Gen X Sports Icons

The series also captures a generational portrait of several Gen X sports icons, most notably Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin (born 1966); Emmitt Smith (born 1969), and Deion Sanders (born 1967). 

I watched the series with my husband Bobby, and we were both pulled in so deeply that it sometimes left us exhausted. The game clips were brutal and collided with raw, emotional interviews. The filmmakers masterfully deploy silence throughout the series as part of their sound design. The long pauses and empty space carry as much weight as the words themselves. 

I was moved to tears when Switzer talked about his mother’s suicide. Also, when Johnson was finally named to the Ring of Honor, and when Jones wiped away tears when the Cowboys lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019. 

After watching three episodes back-to-back, Bobby and I agreed to limit ourselves to just one episode a night. This is not a show you binge. Each installment is heavy with memory and emotion. If you rush through it, you miss the chance to sit with the weight of what these men are saying. Stories of triumph, struggles, loss, and about what it means to age and look back on your life. With each episode I found myself taking inventory of my entire life, family and career. You can’t watch this show without feeling the weight of time. 

Glory Years

The heart of this documentary is Aikman, Irvin, Smith and Sanders who carried the Dallas Cowboys through its Super Bowl glory years of the 1990s. These men were in their twenties and early thirties when they built the team into a dynasty. Watching them revisit those moments decades later was exhilarating and sometimes heartbreaking. 

Together, under Jones’s ownership, they carried the Cowboys to Super Bowl victories in 1993, 1994, and 1996. Every Lombardi Trophy in the Jones era belongs to those Gen X players who are emblematic of a generation known for its grit and survival instincts. All four of them were raised by Silent Generation parents, a clear and important distinction between their Gen X counterparts who were raised by Boomers.

Gen Xers who grew up under the Silent Generation tended to absorb their parents’ discipline, frugality, and stoic endurance, values that mirrored the very coaches and owners they played for. By contrast, many of their Gen X peers raised by Baby Boomers inherited a different set of instincts: more restless, individualistic, and skeptical of authority. That split meant the Cowboys’ stars could respond almost seamlessly to the demands of Jones, Johnson, and Switzer, because they already understood the Silent Generation’s language of grit and duty. 

Jones Dynasty

Another fascinating layer is the Jones family itself. Jerry’s children include Stephen, born in 1964; Charlotte, born in 1966, and Jerry, Jr., born in 1969. They’re all Gen Xers and grew up inside the eye of the storm. They watched their father gamble everything on a franchise that many considered a lost cause.

In the series, they speak with candor about what it was like to witness both the triumphs and the controversies. There’s a sense of awe in their voices, but also recognition of the strain. For me, their presence highlighted how the Cowboys story is not just about one man, but about a family shaped by a Silent Generation patriarch. It’s rare that a sports dynasty doubles as a family dynasty, which is another fascinating aspect of the Dallas Cowboys. The Jones children are executives now, running much of the day-to-day business.

Jerry Jones, Legend

What surprised me most in this series was Jones himself. I didn’t expect to find him so inspiring and vulnerable. What an absolute legend. A genius, really. Watching him grow old on camera is moving in ways I can hardly put into words. His face, voice, pauses. In an instant I was slayed by his humor and compassion. There is something beautifully aching about watching a man so defined by success reckon with 30 years without a Super Bowl win. At the end of the series you really want that for him, especially given the disclosure that he has battled cancer and only survived thanks to an M.D. Anderson drug trial.

Jones talks about his victories, mistakes and regrets. He admits to missteps that cost him friendships and alliances. He reflects on the gamble of buying the Cowboys, a move that nearly bankrupted him but ultimately built a global brand. His life is a mirror for all of us who wonder: Have we done enough? Did we make our mark? Will we be remembered? What might we do with the time we have left?

Generation X: Sliding Into 50s, 60s

As I watched Jerry Jones, Jimmy Johnson, and Barry Switzer reflect on their lives and legacies in their 80s, I couldn’t help but think about the station in life into which my own generation is moving. We’re sliding into our 50s and 60s. Generation X is no longer the young players on the field; we’re the ones carrying the weight of decades behind us and staring down fewer ahead. I don’t want to say the end is near, but hell if it isn’t for a lot of people we’ve loved. The Silent Generation is nearly gone, the Baby Boomers are in their twilight, and now it’s our turn to reckon with time. What will we leave? What will be remembered? These are the questions this series stirs in me. It’s not just about football, it’s about what comes next for all of us.