No Love from Philly for the Cowboys
By Jeff Magnia
The Fourth of July is here!! And on behalf of the Landry Hat staff, let me wish you all a Happy Fourth of July and Happy Independence Day! History dictates that the signing of the Declaration of Independence occurred in Philadelphia. As a fan of the Dallas Cowboys, I would love to re-write history so that the most important document in United States history is not written in the most hated city we know. Let’s face it, the “City of Brotherly Love” has very little love shown from its dreaded team, the Eagles. Knowing the history of the Cowboys, I want to share the top 3 games against the Cowboys that prove my previous statement.
Game #1
“The Bounty Bowl I”
On Thanksgiving Day in 1989, the Cowboys hosted the Eagles having the first shutout in the annual turkey day classic as the Eagles won, 27-0. After the game, former Head Coach Jimmy Johnson accused former Eagles Head Coach Buddy Ryan of putting a bounty on Luis Zendejas, who happened to be a former Eagle, and quarterback Troy Aikman. Zendejas admitted to Johnson that some players were paid to take out the kicker or punter of the opposing team. Zendejas did suffer a concussion during the game as one of the Eagle defenders crushed him to the ground. One game down, can you feel any love?
Game #2
“The Bounty Bowl I and II”
A few weeks later these two teams met again, this time in Philadelphia with then Commissioner Paul Taglibue in attendance. What Cowboy fans and Taglibue saw was probably the biggest display of classless fans throughout the game. Eagle fans threw beer bottles, snow balls, and anything else they could get their hands on. They even hit their own players, who were begging them to stop throwing items onto the field. Ironically enough, beer was not sold for the last home game of the season and if memory serves, they had a playoff game that they didn’t sell it either. Two games down and no love shown….at all.
Game #3
The Game we lost Irvin
On October 10, 1999 the Cowboys and Eagles were playing a close game, which the Eagles won 13-10. This game would be just another game, but for Cowboy fans it was the game we lost Michael Irvin and Eagle fans showed another low in class. Irvin was tackled and went head first into the hard turf at Veterans’ Stadium and laid there motionless for several minutes. It was the longest few minutes as many of us watched in horror, seeing #88 on the ground was scary enough but to see that he wasn’t moving was more horrifying than anything else. Irvin was carted off of the field and instead of the customary claps of support, fans of the Eagles were cheering. Three games down and still no love shown…
There have been many games between these two teams that are without a doubt memorable for one reason or the other. These three games stick out in my mind the most because of the significance they had. Seeing signs of a bounty, in light of the going ons with the New Orlean Saints and to lose a Hall of Fame receiver in Michael Irvin was a loss that really hurt that day.