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Schramm marketed the hell out of them, yes, but Landry and the players made it credible. Joel Send a noteboard - 22/01/2010 04:55:01 AM
The Cowboys didn't become America's team because they played from some higher moral ground the rest of the teams they got the name because both of the owners of the Cowboys were fist and foremost marketers. Tex Schramm volunteered to have the Cowboys play the Thanksgiving game every year when no one else wanted to play a disruptive Thursday game and it ended up being one of the most watched games of the year every year. That and they won a lot championships. Both owners were active owners in their team. The Cowboys were called America's team because their fan base dwarfed other teams and that is still true, Cowboys gear still out sells any other teams by wide margins.

And you seem to forget the Cowboys aren't the only game on Turkey Day; the Lions have been playing on Thanksgiving since the mid-thirties, and the AFL played a Thanksgiving Day game every year of its existence (note: Dallas was never an AFL team. ;))

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_Classic

Note in particular that the Lions owner wanted to do it in the first place to get fans to games (yes, it's a terrible hardship being THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN rather than competing with a dozen other games each Sunday; wonder (but not much) how they convince teams to play on MNF. )
One of the reasons the Cowboys put so much energy into building their cheerleader squad is Scramm liked to surround himself with beautiful women. The hole in the roof was from poor planning no matter what DD Lewis said.

You postulate about how Landry would have treated Aikman but look at how he treated White. He benched White after White took him to three championship games and made the playoffs four games in a row because WHite was taking heat for not being able to win the big game. Do you think he would have kept Aikman after Aikman stopped winning? If Aikman was treated so badly why does he still seem to be friends with Jerry and do commercials with him?

Don't get me wrong I loved Tom Landry and still do but lets not put him up saint. When one of his players was asked if he had ever seen Tom smile he said no but he had only been there 8 years. The Cowboys had one of the best runs in football history under Landry but he had not had a winning season in four years when Jerry bought the team it really. It was the way he fired that was the problem. He deserved a much better send off but that is water under the bridge.

'Course it is; not like he did the same thing to Troy Aikman ten years later.... :rolleyes:

Danny White almost certainly has permanent nerve damage in his throwing hand; he was never the same after that injury, because it's hard to have a good release when you can't feel the ball leaving your hand. However they felt about him he was no longer a starting QB. I'm not convinced he was ever more than Staubachs backup anyway. Which brings us to a classic example of what I mean:

They drafted an Annapolis man who declined a Stateside posting he could've requested and received. There was a war on, so he did a tour over there, then came Stateside a couple years and finally, five years after they drafted him, Dallas got their 27 year old rookie in 1969. I guess missing the first two Super Bowls was worth the marketing value that earned Americas Team. Dallas' team leadership (not ownership) was such Boy Scouts my father used to chuckle all the time over conflicts between Ditka based on one simple thing:

Ditka being Ditka, if someone gave him a cheap shot he gave it back with interest, and, Landry being Landry, the coach did not approve (back then the displeasure of Dallas' head coach was relevant even to star players. )

I wonder what Landry thought of the arrogance of claiming to represent the country, but he supposedly didn't like the name "Americas Team" (given by NFL films, not the Cowboys themselves) because he thought it would incite other teams to play them harder (he seems to have been right. ) That's before we get into the team prayer before every game. Not hard to see why guys like Hollywood lasted no longer than guys like TO or Keyshawn would've. By the end even Landrys greatest fans thought his playcalling too conservative, and perhaps it was; he didn't have much to work with then (not like the first seasons under Jimmy were so impressive; he got talent fast, but he had to get it before they could win) but that means taking chances to have a hope of winning. Landry didn't take chances.

Not that they were perfect, certainly in the front office; Wikipedia claims the Redskins owner so jealously guarded HIS heavily marketed position as the Souths only pro team Murchison and Co. knew he'd veto an attempt to get Dallas a team--and when he did they informed him they'd bought the rights to "Hail to the Redskins" and two could play the "proprietary" game. ;) As a Houstonian it doesn't bother me that public support (and funding) for Texas Stadium ran out before they could complete the worlds first dome. ;) Then there's that book Scott McClellans dad wrote, not that I buy it. On the other hand, they were dubbed Americas Team because they were clearly the most popular, not the reverse, and I don't think that's because America had no taste for the team that won twice as many SBs that decade, or the only perfect one in modern history. America saw something they liked, respected and identified with, or wanted to, and that's because Landrys players walked the walk or they didn't remain his players. Sure, my lenses are probably a little rosy; it would be hard to avoid, all things considered, but it's far from all in my head. Wasn't my idea, y'know. ;)
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For the Record, I Think Terry Was Right, not Jimmy. - 18/01/2010 12:52:27 AM 811 Views
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Ahem - 18/01/2010 09:03:35 AM 641 Views
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Yeah, pretty much - 18/01/2010 06:58:37 AM 528 Views
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great argument to bad it is based more on your emtions then reality - 18/01/2010 02:09:13 PM 553 Views
pot meet kettle... *NM* - 18/01/2010 04:05:47 PM 229 Views
hello kettle - 18/01/2010 04:19:49 PM 505 Views
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speaking of sandy vaginas - 18/01/2010 05:43:04 PM 478 Views
that was so incomprehensible i'm not sure how to respond.... - 18/01/2010 11:19:38 PM 548 Views
I was saying stop winning because I call people out for stupid hate post - 20/01/2010 02:38:46 PM 481 Views
LOL - 21/01/2010 02:30:16 AM 450 Views
you appear to be the onbe worked up there sandy *NM* - 21/01/2010 05:12:19 AM 233 Views
Re: great argument to bad it is based more on your emtions then reality - 18/01/2010 04:43:23 PM 541 Views
Re: great argument to bad it is based more on your emtions then reality - 18/01/2010 06:57:47 PM 527 Views
no but when they go bad they go real bad - 18/01/2010 07:54:40 PM 463 Views
I had no problem with it. - 19/01/2010 05:32:19 PM 476 Views
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What should happen... - 20/01/2010 05:24:45 PM 521 Views
Wasn't Childress trying to bench Favre to protect him at the end fo the season...? - 21/01/2010 02:20:30 AM 523 Views
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might want to check your facts there.... - 22/01/2010 01:06:57 AM 595 Views
yes but the Cowboys win their turkey day games - 22/01/2010 03:17:55 PM 604 Views
Schramm marketed the hell out of them, yes, but Landry and the players made it credible. - 22/01/2010 04:55:01 AM 531 Views
White hurt his wrist after Landry brought him back - 22/01/2010 03:30:35 PM 470 Views
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Not hear... see. - 20/01/2010 05:08:15 PM 402 Views
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"Character is who you are in the dark. " - 20/01/2010 11:13:28 PM 546 Views
it's interesting.... - 21/01/2010 02:25:36 AM 422 Views
I can never find an original source either. - 21/01/2010 02:33:47 AM 441 Views
Re: For the Record, I Think Terry Was Right, not Jimmy. - 22/01/2010 08:55:23 PM 571 Views

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