Jerry Jones Courtesy of Netflix Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Logo text Eleven years ago, Netflix bet that brothers Chapman and Maclain Way, the nephews of actor Kurt Russell, could turn subscribers on to sports via their documentary The Battered Bastards of Baseball. Years later, the wager really paid off with the Way boys' (Wild Wild Country) excellent and ongoing sports-documentary series, Untold. The gamble paled in comparison to the hand their newest subject, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, went all-in on in the oil fields. Jones, the 82-year-old business tycoon, whose portfolio has included ownership of the Cowboys since 1989, is as charismatic as ever in Netflix's Aug. 19 release, America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, directed by the Way boys (music by third brother Brocker Way). How charismatic was he? Well, I really don't like the Cowboys (go Giants!), and I really liked this docuseries. Related Stories TV 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story' Co-Creator Wants to See Brothers Paroled Business Duffer Brothers Officially Move to Paramount With Exclusive Four-Year Deal The America's Team release comes two months and a day after the premiere of America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and exactly four months and a week before Netflix's Christmas Day NFL slate kicks off with those Cowboys vs. Washington Commanders. (The cheerleader docuseries, essentially a higher-brow version of the long-running CMT reality show Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, hails from Greg Whiteley, another Mt. Rushmore Netflix sports docuseries director; America's Sweethearts was renewed for a third season on Monday.) America loves the Cowboys - perhaps America has bad taste. But why does Netflix? "The Cowboys are more than a football team," Gabe Spitzer, Netflix's vice president of sports programming, told The Hollywood Reporter. "They're a cultural phenomenon with storylines that transcend sports, with Jerry Jones and his family front and center." "We've always been fascinated with those iconic 1990s teams, all of which were a true nexus of success, intrigue, ambition and celebrity," he added. "Whether they're winning or losing, the Cowboys remain at the center of conversation, with a reach that extends far beyond the field." It is the "blend of drama, legacy and spectacle" that "makes the Cowboys a natural fit for Netflix's approach to long-form, meaningful storytelling," Spitzer said. And that is right around where THR's Q&A with the Way brothers picks up... *** From your vantage point, what is sort of the arrangement between Netflix and the Cowboys right now? MACLAIN WAY It's a great question. If I'm guessing here, and I am a little bit, I just think that Jerry is a very easy business partner to have if you're a media company. I don't know any other NFL owner personally, but I would assume there are a lot of owners - not just in the NFL, but in all sports - that probably see a documentary series like this as more of a headache than it's worth. And I don't think it is. I think you can make a documentary series that captures, yes, some low lows. But we also would always tell these guys, "We want to get our audience as close to what you guys felt when you guys won these Super Bowls." Jerry just didn't really need that explaining. There's a little bit of a match made in heaven with Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys that is great for a media company. Jerry Jones is incredible in this. Were you surprised by how lucid and energetic and good a talker he (still) is? CHAPMAN WAY It was a big surprise. The first time we met Jerry, I always feel like you're trying to explain to your subjects, "Look, we've got to cover the good, the bad, the ugly - we've got to cover everything." And Jerry talked to us for two hours about storytelling and about the Cowboys as a soap opera. He was telling us, "You need conflict, you need drama." And I was like, "Oh my God, this is like a dream come true" as far as having a subject. Then after spending about a week with him, I realized, "Holy crap, Jerry Jones is kind of like the Willy Wonka of the NFL." There is a misconception about him as this overbearing person, but he's actually incredibly sensitive. He's kind of a dreamer. It's very small, but you'll notice, he doodles the whole interview. And it doesn't really mean anything, but it's part of his creative process. The man has a really unique, creative mind for what modern football is like, what his vision of this game was, how to market this team and how to build this team. Michael Irvin in America's Team. Courtesy of Netflix MACLAIN There are a couple things that stand out about interviewing Jerry, because we interviewed him at length. I remember finding out this pretty early, which I found interesting in our research - he would att