I used to be a huge Dallas Cowboy fan way, way back in the early 60’s. An uncle and I used to get up on Sunday morning and drive to the Cotton Bowl to watch the Cowboys play. We always sat on the press box side in the upper deck and I think the tickets were two or three dollars each. We really got excited when they started winning. When they did, they were one of the more exciting football teams anywhere. Don Meredith at quarterback, Bob Hays at wide receiver, and Bob Lilly in the defensive line. They were just fun to watch and I loved them!
Back then, you didn’t have your choice of games on television like today. At that time most all of them started at 1:00 local time and there were no night games. The difference in that and today – unbelievable! Today you can watch every single game in the NFL.
The biggest difference in the game back then and today, in my opinion, is that back in those early days the players got a salary that didn’t bug your eyes. In fact, back then you could relate to the players because they had to get off-season jobs to make ends meet. Today I have trouble relating to a quarterback who makes thirty million dollars a year. How can anybody relate to that? I just don’t find it as enjoyable any more. Fact is, I have a good friend who has a fifty yard line suite in Cowboy Stadium and I’ve been allowed to enjoy great seats, great food, and plush surroundings with him – but it’s just not the same. I think it’s just mostly because I can’t relate to the payers like I could in the old days.
Our oldest son was quite the Cowboy fan as well back when he was just a kid. He had a Cowboy helmet, jerseys, posters – even asked for and got a Drew Pearson birthday cake. When Drew Pearson came to Brownwood for a celebrity basketball game he got to meet him and later received a signed birthday card from him. He always watched the games and wanted to be a Dallas Cowboy when he grew up. I think he grew out of it instead.
Now my wife was probably a bigger Cowboy fan than we were. I always accuse her of having a secret Cowboy cheerleader outfit that she never showed me, but she really was a Cowboy fanatic when I first met her. She loved the Cowboys. I didn’t think anything could ever get her allegiance to the Cowboys down to anything close to normal but, by golly, it happened. It happened when Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys and fired Tom Landry and America’s team to her and many others, wasn’t the same. Today, my wife can’t stand the Cowboys and I think a lot of people are like her. It’s what I call the “Jerry Jones Syndrome”. Some people appreciate him and all he has done and some people blame him, especially the last three decades or so when they haven’t been able to win. They put the blame right at his feet, and they may be right.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at lindalh2@verizon.net.