How ‘Bout Them Cowboys vs. The Patriot Way
It’s said somewhat derisively these days, almost as a caricature of what once was…and could be again.
“How ’bout them Cowboys?!?”
It was Coach Jimmy Johnson‘s proclamation to his team – and the cameras – in the locker room after Dallas claimed an NFC championship in 1992. After a combined 4-28 record in 1988-89, the Cowboys were back on top of the NFL and would go on to win three of the next four Super Bowls.
History had corrected itself. Doomsday from the ’70’s was back. The legend of Tom Landry and Tex Schramm was alive again, even if under different leadership and ownership. But a point had been made, and the football world outside of Texas cringed at the thought.
How ’bout them Cowboys, indeed. “America’s Team,” the moniker Schramm and the NFL marketing machine shoved down America’s throats in the late ’70’s, was back in full force behind the talent they had on the field (Aikman, Smith, Irvin and company) and the swagger of their owner (Jerry Jones) off of it.
But it has been 26 years since the Cowboys have even so much as sniffed a Super Bowl, hence the mocking nature today of “how ’bout them Cowboys?”
Around FPC
NFL: Raiders Opinion: The End Of The Gruden Regime
NFL: Tom Brady Continues MVP Pace In Win Over Dolphins
Fantasy: Miami Gives Up Second Most Yards in Flores Era, Hammered by Bucs
NHL: Montreal Canadiens Carey Price Entering NHL/NHL Player Assistance Program
Wrestling: WWE Must Retire The WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships
PODCAST: Full Press NFL Podcast Ep 14: Russell Wilson Injury, Chiefs/Bills, Week 5 Preview
Of course, Patriots’ fans should recognize the road Dallas has traveled, because they’ve traveled on it themselves.
New England was a cool story as a successful underdog in 2001. But winning, winning again, and having “The Patriot Way” and “We’re All Patriots” shoved down America’s throats over a period of what – 20 years? – helped turn New England from winners into sinners in the eyes of many football fans outside the region.
Add the ‘Spygate’ and ‘Deflategate’ messes into that mix, and it’s understandable why fans of 31 other teams would take issue with “We’re All Patriots,” and have problems with “The Patriot Way.”
This Sunday, two of the NFL’s most successful organizations (with 11 combined Lombardi trophies) and two of its’ most hated will meet during the regular season for just the 14th time. Dallas won the first seven, New England has taken the last six.
- Each began playing in 1960.
- Both teams have owners who remain ensconced in leadership positions within NFL hierarchy.
- They have two of the most recognizable brands in America.
- Both organizations have built villages and commercial enterprises around football facilities.
- And both have made a lot of money – mirror images of each other in several ways.
Both teams are among the richest professional franchises on the planet.
And both teams are back to the business of trying to win games and regain their relevancy within the football universe.
The Star vs. Flying Elvis. How ’bout them Cowboys vs. We’re All Patriots. It hasn’t happened often enough, and for some…maybe it shouldn’t ever happen. Except in the Super Bowl, perhaps.
But what once was, could happen again, you know.
