Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones tells a story with former President Bill Clinton as Little Rock Touchdown Club founder David Bazzel (right) looks on during the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday, Oct. 21, 2026, at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. .(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones tells a story with former President Bill Clinton as Little Rock Touchdown Club founder David Bazzel (right) looks on during the Little Rock Touchdown Club on Monday, Oct. 21, 2026, at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock. .(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)
The Little Rock Touchdown Club hosted a pair of legendary Arkansans, former President Bill Clinton and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, on Monday in front of an estimated 3,000 people at Simmons Bank Arena in North Little Rock.
The highlight of the event came toward the end when it was announced that the Jones family is set to donate $10 million to the Clinton Foundation to benefit the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock.
"It's wonderful to be able to make this contribution," Jones said of the donation. "We want to give money today to the Clinton library, particularly aimed at the Clinton School for Public Service. We want to give that money today to lead the way and hopefully others will follow for something that we're very proud of."
Clinton and Jones took to the stage for nearly an hour, much of which was spent reminiscing about their meteoric rises from humble beginnings in Arkansas to becoming massively influential cultural figures worldwide.
Clinton was born in Hope and spent the majority of his youth in Hot Springs, where he was a 1963 graduate of Hot Springs High School. He was elected president in 1993, occupying the office for two terms.
He served as Arkansas' governor in 1979-81 and 1983-92. He was also the state's attorney general in 1977-79.
A 1968 graduate of Georgetown University, Clinton went on to attend Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and earned a degree from the Yale School of Law in 1973. He taught at the University of Arkansas School of Law from 1973-76, before diving full-time into politics.
On Monday, Clinton recounted a famous conflict from when he was attorney general and successfully defended then-Razorbacks football coach Lou Holtz, who suspended three star players ahead of the 1978 Orange Bowl.
The players were suspended for violating Holtz's "do right" policy after an incident occurred in an on-campus dormitory. The suspended players filed a lawsuit and roughly a dozen other players threatened to boycott the Orange Bowl game if they were not reinstated.
Clinton got involved and ultimately his decision to support Holtz and then-athletic director Frank Broyles led to the players dropping their request for a temporary restraining order that could have potentially allowed them to play in the game if granted. Arkansas would go on to upset the heavily-favored Oklahoma Sooners 31-6 in the Orange Bowl.
"It looked like a bad career move for Lou Holtz and a worse career move for me," Clinton said. "I had to face the voters."
"There is no doubt in my mind (the Orange Bowl win) contributed to the great career of Lou Holtz," Jones added. "It made him legendary. When I tell that story to people and I say, 'Who really made that case is President Bill Clinton.' (He) won it and that was the chain reaction in my mind that transpired because of it."
Jones grew up in North Little Rock and played football at the University of Arkansas from 1962-64 as an offensive lineman. He was a co-captain on the 1964 Razorbacks national championship team that went 11-0 after defeating Nebraska 10-7 in the Cotton Bowl.
Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. Under his leadership, the Cowboys won three Super Bowl championships during the 1990s. Jones was named the NFL Executive of the Year in 2014 and is one of the most well-known owners in the league.
In the middle of the undefeated season of 1964, the Razorbacks traveled to No. 1 Texas and knocked off the Longhorns 14-13 in a game that came down to the final play of the game. Jones spoke Monday on how that game not only changed the trajectory of the season, but also their lives. Arkansas surrendered just seven points the remainder of the season.
"We got back on that plane, I can speak for me, it changed our lives," Jones said of the win. "We really did realize that you could read about other people, but it might happen to you. ... There is no doubt in my mind that none of us were ever the same again because we saw it can happen to you. We just beat the No. 1 team in the nation."
Following his college career, Jones began a career in business that was up-and-down in the early years. He got his break financially through oil and natural gas exploration, which vastly increased his wealth throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
In February of 1989, Jones purchased the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Stadium for roughly $150 million. As of 2026, the Cowboys now have an estimated value of $17 billion, making them the most valuable sports franchise in the world according to Forbes.
Jones' Cowboys teams won three Super Bowl championships early in his tenure owning the team. Dallas won the Lombardi Trophy in 1992-93, before adding a third title in 1995.
After each championship, the team traveled to the White House where they were honored by then-President Clinton each time. The two men spoke on that time in history when they were both at the pinnacle of their successes.
It's been more than 30 years since the last time the Cowboys appeared in the Super Bowl. Dallas fell to Tampa Bay 24-16 on Thursday, something Jones said made him "cry" because he wanted to come back to Little Rock with a win for the Cowboys.
"I said we've got to keep President Clinton elected," Jones said, referencing his thoughts during the championship years. "Because as long as he'll get elected, we get to come back to the White House. Apparently I didn't put enough elbow grease in it to get you (Clinton) to be up there to stay, but I wish you we're back up there. I'd give a lot to get back to that Super Bowl."
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