A Conversation With a Living Legend honoring Dallas Cowboys Owner and President Jerry Jones raises record-breaking $1.4 million

A Conversation With a Living Legend^® in Dallas raised nearly $1.4 million in support of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, which is the most money ever raised at the North Texas celebration. The event honored Jerry Jones, owner, president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, in an interview with NBC’s Al Michaels of NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”

“We are so grateful for the generous donors, our outstanding honoree and interviewer, and all of the organizers who made this year’s Living Legend event such a success,” said Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson. “I truly enjoyed the conversation between Jerry and Al – what an inspirational story of family, entrepreneurship and philanthropy.”

With this year's enthusiastic support, the North Texas luncheon fundraising totals have reached $21.74 million since the event started in 1990. The funds raised at this year’s event support the Moon Shots Program™, a collaborative effort to accelerate the development of scientific discoveries into clinical advances that save patients’ lives.

The 32^nd annual luncheon event, held Feb. 25, was chaired by Pat Morgan McEvoy, of Dallas, honorary chairs Lana and Barry Andrews, and a steering committee of North Texas community and business leaders. Presenting sponsors were Andrews Distributing, the AT&T Foundation, Lyda Hill Philanthropies and the Gene and Jerry Jones Family. Red Carpet underwriters were Peggy and Carl Sewell, Gayle Stoffel and Cathy and Robert Allday, Corrigan Family Holdings, Sherry and J. Robert Brown and The Rosewood Corporation. This year’s ambassadors were Penny and Don Evans and Catherine and Sam L. Susser/Susser Bank. Other top sponsors included Rosalind Redfern Grover, Pat and Charles McEvoy, Lenise and Randall Stephenson and SuEllen and John Wilson.

“I am honored to be recognized as a North Texas Living Legend for MD Anderson’s annual fundraiser, and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to sit down and have a conversation with Al. It was a wonderful afternoon raising funds to end cancer,” said Jones. “Supporting organizations like MD Anderson has been important throughout my life, and I take pride in helping to make a difference in people’s lives.”

Jones has held his esteemed position within the organization since 1989. Over his three-decade tenure, the Cowboys have won three Super Bowls and become one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. Jones was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017, and he also is a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and the Texas Business Hall of Fame. He and his family, who are longtime Dallas residents, support numerous community initiatives in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, throughout Texas and nationally, including the Salvation Army and the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas.

Michaels, described as “TV’s best play-by-play announcer” by the Associated Press, recently began his 16th season as the announcer for NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and record 36th campaign as the play-by-play announcer of the National Football League in prime time. In December 2020, Michaels was honored with the 2021 Ford C. Frick Award for excellence in broadcasting by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. He has received eight Emmy Awards and three National Sportscaster and Sportswriter Awards. He is only the second television commentator to earn 10 Super Bowl play-by-play assignments and he is the only commentator to call the Super Bowl, the World Series and the National Basketball Association finals, and to host the Stanley Cup Finals for network television.

A Conversation With a Living Legend^® originated in North Texas and has since been replicated across the country in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Washington, D.C., raising more than $48 million for vital research and patient care initiatives at MD Anderson.