America's Team

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NFL Films The Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys: The Complete History of America's Team 1960-2003 DVD Cover
Directed by	NFL Films
Starring	The Dallas Cowboys
Distributed by	Warner Home Video
Release date(s)	November 25, 2003
Running time	73:00
Language	English

America's Team is the Dallas Cowboys who play in the NFC East in the National Football League. ^[1] The term is recognized and often used by media outlets, including ESPN,^[2] Yahoo!,^[3] and HBO Sports ^[4].

Bob Ryan, the Vice President and editor-in-chief of NFL Films, coined this for the Cowboys in 1979. After preparing and editing the team’s 1978 season highlight film he had to come up with a title for the film. As a life long fan, Bob decided the title would be a great fit.^[5] He was quoted as saying:

"I wanted to come up with a different twist on their team highlight film. I noticed then, and had noticed earlier, that wherever the Cowboys played, you saw people in the stands with Cowboys jerseys and hats and pennants. Plus, they were always the national game on television."

Drawing upon this inspiration and that of other nationally followed sports teams, such as the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in college football and the Boston Celtics in pro basketball, which Ryan said "are all America’s teams," he decided to use America’s Team as the name of the highlight film.

During the Cowboys' first game of the 1979 season, a nationally televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals (which Dallas won 22-21), the television announcer introduced the Cowboys as America’s Team and the nickname stuck.

The popularity of the Cowboys as America's Team has been supported somewhat by such NFL records as Team with Most Consecutive Sold Out Games...a streak of 160 home and away games (including playoffs) that began on December 23, 1990 at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium and came to an end on December 24, 1999 in a Christmas Eve game against the New Orleans Saints in the Louisiana Super Dome.^[6] Other examples are the NFL games featuring the Cowboys that result in record-breaking ratings at the time of broadcast, such as 7 of the 8 Super Bowl games featuring the Cowboys and the NFC Championship Game between the Cowboys and 49ers, the only non-Super Bowl NFL game to be ranked in the Top 45 Primetime Telecasts of All Time.^[7] Another example: the Thanksgiving Day games, traditionally hosted by the Cowboys since its inception in the mid-60's. The only two years a different team hosted the game resulted in such low TV ratings that the NFL invited the Cowboys back as host, a position the team has never again relinquished. ^[8]

Still, Dallas’ Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry originally did not approve of the appellation of America's Team. He felt that it would give opposing teams extra incentive to play harder. Eventually he gave in and actually came to like the name.^[9]

In 2003, NFL Films released a DVD collection chronicling the Dallas Cowboys franchise entitled The Dallas Cowboys: The Complete History of America's Team 1960-2003.

[edit] Other claims to the name

• Other NFL teams whose fans have sometimes used the term for their team include: the New England Patriots because of their winning three Super Bowl victories in a four year period (a feat accomplished first by the Dallas Cowboys in the 90's), the Green Bay Packers because of their loyal following and ownership by shareholders in all 50 states.^{[citation needed]}, and the New Orleans Saints following the disaster of Hurricane Katrina and the team's 2006 success after a 2005 season record of 3-13.^{[citation needed]}
• Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney dismissed the suggestion that the Steelers were America's Team. 'We didn't want that,' Rooney said. 'We're Pittsburgh's team. We feel strongly about that'^[10]
• The Atlanta Braves laid claim to the name due to their games being broadcast on cable television systems nationwide on WTBS. These broadcasts built a Braves fanbase in areas of the U.S. far removed from a Major League Baseball team. Even before this, a 1982 issue of Sports Illustrated had referred to the Braves as "America's Team II".^[11]
• The term has also been conferred to the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Red Sox, and the Boston Celtics due to their large nationwide fanbases.^{[citation needed]}
• In 2004, ESPN christened the University of Utah's American football team America's Team during their improbable run to an undefeated season and a BCS bowl game. The Utah Utes became the first non-BCS conference team to play in a BCS game.^{[citation needed]}
• The George Mason Patriots men's basketball team was referred to as America's Team during their captivating run to the Final Four of the 2006 NCAA tournament. According to an ESPN.com survey prior to the Final Four, a majority of basketball fans in 47 states (all except California, Florida, and Louisiana, which all had schools in the Final Four) were pulling for the Patriots to win the national championship.^{[citation needed]}
• The Virginia Tech Hokies football team following the tragic events of April 16, 2007.^{[citation needed]}
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights college football team was called by that name during the 2006 season where they finished 10-2.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Dallas Cowboys official web site
• The Big Apple: America's Team (Dallas Cowboys) - entry from etymologist Barry Popik on his website The Big Apple