that 30-year Super Bowl curse.

Jerry Jones’ Super Bowl dreams depend on a defensive overhaul

The Cowboys shifted to Christian Parker as their defensive coordinator after Matt Eberflus’ failed experiment. Dallas allowed over 500 points this season for the first time in franchise history. They finished dead last in scoring defense at approximately 30 points per game. At 34 years old, Parker inherited a disaster. 

Parker spent last season as the Eagles’ passing game coordinator under Vic Fangio. He’s expected to bring a two-high safety scheme that disguises coverages and forces quarterbacks into difficult reads. 

The Cowboys finished 7-9-1, and when the defense crumbled mid-season, a lot of fingers were pointed towards Jerry Jones for shipping Micah Parsons to Green Bay. The Cowboys traded their All-Pro edge rusher for two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark. Parsons immediately signed a four-year, $188 million deal with Green Bay, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history. 

With the offseason looming and contracts like George Pickens’ ready for extension, the pressure intensifies. Huge expectations lie on Parker, who becomes Dallas’s fourth defensive coordinator in four years. Can he revive the dismantled defense to match the offense so Jerry Jones can finally win a ring for Dak Prescott?