CeeDee Lamb begged Jerry Jones to stop sunlight streaming into AT&T Stadium and met a brick wall.
The Dallas Cowboys owner is immensely proud of his $1.3 billion creation and didn’t appreciate the feedback — even if the design did lead to his star wideout dropping a touchdown.
“Well let’s tear the damn stadium down and build another one?” he said. “Are you kidding me?”
Jones specifically chose to orientate Jerry’s World facing east-west so that last-afternoon sun would pour in.
But FIFA demanded curtains for the World Cup and soccer’s governing body is hard to say no to — the Jones family even gave up its suite for the tournament.
Now, the tycoon, whose son Stephen recently opened the door to selling a portion of the franchise, thinks Lamb may have had a point.
“Well, do you know something?” Jones told Fox 4. “Thinking about it and doing something about it are two different things. But I’ll think about it.
“It’s hard to tell that time of the year, because the sun’s not the same. This time of the year that it is, in the fall.
“And that is, you get on into — sun changes, and the angle of that sun changes from September through year-round.
“But as we look at it, I like some of the effects of the tinting. And so we’re giving that a thought.”
Tinting may prove to be an ideal compromise between blocking the sun out completely and blinding his Cowboys players.
Of course, Jones may just be chasing headlines.
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NFLPA demands grass pitches
Another player demand to come out of the World Cup was grass pitches.
NFL stars have been demanding the end of artificial turf for years, citing increased injury risk.
Half of the 30 stadiums feature a natural surface, with Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis a massive fan. The ratio will swing toward turf soon, however, with the new Cleveland Browns stadium opting for against grass.
Some owners, including Jones, prefer turf to the extent of spending millions creating state-of-the-art grass surfaces for the World Cup only to rip them up again before the upcoming season.
The NFLPA claims 92 percent of players prefer grass.
“Natural grass isn’t out of reach. Prioritizing players shouldn’t be either,” insisted Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor.
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Green Bay Packers linebacker Zaire Franklin added: “The cost of doing nothing is paid for by players’ bodies. Make grass mandatory.”
An NFLPA statement issued just before the World Cup read: “It’s no longer a question of capability; the technology exists, the expertise exists and the resources exist to install the high-level grass fields that our players overwhelmingly prefer.
“We have seen the meaningful investments made to meet the standard for international athletes and global events.
“NFL players – who regularly compete on these fields, help fund these stadiums and whose work makes the league what it is today – deserve the same commitment to quality grass fields.”
So, will we see tinted windows and real turf at AT&T Stadium any time soon?
Don’t hold your breath.
