Now, part of me feels that this is stupid. Part of me feels like while I may have done you wrong, there's no chance that I have done you damage. It's easy for broke boys like me to imagine your money and position protecting you from the pain of rejection and the pressure of people's opinions. It's easy for me to say that if I had the kind of money that you, some of the players, rock stars and movie stars have I wouldn't care what anybody thought about me. They could hate all they wanted. I'd be laughing all the way to the bank.
But the truth is, I don't really think that. I know better. There is only one thing that has ever been able to free me from the bondage of pressure to please people, and money is not it. Another truth is that I imagine you are much like I always wanted to be, and I'm not talking about rich. I mean that you're a strong-willed man, who acts on what he wants and thinks, quickly and decisively, and if someone doesn't like it, they can step off. You never seemed to care one little bit about what people thought about you, what you did or anything else. I so wanted that freedom for so long, and yet, when I saw that in someone else, I hated.
But who knows? You may not be like that at all. Landry was not a cold, emotionless man who didn't care what people thought. Many believed that of him because of his sideline persona. When, in fact, the opposite was true. Landry cared very much what people thought, which is precisely why he practiced self discipline and self control of his emotions in public and especially on the sideline. It was awareness of people's opinions that influenced his choice of dress, right down to the fedora he is famously known for. And maybe you are similar. Perhaps you love the positive attention and praise of happy fans. It's possible that you learned from experience in the oil business that once you make a choice you stand by it and act like you are fully confident come hell or high water, but in private that hate spewed by a fickle and uncaring public and commentators may break your heart.
Maybe not, and it really doesn't matter for the purposes of my part in adding to the problem. There is a problem with our fame and celebrity based culture. We make heroes and villains out of almost anyone in the public eye. It's almost like we forget that they are human beings. I have done it even here. If I were addressing a letter to any non-famous 74-year-old that I didn't know, I would never have begun with Jerry, or even Dear Jerry. And I am sorry that I did it with you, but I will leave it to help illustrate the point and continue from here showing the respect that my momma raised me to give my elders.
Mr. Jones, I don't know you. I don't know you any more than I know Ms. Clinton or Mr. Trump or any other people who are so often in the public lens that we, the public, began treating with the contempt of the familiar. I am sorry. I know, when I stop to think of it, that you are more than the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, more than your business decisions, and most of all more than the man who fired Tom Landry in his own home the first time you met him.
But even if I'm wrong, and the two-dimensional personality and public caricature we see from your public actions and decisions coupled with the sales driven statements in the press are exactly who you are, I have wronged you. I have been evil, and I am sorry for that.
You may wonder why I am bothering to say that and why I am doing so in a public, open letter. You probably don't, actually, but I will answer that question anyway. My sin against you has been open, proud and public. I have been publicly wrong towards you many times, and in many places. Acknowledging that publicly is the only way I know to make amends. It's not like I can retrace 27 years and apologize for my wrong in each of the places I have done it, to every person who may have heard my character assassination of you.
I don't know what you may or may not believe, Mr. Jones, but I am a follower of Christ. Of course, few would know that if the only picture and knowledge they had of me was my attitude and actions regarding you and the Dallas Cowboys. Entertainment, sports and politics may be so public and galvanizing that we polarize those involved as heroes or villains, worthy of praise or deserving scorn, as good or evil, and feel that freedom of speech gives us the right to trash and tear into any public figure we feel deserves it, even as Christians. But that's not true.
You may or may not know this, Mr. Jones, but Ephesians 4: 29 tells those who profess to follow Jesus to "let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." Criticism and condemnation are not often necessary for edification, nor do such things impart grace and the love of Jesus to those who hear it. In the way that I have spoken of you and the Cowboys over the past 27 years, I have not only done you wrong, but those who heard it. I did not speak with or in the love of Christ, or with grace.
Mr. Jones, if you knew me, you most likely wouldn't have wanted to associate with me. I have been forgiven much. I have done some seriously evil and despicable things over my 45 years of life. I have hurt people and brought destruction into the lives of those I claimed to love and care about. Jesus has forgiven me, and even more miraculous in some ways, many of the people I hurt have also forgiven me and relationships have been restored. I used to be a drug addict and alcoholic with all the selfishness and wrong that you would expect to accompany such, but I have been given an undeserved new life. Now, as a minister, I often speak and write of the need to forgive. Those of us who have been forgiven much, should be even more quick to forgive than the average man.
And yet, it has been less than two weeks since I last publicly explained to someone that I quit being a Cowboys fan the day you fired Landry and that I don't care how many rings Dallas wins, I won't be a fan again as long as you are the owner. That's not very Christ-like is it? I can't imagine that anyone could see Jesus in any of that, nor was it in any way gracious. If Jesus picked one moment, one decision I made that was wrong and offensive and judged me by that alone, refusing to forgive, the least bad thing on the Top 100 evils Dalyn has done would be far worse than what you did. And yet, I have resented you and refused to forgive, and I have wished you, your endeavors and your team ill because of it. That is wrong. It is evil. It is an anti-Christ spirit, and the conviction of that in my spirit broke me last night as I lay in bed unable to sleep.
And another messed up thing about that is I never disagreed with your decision to fire Landry or cut him loose from his contract a year early. I agreed the three decades he'd been head coach were enough. It was time for him to go. The Cowboys needed a change in those late 80's losing years. But part of what made me so mad was the disrespect shown the only coach the Cowboys had ever had. It wasn't firing him but how he was fired.
Gossip and bearing false witness is also a sin. Back in 1989, on a sports talk radio show in Dallas I heard the host claim that Landry learned of his dismissal by walking into his office and seeing his belongings boxed up. When I looked into that this morning, (yes, it took me nearly three decades to do a little research and discover if the tale were true, and I'm sorry for that too) I discovered that I have been spreading falsehood for years, as recently as last week. I rebuke people for reposting stories on social media without taking a minute to check the facts, and yet I have been repeating this lie as fact for nearly 30 years. Just call me Plankeye. It does look like the way it happened, the truth as far as I could find, still could have been handled better, but I am not sure how. If I had been Landry I would rather have you come up to me and say I was fired than pretend to be nice and talk about it first. I'm not sure that in my home would be my chosen location, but the 45 minutes it is reported to have taken would probably have been about 40 too long. Just rip the band aid off already. Tell me the bad news and leave me alone. But if you had simply said, "Tom, I want to go a new direction with someone I know and have a relationship with. You're fired," and left (about 10 seconds needed), we Landry fans would have really have wanted you crucified. Yet, it would have been honest, straight-forward and quick as possible.
The truth is, there was no good way to do what had to be done, fire Tom Landry. What an unfortunate and uncomfortable position to be in. I wouldn't have wanted to do that. And I respect that you were man enough to do the hard thing yourself, face-to-face. I want to say that since I have called you a coward while repeating the box-in-the-office lie.
I don't know what really happened. I don't know if it's true that you made Landry cry as three articles I read this morning stated, but whatever happened, I forgive you. What I have done in reaction to your choices has been far more evil and hypocritical than anything you did or may have done. I have asked Jesus to forgive me and remove this area of sin from me, and now I ask for your forgiveness as well.
It's not just entertainment, therefore being cruel and crucifying perceived villains with our words is OK. It's not OK. There is no area of life where we are exempt from the call to love as Jesus loved, to speak truth, and to have our words and actions edify, glorify God and be full of grace. There's nothing wrong with rooting for the teams we follow, but we are never called to rejoice in the suffering of others. We are to love our true enemies and bless them, not hope they are destroyed. How much more so must that be about a game that does not matter in the eternal and with rivals who are not enemies but simply on the opposite side of the ball? We should love those on the other side and bless them. Rejoice with and root for the teams we love, but doing that is different than rooting against a team, and hoping to see someone stumble and fall.
My tweet to encourage the Texans to look forward to next season became opposite the truth and teachings of Christ the moment I added the hashtag #anybodybutDallasNE. I chose to repent publicly to you, Mr. Jones because of the length of time and frequency of my wrong to you. The truth is that I could have also written much the same letter to Mr. Brady and the Patriots organization. I am letting go of resentments that I thought didn't matter and weren't real and were OK because they were over a game. I am forgiving perceived wrongs to people, teams and fans. I am repenting of acting a fool, of refusing to forgive and failing to act and speak in grace, I am admitting I was wrong in spreading falsehood and speaking out of maliciousness and anger rather than love and truth and grace. I will endeavor in the future, by the grace of God, not behave in such a manner in the future in any area of life, including but not limited to, entertainment, sports and political personalities.
Mr. Jones, the Cowboys had an awesome season and played a great game last night. They came up short by so little. That was perhaps the best game of the post-season so far. Congratulations to Green Bay, but credit to you and every person in the organization for a season worthy of praise. And while I'm at it, congratulations to Mr. Brady and everyone who is a part of the New England Patriots organization on a great season that is not over and six straight appearances in the AFC Championship game. I will be rooting for Pittsburgh because I am a love the underdog kind of guy, but this year, for the first time in a very long time, I will not root against you, Mr. Brady. I may not ever be a fan of either of these two teams, I don't know, but I will not be a hater any longer, not even in jest. I am sorry.
Dalyn Woodard
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