Twitter AMA with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could not have gone worse

SOCIAL media provides a great environment to connect with the world’s most successful people and see what makes them tick. But not on this occasion.

TAMPA, FL - NOVEMBER 15: Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talks with fans during a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on November 15, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

IF THERE’S one lesson to be learnt from this story, it’s when organising an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on social media, make sure you don’t organise it for someone who’s given a big thumbs-up to a convicted woman-beater.

The NFL Network’s morning show NFL HQ learnt this the hard way when they encouraged viewers to use the hashtag #AskJerryJones to tweet questions to the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager, who was appearing on the program.

It’s safe to say practically none of the ensuing tweets were appropriate enough to be read out on national TV, and there was one massive reason for viewers’ explicitly hostile responses.

The Cowboys, with Jones at the helm, signed former Carolina Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy in March 2015 on a one-year deal worth $15.6 million. This was despite the fact he had been arrested and convicted of assaulting his girlfriend in 2014.

The charges were subsequently dropped when Hardy’s former spouse Nicole Holder refused to testify in court after he appealed for a jury trial.

Jones wasn’t experiencing this warm a welcome on Twitter.

Even with his charges dropped in a legal sense, the court of public opinion hasn’t been keen to forgive the NFL star. Damning photos of Holder’s bruised body were later published on the internet, further soiling Hardy’s reputation in the eyes of many.

Additionally, an American stripper accused Jones of sexually assaulting her at a Dallas hotel in 2009, though the case was dismissed in 2014.

But the NFL Network probably thought nobody would remember all that nasty stuff. Viewers would be much more interested in his cameo TV appearances on shows like Entourage and Dallas and how he’s managed to run a successful franchise for so long, wouldn’t they?

No, they weren’t. But it’s not the NFL Network’s fault, how could they possibly have known a Twitter AMA with a high-profile football administrator would go so far south it had to wave goodbye to penguins on its way down?

Oh wait, all they needed to do was cast their minds back to 2014 when the NFL decided to do the same thing with the sport’s commissioner Roger Goodell, and see how disastrously that went. Goodell was slammed on issues from player safety to scheduling, and hasn’t fronted another AMA since.

Jerry Jones will no doubt be following that lead. Here are some of the responses he got from viewers Tweeting their thoughts.

COMING UP:Owner, President & GM of the @dallascowboys will be LIVE on @NFLHQ ! Tweet your questions #AskJerryJonesBest make air!

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) November 25, 2015

#AskJerryJones if you could go back in time and murder baby Hitler, would you do it or sign him as a defensive back?

— Mike Gessner (@calbears96) November 25, 2015

Rae Carruth is expected to be released from prision in 2018. With a need at WR, will you be interested in signing him? #askjerryjones

— Parm (@KingFavre) November 25, 2015

Will you make Bill Cosby the new cheerleading coach? #AskJerryJones

— Dan Levey (@iamdanlevey) November 25, 2015

Is there any crime a football player could commit that would actually stop you from signing him? #askjerryjones

— NRGStadiumGrass (@NRGGrassField) November 25, 2015

If Vick beat women instead of dogs, how quickly would you have signed him? #AskJerryJones

— Chad (@csoptick) November 25, 2015

Did you sign Greg Hardy because the Cowboys never beat anybody? #askjerryjones

— Sean Donnelly (@illMindOfSean95) November 25, 2015

Which prisons do you plan on visiting in the off-season looking for new players? #AskJerryJones

— #1 Cat Step-dad™ (@moleloco) November 25, 2015

Originally published as Twitter AMA with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones could not have gone worse