The Netflix documentary America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys received rave reviews, but former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman isn’t one of the series’ many fans.
Aikman, 59, blasted Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the way the documentary told the story of the team during a Wednesday, March 11, appearance on the “Rodeo Time” podcast.
“Jerry had editorial rights,” Aikman said. “So, I think whenever anyone has editorial rights, it’s probably not a good thing that someone gets to slant the narrative in their favor, or however they want it told. What I noticed was that there were sound bites that were used just randomly, like when they wanted those used, like, ‘Oh, that’ll work well here.’ But that’s not when it was said. So that’s what bothered me, and of course, I’m sensitive to how it reflected on me.”
The eight-part documentary premiered in August 2025 and covers Jones’ early tenure as team owner. Jones, 83, bought the team in 1989 for $140 million.
Aikman pointed to one instance in the series specifically that came in 1994 after the Cowboys lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game.
“We lost to the 49ers in the 94 championship game at Candlestick, and they cut to a press conference, and they implied that it was the press conference immediately after that game,” Aikman explained. “And they had me joking about something. I can promise you, you can go back and watch that, and there were no jokes that I was telling or in a good mood at the end of that ball game. That one bothered me.”
He continued, “There was another one where we’re getting ready to play the Eagles in my first playoff start, and it had me saying how nervous I was before the game, and [that’s] not accurate. I mean, that came about before the Super Bowl, our first Super Bowl. So it’s just little things like that. It’s nitpicking. I think in general, the experience that I’ve heard from people who watched it, they really enjoyed it, and learned a lot. And I think by and large they did a good job of telling it.”
Aikman isn’t the only Cowboys legend to say publicly that the series skews events toward Jones’ perspective. Former head coach Jimmy Johnson also weighed in.
“We were in Carolina when we were announcing that I was going to go in the (Cowboys’) Ring of Honor, and he told an off-color story,” Johnson said at a speaking engagement last year. “I said, ‘Jerry, Jerry.’ He says, ‘No problem. I got final say on editorial content.’ Well, watching the Netflix [documentary], he had final say on what was put in the Netflix documentary. It was definitely the Jerry Jones Documentary.”
America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys is streaming on Netflix.
