Last night, the team worth the second least in the NFL hosted the team that’s worth the most.

Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, decided it would be a good time to open his mouth regarding the upcoming labor negotiations with the players union, under the guise of encouraging the people of Minnesota to deliver a new stadium to Zygi Wilf and the Vikings.  As usual, Jones was wrong.

Jones is one of at least a few owners that apparently want to see the salary cap AND revenue sharing eliminated from the NFL.  As fans of the league, and not just fans of “America’s Team,” we can only hope that there are very few owners that agree with him.

Revenue sharing in the NFL came about as the result of NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle convincing teams that for the good of the league, teams that made more had to share with teams that made less–in large part because of the success that the rival AFL had using a similar system.

While the NFL had already surpassed Major League Baseball in popularity, the parity brought about by revenue sharing (combined with the AFL/NFL merger and the eventual implementation of a salary cap) helped the league go from merely more popular to the truly dominant professional sports league it is today.

I firmly believe that removing the salary cap would hurt the game–removing revenue sharing might destroy it.  If Jones (or you) has any interest in a little history lesson on how football became what it is today, I suggest that he (or you) pick up a copy of America’s Game: The Epic Story of How Pro Football Captured a Nation.

It’s a book we’ve recently read, and which we’re using as a starting point to a new category of articles we’re planning on posting here on Zoneblitz.com that will look at the history of the NFL (and AFL).  The stories will range from short tidbits we find interesting or amusing to longer looks at events that have helped shape the league, and how they continue to impact it today.

So if you’re interested in the history of the NFL (and AFL), we hope you’ll subscribe to our RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or just continue to come back to the site–and give us your thoughts as well.