It was announced today that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and former commissioner Paul Tagliabue are finalists for the "contributors" category in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tagliabue is a disgrace for the way he handled concussions and enabled Elliot Pellman to spew junk science, but—but!—at least he would be going in the same way every single other person who will be voted on who is not named Jerry Jones this year: by no longer being active in the NFL. This is why Jerry Jones should be forced to sell the Cowboys, or die, before he can be eligible.The Hall of Fame requires that a player or coach be retired for at least five years before he can become eligible for enshrinement. There is no such requirement in the "contributor" category, which is typical NFL horseshit. Let's put the screws to the people who actually sacrifice their bodies—and as we continue to learn, their minds—and provide the entertainment we enjoy, while once again providing the people who least deserve, or even need it, the path of least resistance.Jones wouldn't be the first active team owner to make it to the Hall of Fame. If voted in, he'll join such esteemed company as Al Davis and Dan Rooney. But still, if Peyton Manning has to wait five years—hell, if Tom Brady can't go in while he's still active—then there is no reason why Jerry Jones, a fucking billionare who got Texas residents to pay $444 million for the ode to his penis in Arlington, should get to have his mug cast in bronze while still running the show for the Cowboys.As the owner of "America's Team," Jones is a three-time Super Bowl champion, most recently in 1996. But that's not why he's been named a finalist. He's been named a finalist because he's made a boatload of money for the NFL and it's not even a little coincidental that this honor comes less than a year after he spearheaded a campaign to bring the Rams back to Los Angeles and into a stadium and campus that will print boatloads of more money for the NFL.Please don't be mistaken, though: I'm not saying that Jones doesn't deserve to get into the Hall of Fame—although Tim Riggins has done more for the game of football by simply existing than Jones can ever hope to accomplish. And yeah, non-players in Halls of Fame is always a little bit weird to me, but whatever. I'm just saying, if Jones wants that honor, he should do it like the people at the bottom the pyramid scheme he's benefited so much from: be out of the game for five years. He can either sell the team, or drop dead. The choice is entirely up to him.[PFT]
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