From dynasty to soap opera: how Jerry Jones traded Dallas Cowboys glory for ‘365 days of sizzle’

Thirty years after their last Super Bowl, the Cowboys open the season in their rivals' shadow. It's a story of how Jerry Jones built a brand that thrives on drama but not titles

On Thursday night in Philadelphia, the Dallas Cowboys will stand on the sideline, helmets under their arms, while the Eagles raise a championship banner for the second time in seven years. It will be a ritual drenched in green and silver, an occasion of sweeping civic pride for one of the Cowboys' fiercest rivals. For Dallas, it will be a reminder in 50ft letters: three decades have passed since America's Team last won a Super Bowl.

And the contrast could not be sharper. For while the Eagles bask in another triumph and project the stability of an organization built for long-term success, the Cowboys stumble into the season diminished - having just traded away the one player who seemed capable of bridging the chasm between their glorious past and uncertain present.