By Mallory Mattingly
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones reflected on his blessings as he opened up about beating stage 4 skin cancer.
“I was saved by a fabulous treatment and great doctors and a real miracle [drug] called PD-1 [therapy],” Jones told The Dallas Morning News. He dealt with stage 4 melanoma for the last 10 years and is finally cancer-free. “I went into trials for that PD-1, and it has been one of the great medicines. I now have no tumors.”
When Jones was diagnosed with cancer, he started treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, where he also underwent several surgeries: “two lung surgeries and two lymph node surgeries,” per PEOPLE.
According to the Melanoma Research Alliance, stage 4 melanoma “has metastasized (spread) to other places throughout the body, such as the brain, lungs, liver, or gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Melanoma may also have spread to distant points in the skin.”
Jones goes in-depth about his cancer journey in the new Netflix documentary AMERICA’S TEAM: THE GAMBLER AND HIS COWBOYS, arriving on the streamer on Aug. 19.
“Millions of people are dealing with setbacks every day,” Jones told the Dallas Cowboys media team last Wednesday, reflecting on his mindset over the last 10 years. “You’ve gotta keep that in mind all the way through. There’s no question that from my point of view, the great life that I get to have…”
“Being around this team, being around the NFL, being around sports, that for me, if you need to be around a positive attitude when you’re trying to deal with something like that, I’ve been around it…I’ve been blessed to be a part of the NFL,” he added.
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Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer also battled cancer, and he and Jones leaned on one another. Although Jones didn’t disclose what he and Schottenheimer talked about, Jones did discuss the gift of life.
“We talk about pressure, we talk about challenges. I told a coach one time, he said, ‘Man, that’s going for two, that just adds pressure.’ I don’t want to sound condescending, but I said, ‘Everybody on that TV, everybody in those stands, they’re dealing with things. They’re dealing with pressure,'” Jones explained. “We all have pressure, let’s all be thankful we’re here to get to deal with it.”
“You don’t like to think about your mortality, but I was so fortunate to have some great people that sent me in the right direction…” he continued. “I’m proud to get to be sitting here with you guys and be getting to do what we do. But [mortality] was in the back of your mind.”
Jones couldn’t be more grateful for his recovery and the friends, family and doctors who helped him along the way.
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