Jerry Jones

Deion Sanders dazzled Dallas on Monday, but did Cowboy owner Jerry Jones pay $35 million for a part-time player who won't play hurt? The question became an interrogation of Jones and Sanders at a Cowboys' celebration news conference. Jones said his doctors told him there were 15 players on the Cowboys who had worse ankle problems than Sanders. But he quickly added, "I want Deion to have his physical condition in the best shape. This is not a big deal. The ankle is a non-issue for me.

In the most recent Super Bowl, they gave the game ball to the cornerback, Larry Brown, who intercepted two crucial passes. But who was the really big winner of Super Bowl XXX? I'll give you a clue: He never threw a pass, made a block, caught or ran with a ball, kicked or blocked a punt, sent in a play or fell on a fumble. Give up? Well, how about Jerral Wayne Jones? His position on the team? Owner. A non-platooned position. He was the big winner because he had the most to lose.

Acting on a complaint from the Washington Redskins, NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has told front-office personnel to leave the arguing with on-field officials to players and coaches. Tagliabue's memo, first reported in Wednesday's Washington Post, was prompted by the sideline shouting of Dallas owner Jerry Jones to officials in the Cowboys' 17-14 victory over Washington on Nov. 16. . . .

Washington Coach Norv Turner is still steaming about Dallas owner Jerry Jones going onto the field to protest a call in the fourth quarter of the Cowboys' 17-14 victory over the Redskins. "It's obviously something we're going to discuss," Turner said of Jones' action. "We play down there every year, and I can't go down to the 20-yard line. Their coach can't go down to the 20-yard line. I think it's wrong."

Tex Schramm, the architect of "America's team," took on the job of transplanting the interest in the National Football League overseas when he resigned Tuesday as president of the Dallas Cowboys to head the experimental International Football League. The man who ran the Cowboys for all of their first 29 years turned in his resignation on the day NFL owners unanimously approved the sale of the franchise to Arkansas oilman Jerry Jones. Although it appeared to be an amicable parting--"We're flying back to Dallas together," Schramm said--there was no alternative because Jones has taken over control of the team.

Construction will begin Wednesday on the $5.7-million, 130,000-square-foot headquarters of The Exhibit Place, a builder of custom trade show exhibits and The Exhibit Pro, a distributor of trade show exhibits. A March completion is scheduled for the project at 12442 Knott Ave., Garden Grove. The architect is Architects Orange, in Orange, and the contractor is Oltmans Construction Co., Whittier.

Dallas Cowboys majority owner Jerry Jones says that if a proposed deal works out he'll own 95% of the team. Jones confirmed that he has an agreement in principle to purchase Houston resident Ed Smith's 27% share of the National Football League team. "We're in the process of completing the paperwork," Jones said. "About all that's left to do is send him the check." Jones said Mike McCoy, his partner in the oil and gas business, will purchase the remaining 5% of the team from Arthur Temple.

Quite a time this has been for the state of Arkansas. The governor got elected President of the United States. The two best basketball players from the University of Arkansas both were taken by the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA draft. And a couple of old schoolmates, Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson, went from villainy to victory by taking the Dallas Cowboys to their first Super Bowl since the Carter Administration. Oh, all the news out of Arkansas wasn't so good.

Suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones has entered an alcohol treatment center. The oft-troubled player has checked into a facility "in another part of the country," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Monday. "It's totally done through and by the NFL," Jerry Jones said. The NFL said it would not comment. Only six weeks after being reinstated from a 17-month suspension because of repeated legal problems, Jones was involved in an alcohol-related scuffle Oct.