Elliott, Jones use shirt to put Cowboys contract quip behind them

FRISCO, Texas — Another day around the Cowboys, another dog-and-pony show.

The day after the Cowboys came to contract terms with running back Ezekiel Elliott, who spoke to reporters after practice Wednesday, bombastic team owner Jerry Jones conducted a carnival-like press conference at the team facility Thursday.

Jones wasn’t in Texas on Wednesday to talk about the six-year, $90 million contract extension he gave to Elliott, because he was at the New York Stock Exchange to ring the bell on a $2.2 billion acquisition of Covey Park Energy.

It was at the NYSE where Jones said a security guard chided him for signing Elliott before Sunday’s season opener against the Giants.

“The main security guy looked over in the window and said, ‘Did you have to sign him right before you played us,’ ’’ Jones said Thursday.

“I thought it might have been a real first to have that whole New York Stock Exchange buzz over Zeke Elliott’s agreement with the Dallas Cowboys,’’ Jones said. “We just put a double ring on that bell when we got it done.’’

Jones also joked, “The real reason I was up there [at the NYSE] though, I knew this [signing] was coming and I was up there getting my finances in shape.’’

The highlight of the press conference came at the end when Jones presented Elliott — whose mother, girlfriend and agent were in the room as well — with a T-shirt that read, “Zeke Who?’’ on the front and “That’s Who’’ on the back.

That was in reference to Jones ruffling the fathers of Elliott’s camp during the contract holdout, when he praised the impressive training camp rookie running back Tony Pollard was having and said to reporters, “Zeke Who?’’

Elliott’s agent, Rocky Arceneaux, responded through ESPN that neither he nor Elliott found the joke humorous.

“I didn’t think it was funny and neither did Zeke,’’ Arceneaux said at the time. “We actually thought it was disrespectful.’’

Asked about that Jones quip on Wednesday, Elliott deflected the topic, saying, “I mean, that’s so far behind us,” Elliott said. “We signed a deal, so there’s no point in talking about that other stuff.”

On Thursday, it was all smiles for the cameras.

“As is customary, we take shots,” Jones said as he gathered the T-shirt for Elliott. “I want to present Zeke with his new jersey that I want him to wear.”

Jones and Elliott then posed for the cameras with the shirt and Elliott said, “I think it’s pretty funny. I was thinking about doing the same thing.”
Jones replied: “Great minds.”

The T-shirt will be available for purchase online and sold in Cowboys Pro Shops next week with proceeds from the sales going to The Salvation Army, which Elliott represents.

Jones called the deal to keep Elliott in Dallas for essentially his entire career “a milestone contract.’’

“This is an important contract for us,’’ he said. “We all realize this was a very substantive commitment. This was a lifetime deal for Zeke and a significant thing for us. It was important for the issue for us to have him opening day. We did put a big ol’ circle around that, and make no question about it. It was there.’’

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