What if the Dallas Cowboys had to change their name?

How would fans feel if the Dallas Cowboys had to change their name?

The Dallas Cowboys have been extremely fortunate to not have to go through what other teams in the NFL have had to go through. From teams moving back and forth from Los Angeles and St. Louis or the Raiders having different cities attached to the front of theirs, this team has been stable since their inception.

I am not going into a debate over the Washington team moniker but it does look like they are going change their name. I can understand that some diehard fans are upset which is understandable. But it also made me wonder how the Dallas Cowboys fan base would be upset if owner Jerry Jones wanted or had to change the Cowboys name.

This is a purely hypothetical scenario as I cannot envision the Dallas Cowboys being anything other than what they are known as. This is just a case of me wondering out loud what the effects would be.

So, how many fans would protest a name change and stop becoming fans all together? The Dallas Cowboys certainly would lose some fans. But a guess on my part is most fans would not be upset enough to stop filling up stadiums.

I watched a Cowboys game at FedExField, the home of Washington, and I hated their “hail” song every time they scored. For those who didn’t know, potential owner Clint Murchison bought the rights to this song and threatened Washington to stop playing it at their stadium.

The cost of getting the rights back was a “yes” vote for the upcoming expansion team in Dallas. As much as I hate that song, it always reminds me that it helped bring a franchise to Dallas. I wonder if they knew what they know now if they would have allowed the Cowboys into the NFL?

The Cowboys, unfortunately, don’t have a song. But we do have the “how bout dem cowboys“ phrase famously shouted by then-head coach Jimmy Johnson. Would that phrase be phased out or would people still shout it as a legacy term? A name change would bring a whole new identity to this team and new phrases would have to be made up.

So if Dallas didn’t have the Cowboys anymore, what would the team name be?

I have seen some of the names being thrown around in Washington and it is very odd to try and associate Washington with something other than what the team is currently named. Down here in Texas, there is so much that Texas is known for so it is just a matter of personal taste.

The original Dallas franchise was known as the Dallas Texans owned by the Hunt family and is now known as the Kansas City Chiefs. The Dallas Cowboys expansion name originally started out as the Dallas Steers then the Dallas Rangers. Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers would likely not care to share the same name in the same city.

So if they couldn’t be Cowboys, then it would definitely have to be something with the acts of being a Cowboy. The Dallas Herd slides off the tongue and somewhat keeps the tradition of what Cowboys do. I like the Herd but it would definitely be hard for me to root for the Herd.

The Dallas Stampede is also interesting and it could lead the team fans to stomp on the ground and create a stampede-like rumble throughout the stadium so the opposition knows where they are playing. The Dallas Calvary, the Dallas Mustangs, or the Dallas Stallions would also allow this to apply.

As much as I love going to Cowboy games, Dallas is missing a fan led chant. Minnesota has the SKOL chant and Viking horn, Kansas City has the tomahawk chop, Philadelphia and Washington have their touchdown songs, while Dallas has a handful of guys that run through the endzone with some flags. The Stampede would actually be kinda cool.

Other names that I came up with would be the Dallas Wranglers, the Dallas Stockade, the Dallas Outlaws, or the Dallas Frontiers. Renaming this franchise is a lot harder than I realized.

As much as I love when divisional rivals have some sort of dysfunction going on, I really feel for Washington. Having a team moniker changed after decades of rooting for them is harder than some realize no matter the circumstance.

I know it’s just a name but fans come to idolize what their franchise is known for. I hope everyone feels fortunate that the Dallas Cowboys are here to stay.