Believe it or not, the Dallas Cowboys is the only team in the league that runs paid public tours right through their practice facility while players work out. Former Cowboys QB Ben DiNucci once joked about the tour online, noting how tourists would literally tap on the weight room glass on Tuesday mornings like he was supposed to do a trick on command. The debate only intensified after former TE Dalton Schultz criticized Dallas’ “zoo” environment on The Pat McAfee Show, followed by Jayron Kearse’s remarks, adding that players were treated like lions. But former Cowboys legend Michael Irvin had zero patience for it. 

Joining Joy Taylor on the Two Personal Show, the Hall of Fame wideout defended Cowboys owner Jerry Jones with all his might and gave today’s Cowboys roster the naked truth.

“I get players going, and I hear them complain, talking about, ‘Well, you know, oh, at practice, man, we got people always having tours, you got to wave at people.’ I’m like, are you joking? Are you shitting me? And you got to wave like, ‘Hi.’ You, and you got to wave it back. And they complain about this. I’m like, ‘Dude, dude, dude, do you understand what Jerry has done?’ See, these practice facilities used to be on what they call D property. I remember Jerry drawing all of this up in the room long before it started to happen.

“‘On D properties, when you’re grading them, that means they were loss leaders. You made no money with them. You made nothing. So it was just a cost. When you put them in better properties, like maybe a B property, and you own all the property, and now you’re putting offices around it, now you created a revenue stream with your practice facility. 

“Yeah, that’s how we got the number from when I’m making six, seven, eight million a year to these jokers making 50, 60 million dollars a year! And you damn complaining ’cause you got to wave?! Well, let’s stop you from waving and take you back to the 7, 8 million. I’d rather wave and take home the 60! Stop doing dumb stuff like that!”

Decades ago, franchises built training facilities on cheap land that served strictly as cost centers. Jerry flipped the script by developing The Star on a 91-acre campus in Frisco, surrounding the facility with corporate offices and retail to generate continuous revenue, which has made the Cowboys the NFL’s most valuable and the highest revenue-generating franchise for 20 consecutive years.

Irvin elaborated that people continue to pin the blame on Jones while ignoring the massive financial leap that exists between then and now. Irvin then compared what he earned back in the day to Dak Prescott’s $60 million mark, which made the Dallas QB the NFL’s first player to be on a $60 million-per-year deal in 2024. 

When ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler pressed the Cowboys owner about player pushback regarding the tours, Jones dismissed the notion entirely, saying he had never heard complaints from any staff members or players, and even if he had, it wouldn’t change a thing because critics are simply “swimming against the stream.”

For Jones, the estimated $10 million in annual tour revenue and constant media spotlight aren’t distractions. They add to the fan experience, promoting the Cowboys and generating further engagement.