Berth of a Franchise Opens Door For Dreamer Inside Organization

Growing up with blue and silver blood flowing through your veins from the first day you were born, which happens to correlate with the same year a team of destiny was granted a NFL franchise, makes it rather difficult to choose an all-time favorite team. I use to recite the players on the roster in numerical order to my relatives at holiday times for a whopping two bits, which was good money when you’re a summer short of starting the first grade. Back then it would also fill up a small brown bag of penny candies.

Did I really know a lot about those early teams, or did I just have a good memory to go with a sweet tooth!

Well, I did cry when the Cowboys lost in the Ice Bowl in 1967. I just knew this was the season, especially after falling to those same Green Bay Packers the year before for the right to go the inaugural Super Bowl. Two more seasons of losing divisional playoff games to the Cleveland Browns made this team, led by Mr. Cowboy and first overall pick Bob Lilly, and company nothing more than a paper champion.

But the faith original owner Clint Murchison showed in Coach Tom Landry a few years earlier, when an overwhelming majority wanted the head coach to be fired, proved instrumental when the team finally won the first of five championships following the 1971 season. Led by QB Roger Staubach, a former Heisman Trophy winner who is still a fan favorite, and a host of odd-ball characters (some with a country twang and a penchant for trouble), these Cowboys could easily be an all-time favorite of mine.

As Coach Landry grew more innovative, and Staubach more fearless, these Cowboys of the 70s were competing for a championship every single year. There were the two epic battles with the Pittsburgh Steelers that have always been thought of as some of the better games in Super Bowl history. And it was in 1977 when they won a second championship with a dominating defense led by co-MVP’s Harvey Martin and Randy White. Those teams were smart, tough, and had experience. It was a great blend of talent that rightfully was chosen as America’s Team (even if the name did come from a NFL marketing production).

In a 19-year stretch, the Cowboys failed to make the playoffs only a single time, winning two crowns in five trips to the world championship game and 12 divisional titles. During those unprecedented times, I observed in adoration from a distant rural Texas town – the only exception being the holiday treat featuring Clint “The Mad Bomber” Longley – until my love affair with the Cowboys moved me closer than just a glimpse from my Sunday afternoon perch on my couch.

Eleven years after vowing to friends and family alike that I would become a productive member of the Dallas Cowboys Football Club, and as corny as it sounds, dreams do come true! The Dallas Cowboys, this unique sports franchise unlike none other in professional football at that time, and I had now joined the same team. I’d like to report it was pure tenacity that led to my hiring; I’d like to say persistence was the key. But the truth was nothing but pure dumb luck, a chance meeting, and a gift for gab led to my hiring (a great story could follow here, but a time and place for everything).

My first day at work was challenging from the start as it followed a playoff pasting at the hands of the Detroit Lions. Jimmy Johnson just finished his third campaign following the dismissal of Tom Landry, a fact that created the first real wave of fickle fans, but the furthest thing from my mind as I settled into my new position in corporate sales. Still, I had to be careful not to expose the huge smile on my face, which some may find as insubordinate, with me grinning like a Cheshire cat and all (following that season-ending loss).

I would stay with my beloved Cowboys for the better part of four seasons. Seeing them win three Super Bowls in a four-year span certainly qualifies as a highlight, but it was in my first full year where a young team reached the pinnacle of football and the top of my all-time ranking of favorite teams. Three consecutive first-round draft picks produced the triplets – Hall of Fame stars Troy Aikman and Michael Irving, plus soon-to-be HOF shrine-e Emmitt Smith – and with a brash head coach, reckless youth on defense, and a team of personalities, 1992 was a year I’ll always cherish.

I marveled at everything which unfolded in front of me from my inside position What could be better than to witness my favorite sports team come into its own under a new regime, still polarized from the past, but unknowingly destined for greatness. Starting with the opening thumping of the current World Champion Washington Redskins in front of a national audience, and through the playoff run, disposing of division-rival Philadelphia Eagles at home before going to Candlestick Park and beating the 49ers in the mud, the 1992 Cowboys seemingly surprised everyone but those within the organization.

Culminating with a jet flyover over a majestic mountain backdrop from a scenic seat inside the Rose Bowl, followed by a near-record scoring outburst in Super Bowl XXVII which can only be described as orgasmic, this day and the year in general belonged to everyone associated with the team, as well as those staunch supporters.

I was both!

Can childbirth really exceed the excitement of the berth of a champion?