Bisciotti to take control of Cowboys. The deal is effective immediately.
History has a way of repeating itself. As the owner of the Baltimore Colts in 1972, Carroll Rosenbloom had a desire to live on the West Coast, so he swapped franchises with the then-new owner of the Los Angeles Rams, a Chicago-based heating/air conditioning tycoon named Robert Irsay.
Previously, no swap of two major-sports franchises had never taken place, certainly not on such a grand scale. However, it is about to happen again, with Baltimore again being involved in the transaction.
Published reports have indicated that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Baltimore Ravens majority owner Steve Bisciotti will swap ownership of their franchises, effective immediately. The deal was apparently consummated in private meetings held at the recent NFL owners’ meetings in Phoenix, Arizona.
“Yes, there is a deal in place,” stated a Bisciotti associate with knowledge of the situation who was granted anonymity in exchange for his statement. “The trade of franchises will take place as soon as possible.”
Here’s the skinny as told to me by league and franchise sources.
Jerry Jones is all smiles, now that he has a franchise on the East Coast. (Photo courtesy: The Trump Group)
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A spokesman for Jones had no initial comment on the deal, but many close to the Cowboys owner have stated through the years that Jones was often frustrated that his team was the last to beat the Ravens on the field. The Cowboys lost all four head-to-head meetings with the Ravens before finally beating them in 2016, but Dallas has never won in Baltimore, losing on all three visits. The teams meet again in Charm City in 2020.
Persons close to the situation have indicated that Jones and Bisciotti, while rarely seen in public together, share a lot of the same interests, including cigars.
“Really, the two of them have a great personal synergy with each other,” the Bisciotti associate said. “I’m sure most folks might not think so, given their differing backgrounds, but they’re actually quite close.”
Bisciotti didn’t know that Jones shared his love of cigars (Photo, Hav-a-Tampa.com)
Included in the deal is the proviso that Ravens team president Dick Cass would also move to Dallas and continue to work under Bisciotti. While part of the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering in 1989, Cass represented Jones when he launched an ultimately-successful attempt to purchase both the Cowboys and Texas Stadium, their home field at the time.
Legendary Cowboys head coach Tom Landry was fired shortly after Jones bought the team, a public-relations fiasco that continued to hamper the franchise when it lost 15 of its 16 games in 1989.
Finally, midway through that disastrous season, Jones and head coach Jimmy Johnson engineered a trade of running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for a passel of draft picks that laid the foundation for the Dallas dynasty of the 1990s.
Over that ten-year period, the Cowboys nailed down eight playoff appearances, six division titles and three Super Bowls in a four-year span, an achievement matched by the New England Patriots in the 2000s.
On his end, Bisciotti’s entry into the NFL orbit was a lot more subtle, purchasing the Ravens for $600 million over two installments and assuming majority-owner control of the franchise from Arthur B. Modell in 2004.
Laidback is perhaps the best way to describe Bisciotti’s management style. Often seen in casual dress – sometimes without socks – and with a mega-watt smile highlighted by an omnipresent tan, Bisciotti is a sharp contrast from Jones. He usually lets the football-oriented people make critical decisions.
Sometimes, Bisciotti will offer suggestions to his player personnel department but, for the most part, he trusts his employees to the point where continuity is not just a corporate buzzword, but a way of life at the Ravens’ headquarters.
“Daily, weekly and annually, Steve values the opinions of others,” the Bisciotti associate said. “In Dallas, they’re going to enjoy that a lot, but after dealing with Jerry Jones and his ultra-aggressive approach for 30 years or so, Steve is going to take some getting used to.
“As for Jerry owning the Ravens, that’s also going to be an interesting change-of-pace for that franchise and that fan base, the source continued. You can be sure of that.”
Yesterday, league commissioner Roger Goodell was contacted by this reporter, but he had no comment on the pending transaction, other than to say that he was blindsided by the move.
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