Pulitzer Prize winner announces upcoming biography on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones

ESPN writer and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Don Van Natta Jr. announced this week that he will publish a new biography on Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones. The “unauthorized” portrait of the billionaire NFL team owner is set for publication in 2026.

“With the working title of The Star, the book will be a comprehensive account of Jones’s life and outsized influence on the NFL’s rise, based on hundreds of interviews, including dozens of hours of interviews with Jones, and will be published in 2026,” publisher Simon and Schuster announced.

“Through the telling of Jones’ life story, the book will show how the Hall of Famer helped build the NFL into the world’s most popular, powerful, and profitable sports league, a near invincible cultural and commercial phenomenon.”

Author Don Van Natta Jr. previously spent 16 years with the New York Times‘ investigation team. He is currently the host and executive producer of “Backstory,” an ESPN docuseries. He was also one of nine reporters who received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for covering Al Qaeda following the September 11 attacks, among other achievements.

“In my 35-year journalism career, Jerry Jones stands alone as the most fascinating person I’ve met and covered,” Van Natta said. “The son of a North Little Rock grocer, Jones rose from being a risk-happy, nearly-broke oil wildcatter to become one of the most influential and powerful people in American sports while inventing—and playing by—his own set of rules.”

Van Natta has previously profiled Jones for ESPN. He has also published works on former Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and famed LPGA golfer Babe Didrikson Zaharias.

Aaron Rodgers biography in the works for 2024 release

A biography on the enigma that is Aaron Rodgers is just months away from release. Author Ian O’Connor revealed last week that his new book, Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers, is available for pre-order ahead of its August release.

O’Connor has written four New York Times bestsellers so far in his career. He’s the author of Coach K: The Rise and Reign of Mike Krzyzewski; Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time; Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf’s Greatest Rivalry; and The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter.

The sportswriter managed to write the biography of Belichick without even talking to the former Patriots head coach. After penning an article in 2000 about how the Patriots would regret hiring the eventual six-time Super Bowl winner, O’Connor was rejected for an interview with the legend. Instead, he talked to hundreds of Belichick’s associates to paint the full picture. For Rodgers’ biography, it sounds like O’Connor received all the access he needed.