Stephen Jones recalls decision to draft Zack Martin over Johnny Manziel, Jerry Jones’ reaction

During the 2014 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys found themselves facing a decision. Johnny Manziel was falling down the board after a historic run at Texas A&M, and they were waiting with the No. 16 overall pick.

Stephen Jones remembered that moment as the Cowboys weighed whether or not to take the former Heisman Trophy winner. His dad, Jerry, wanted to do so. But others in the room didn’t sound so convinced once Manziel’s name dropped past No. 15.

Ultimately, the Cowboys took Zack Martin out of Notre Dame. But Jones remembered the moments leading up to that pick – and the ensuing reaction from his father.

“This is nothing against Johnny Manziel,” Jones said this week at a Sports Business Journal event. “He’s a great competitor. And it’s just, do you use your first-round pick? And of course, we had Tony Romo in the building. So it was more about that. Do you create that kind of anxiety in the organization by bringing him in? Well, sure enough, Johnny Manziel falls to us. And, boy, we get to going, ‘Well, let’s talk about Johnny, here he is. We’ve got our guy. This is the future.’ Of course, everybody in the room, I look around, I go, ‘It’s time for everybody to talk.’ I look around and everybody’s [head is down]. … I go, ‘Dad,’ I go, ‘This is a hard thing because everybody knows you want Johnny. As you heard some of the things, I don’t think he’ the right guy for us.’

“So roll the clock forward, we end up picking Zack Martin. And boy, it is tense. Usually, after every pick, we all know, we’re clapping, high-fiving. ‘Boy, isn’t that a great pick?’ After we picked Zack Martin, an offensive guard from Notre Dame, Jerry looks over at me, slaps me on the leg and he goes, ‘Son, I didn’t get to buy the Dallas Cowboys – we’re not sitting here because you do down-the-middle-of-the-road things. What you just did is down the middle. You’ll never be great.’ “He gets up and storms out.”

As Stephen Jones looked around, he saw head coach Jason Garrett and director of scouting Larry Lace, who both thanked him for defending the pick.

But Jerry Jones later returned. When he did, he apologized for his reaction and the room once again celebrated their new guard.

“Larry Lace was sitting over there and Jason’s sitting there,” Stephen Jones recalled. “They’re going, ‘Phew, I’m glad that wasn’t me.’ But they said, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you for standing up for taking Zack Martin.’

“Sure enough, Jerry walks back in – which is typical Jerry – ‘That was way over the top. I love you. We did the right thing.’ And we re-celebrated Zack Martin.”

Martin went on to spend his entire career with the Cowboys, announcing his retirement after the 2024 season. He became a seven-time All-Pro selection and made the Pro Bowl all but two years, missing out in 2020 and 2024. Manziel, meanwhile, only played two years with the Cleveland Browns after going No. 22 overall.