If the NFL is a pantheon of gods and monsters, Jerry Jones is Mephistopheles in a pressed suit and Texas boots. Part villain, part genius, and always hungry for a bigger stage. The Dallas Cowboys’ owner is famously hated by rival fans, Dallas loyalists, and sometimes even his own family of ex-coaches and players.

But if you ask Jones, controversy isn’t just the rent he pays for superstardom; it’s the secret sauce that turned the Cowboys from a losing joke into a $12.8 billion sports empire. Sometimes the devil’s in the dollars, and the biggest gambler in the NFL knows exactly what he is (or isn’t doing) every step of the way.

The hidden gambit: How $10 million changed NFL history

Before Jones stormed into Valley Ranch, the team was hemorrhaging nearly $1 million a month and flir

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