The Renny Rant: Top 10 Reasons Why People HATE Our Dallas Cowboys (1-5)
By Renny Mason
Love ‘em OR Hate ‘em, people are CONSTANTLY talking about the Dallas Cowboys. Fans, both for and against them, just can’t get enough of “America’s Team.” For every devoted lifelong Dallas Cowboys junkie out there like myself, there is also a devoted lifelong Dallas Cowboys hater.
There is even a common slogan most Cowboys haters’ follow known as the “A.B.C. Method.” This of course stands for “Anybody BUT the Cowboys.” Just as we Cowboys fans grew up soaking up the ‘Boys and all their glory and falling in love, others were trained “You root for our team AND WHOEVER Dallas is playing.” So it would then seem most Dallas haters’ have indeed TWO favorite teams.
As we find out last week, it should come as no surprise that there is an entire nation of fans and haters’ out there when it comes to our ‘Boys. Before we continue the countdown, let’s take a look at the list so far…
10. “The Dallas Cowboys wear white at home”
9. “All the players have a ‘better than you’ attitude”
8. “We ALWAYS ‘have to watch’ them on Thanksgiving”
7. “EVERYONE is ALWAYS talking about them on TV and they are ALWAYS playing on national TV”
6. “They Just Suck” (One of the most common I might add)
Now to find out the Top 5 reasons people would ever hate our Dallas Cowboys…
5. “Those FIVE trophies and PAST SUCCESS yall are ALWAYS talking about”
Yes, it’s true…Success breeds intense hatred in ALL sports.
Our level of success (or lack thereof) since our last Super Bowl title (January 28th, 1996) following the 1995 season has certainly been nothing to brag about (though haters’ still LOVE to pour it on at our expense). Our young years in the early 1960’s and those dreadful years in the late 1980’s also provided nothing to be proud of for the Cowboys faithful. However, every other time in our 53 year history, we have been perennial Super Bowl contenders accumulating eight NFC Conference Titles and five Super Bowl Titles along the way, not to mention fielding 20 consecutive winning teams from 1966-1985 (a feat matched by only two other sports franchises). It’s only natural as sports fans to hate the teams that continually have success and care less about the teams that don’t.
In other words, you hate the teams that consistently win, and could care less about the teams that consistently lose. That’s why very few fans have historically hated the Detroit Lions. The Lions have been around since the 1930’s with zero Super Bowl appearances; hence why hate them? Do the masses hate the teams that are 0-4 in Super Bowl play (Vikings and poor poor Buffalo)? What deep-seeded reasons would you have for doing so? No, rather fans consistently hate the Pittsburgh Steelers’ and San Francisco 49ers’ of the world and more recently Manning’s Colts and Brady’s Patriots.
The point is simple, if you are good or even great year after year with hardware to show for it; blind hatred immediately follows. Hope yall are ready for that Houston Texans fans; let’s see if you can handle a taste of your own medicine.
Dec 2, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (9) on the field during warm ups before the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys beat the Eagles 38-33. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
4. “Tony Homo”
If I had even a nickel for every time I heard this one, I could help Jerry Jones BUY another Super Bowl trophy. Poor Tony, perhaps one of the nicest guys you could ever meet on or off the field, is intensely hated on a national scale.
Why? He just so happens to play for the wrong team, the one with the stars on the sides of the helmet.
If we rewind ten years ago, all the back to 2003 and give Tony Romo a second chance to play for the OTHER team vying for his services (Denver Broncos), would he make the same choice and choose to play for the Dallas Cowboys? If he would have chosen the Broncos, he would not have started right away (same as the Cowboys) but he knew he had a better chance of making the team in Dallas with the level of quarterback play we had at the time (Can you say Quincy?).
If Romo spent his career in Denver, would he be chastised and scrutinized with every loss or interception? Of course not. Would he be hated and loathed to the level he is in Dallas? Not even close. But Romo wanted a chance to play and therefore a chance to compete no matter that his new team was the most hated team in professional football.
Other reasons why people LOVE to HATE Romo include; “his” (The Dallas Cowboys) 1-6 record in elimination games since 2006, his various relationships with celebrity starlets (most notably Jessica Simpson), his offseason golfing hobby, his trip to Mexico during the bye week of the 2007 playoffs, his bobbled snap in the 2006 playoff loss to Seattle (to which he will NEVER live down), his mis-calculated comments after the 2008 season finale loss to the Eagles, his rise to fame from a undrafted small-school QB to starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys, his new $119.5 million contract, the mere coincidence that his last name rhymes with “Homo,” his smile and generally just anytime he speaks…but mostly because he plays for “America’s Team.”
Speaking of which…
Sep 23, 2012; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys fan prior to the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
3. “Because they gave THEMSELVES the nickname America’s Team”
“They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys, “America’s Team.” That was the opening line of our 1978 NFL Films team highlight video. The blame for this one can’t be shouldered on Tex Schramm or Beano Cook like earlier in the countdown. Rather, that blame falls to none other than Mr. Bob Ryan who is now Vice President and editor-in-chief of NFL Films. Ryan noticed in the 1970’s that no matter which stadium across the country he visited, Dallas Cowboys fans were never hard to find with their hats, banners, pennants and jerseys.
They also regularly played on national television and Thanksgiving every year in front of millions of Americans. He then knew, “This team is the most popular team in the entire country; how can I use that for this video?” And with that, “America’s Team” was born. Media outlets everywhere began using the name and introducing the Dallas Cowboys as “America’s Team” starting in 1979 and the nickname soon became synonymous with our ‘Boys. Kind of like the “Big Mac” and McDonalds.
So, to the masses of Cowboys haters’ out there; NO, the moniker did not originate from within OUR OWN organization. Tex Schramm just new marketing gold when he heard it and loved the name bestowed upon us by Bob Ryan. So, naturally that meant Tom Landry would have hated it, and he did. He hated it because it does what it still does now; it puts added pressure on us, paints a Texas sized target on our back and encourages other teams to bring their A-game every week vs. “America’s Team.”
Burt Sugar, editor of the book “I Hate the Dallas Cowboys,” (yes that’s an actual book) once said “Every time I hear the Dallas Cowboys referred to as America’s Team, I feel like tossing my cookies – preferably somewhere in the direction of Dallas.” If you ever need a great “bathroom book,” you might also be interested in The Semi-Official Dallas Cowboys Haters’ Handbook, Mamas, Don’t Let Your Cowboys Grow up to be Babies, Who Elected Them America’s Team Anyway?, or simply my personal favorite from above, I Hate The Dallas Cowboys. ALL actual books by the way. You can find them on Amazon for surprisingly pretty cheap!
Yes, opposing fans hate the name and most times secretly wish THEIR TEAM were nicknamed “America’s Team.” It sure does have a nice ring to it!