The Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is notorious for running the franchise with unquestioned authority, regardless of the incoming complaints around the playing conditions at AT&T Stadium. The biggest complaint players have had about the Arlington venue, is of course, the glaring sun in late afternoon games. Yet, Jones has remained firm in his decision not to use the curtains during Cowboys games. But with the stadium set to host nine FIFA World Cup matches, Jones will bring the change that his players has been asking for since ages ago.

A FIFA spokesperson told Front Office Sports that they plan on using blackout curtains to prevent the sun’s glare in just one early evening match – The June 25 group stage match between Japan and Sweden, whose kickoff is slated for 6 pm. And as far as the other eight games are concerned, they’ll take place after sunset or in the early afternoon. 

“The venue team will remain vigilant and assess whether the curtains will be needed for any other matches,” the spokesperson said.

Ever since AT&T Stadium opened, sunlight has been an issue because the field is aligned east to west instead of the traditional north-south setup. Once daylight savings kicks in, the late-afternoon sun pours through the massive west-side glass panels. It creates a brutal glare for players looking in that direction.

One of the clearest examples came when Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb lost sight of what should have been an easy 3-yard touchdown catch from Cooper Rush right at the two-minute warning in the second quarter. Even on television, it was obvious the sun completely took the ball away from him.

“I couldn’t see the ball. Couldn’t see the ball, at all. The sun,” Lamb said after the 34-6 loss to the Eagles.

Since that incident, Lamb joined the list of people calling for curtains to be installed over the stadium windows. It’s a solution many have pushed for over the years, but one that Jones has continued to reject.

“Yes. One thousand percent,” Lamb said that time.

But Lamb wasn’t the only one who has faced such an issue. Dez Bryant and Brice Butler also missed passes while competing against the Kansas City Chiefs in 2017. Even Travis Kelce criticized it, claiming the glass makes the rays spread more, making the sun bigger and brighter. However, he also seemed to get Jones’ part of the argument. He understood that it shouldn’t be an excuse for dropping balls and making bad plays.

Another one of the Cowboys’ WRs, George Pickens, complained about the glare after missing a pass in the first half of the Thanksgiving Day game against the Chiefs. However, he coordinated better with Dak Prescott and caught six out six passes for 88 yards. His resilience was also the reason why the Cowboys won against the Chiefs. 

“It definitely did,” Pickens didn’t deny the sunlight’s impact. “Some of the guys told me, too. That was my first time having that. Just coming on the crossing route, the sun was beating in my eyes, so I couldn’t see. But made up for it… I really couldn’t see the ball. It was the sun. Like I said, I always bounce back. Kind of like CeeDee bounced back from last week to this week. All you can do is just one foot forward, keep getting better.” 

So, why doesn’t Jones use the available shades to block the sun out during gameplays? He certainly lets the shades drop while hosting concerts and similar events. Players have advocated in favor of that move as well. Even Lamb was 1000% in favor of using shades in a sunny game. 

Well, Jones wants the AT&T Stadium to feel like an outdoor stadium despite being indoors. When asked about the glare management strategies, Jones believed that his team should use the sun to their advantage. 

Jerry Jones thinks of the glare as a tactical advantage for the Cowboys

“By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we flip the coin, so we do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium,” Jones lashed out at the media as talks about the sunlight affecting the players grew louder two years ago. “Let’s just tear the stadium down and build another one? You kidding me?” 

And instead of agreeing to put the curtains down and saving the players from the sun, Jones thought of it as a homeground advantage. 

“That really goes under the category of home-field advantage,” Jones told the media. “It should be an advantage to the home team, so I don’t want to adjust it for one reason because it is an advantage to us. That’s our advantage. It has been an advantage for us to know where the sun is. I don’t want to change that.” 

However, when it comes to FIFA, Jerry Jones seemingly got ready to let the curtains fall and save the soccer stars from the sun that has been bothering NFL players for ages. It’s another one of the double standards that NFL players are facing. The first one? Using softer grass instead of the hard sandpaper-like turf. But in the upcoming NFL games, let’s see if Jones makes a similar decision in favor of the players.