Jerry Jones once said he knew "where the damn sun is going to be" in his own stadium and suggested tearing it down before installing curtains to help his players. FIFA asked. The curtains are going up.
According to a FIFA spokesperson, blackout curtains will be used at AT&T Stadium for at least one early-evening World Cup match among the nine scheduled to be played there in 2026. A simple fix that Jones apparently couldn't stomach when CeeDee Lamb raised the issue — the Cowboys receiver had complained about sun glare affecting players during games.
Jones's response at the time was vintage Jerry: "By the way, we know where the sun is going to be when we flip the coin, so we do know where the damn sun is going to be in our own stadium. Let's just tear the damn stadium down and build another one. Are you kidding me?"
The same solution, a different sport
Soccer's governing body makes the request, and suddenly the curtains aren't such a crazy idea. That's the part that stings. This isn't a logistical impossibility or a structural problem — it's a blind pull. And Jones bent over backwards to accommodate FIFA in ways he apparently wasn't willing to for the people who play 17 regular-season games in that building every year.
The Cowboys' players now have every right to throw his own quote back at him. If the curtains work fine for a World Cup group stage match, they'll work fine for a Sunday Night Football game in October. The sun doesn't move differently for Messi than it does for Lamb.
This kind of double standard doesn't damage Dallas's prospects on paper — but it does say something about the franchise's priorities. An owner who treats a visiting international tournament better than his own roster isn't exactly building a culture of trust. The Cowboys have missed the NFC Championship Game for nearly 30 years. Moments like this don't explain that drought, but they don't help either.
"Are you kidding me?" Indeed, Jerry.
