The book Playing To Win is a great read for anyone who is interested in Football. It highlights the behind the scenes work that is put in in order to create a successful franchise.
Written by David Magee, Playing To Win shows how Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, completely revolutionized football. From a business standpoint, Jones made football the most popular sport in the world. The book begins by describing the Cowboys and their struggles in the 1980s. Jones, an Arkansas businessman, who made millions, decided to buy the Dallas Cowboys for $140 million in 1989.
Jones made many early controversial decisions, the biggest one being the firing of legendary head coach Tom Landry. Many Cowboys fans were disgusted with Jones, but he won them over very quickly. With a combination of good draft picks as well as the hiring of future hall of fame coach, Jimmy Johnson, who was Jerry Jones’ old roommate at Arkansas, the Cowboys won 3 Super Bowls in Jones’ first 5 years. Jones also used his business background to help not only the Cowboys, but also the sport of football. He helped to make football as well as the Cowboys a lot of money. The most notable thing he did was buy the right to his own stadium. He bought Texas Stadium so it couldn’t be under control of the NFL. As a result, he could make more money off of it, as well as make it better for fans.
The book itself is very well-written by Magee. He puts the chapters in chronological order, starting from the beginning of Jones’ reign and ending it at Tony Romo signing his new contract in 2008. The book was published in 2008, so it was very up to date with the current situations for the Cowboys. Magee gets an all-access pass to the Cowboys and their locker room and he really gets great details.He gets information on how Jerry Jones feels about the firing of Tom Landry, signing controversial talents, as well as his approach to marketing and doing business.
This is a good book for anyone that is a fan of football or for anyone that has an interest in the world of pro sports and how they run. It is an easy read, at only 193 pages and it is packed with details. It is a book that is driven by facts and not opinions, as Magee doesn’t let his personal opinions interfere with reality. The book is one that has very good value, every time you read it, you’ll probably learn something new and catch onto something that you didn’t catch onto the first time that you read it. Being a Cowboys fan will make the book more interesting, but it is interesting to a fan of sports regardless. It is packed with information and it was a good read that I reread multiple time. Magee captured the work and thoughts of Jerry Jones really well.
