blur2122
07-09-2004, 12:38 PM
Hi everyone - I read the site every day even though I rarely post. I’ve been wanting for a while to tell a story about my trip to Dallas - in this slow news time I hope somebody might find it interesting. I apologize for the length, but there is a lot I wanted to share with you guys. Before the 2002 season my buddy and I decided to make the trip from Upstate New York to Dallas to see a game. Our goal was to be at the game where Emmitt broke the rushing record. We did some quick calculations, rolled the dice and signed up with a Cowboys tour company to fly down to Big D for the October 27 against Seattle.
As the season went on, I wanted Emmitt to do well, but of course part of me was hoping he wouldn’t do too well & break the record before my trip! And as fate would have it, when it came time to go to Dallas, Emmitt was 93 yards away.
We arrived in Dallas on Saturday 10/26 totally ready for the game. Our tour package included an “exterior” tour of Valley Ranch on Saturday, basically meaning we could drive by and take pictures of the HQ and the practice fields from the road . Well, our bus stopped and we all got out to take our pictures. We were very pleasantly surprised to see that the Desperados were holding cheerleader tryouts that day, and the tryouts were right in front of the building. While we were watching this, who comes strolling out unexpectedly to say hi but Jerry Jones! There were over 100 people in our group, and Jerry greeted and took pictures with almost everyone! After a few minutes he asked if we were going inside Valley Ranch. Our tour leader told him that our tour was only an “exterior tour” and that we were not allowed inside VR. Jerry said “I want you people to see Valley Ranch!”. He then got on his phone to some security guy inside and asked him to meet us, take us inside and show us everything!
The security guy took us all inside VR and asked us to wait in the lobby. Once we got in the lobby, we saw that there were more cheerleaders in there waiting to tryout! You couldn’t turn around without bumping into a cheerleader. The receptionist definitely wasn’t prepared for us to be there. People would ask us why we were there, and we just told them “Jerry Jones said we could be”. No one argued with that. The lobby itself was really cool - lots of plaques commemorating players, & Super Bowl trophies on display! I couldn’t believe that I was actually at Valley Ranch, looking at the SB trophies, during Cheerleader tryouts! What more could a Cowboys fan ask for? (Well, maybe Cowboys cheerleader tryouts, but I wasn‘t about to complain).
Eventually the security guy split us into two groups to tour the building. He took Jerry’s instructions to heart & took us everywhere. We went out to check out the practice fields (the players had recently finished practice), through the coaching rooms and all the meeting rooms. We saw Coach Campo’s famous “time clock”, a giant “blueprint” detailing each game that year, the results and in-house awards for each game, even coaching strategies for the Seattle game left on a chalkboard! I kept telling my buddy “you know we’re not supposed to be here!” I kept waiting for someone to come kick us out, but I guess it was OK since Jerry said so.
The funniest part, though, was yet to come. We had been told that we could check out the VR locker room, but since the players had recently finished practice we of course had to wait for them to clear out. After security was sure the locker room was empty, we were told we could go inside and check it out. Well, when a only a few of us had made it through the door (blue curtains, actually) when who comes walking in from the shower (wearing only a towel) but Emmitt Smith! He took a few steps into his locker room, saw a few dozen tourists mingling around, and said “What the @#$% are you doing here?”. He then bolted back into the shower while the security guy tried to get us back outside as quickly as possible. I personally headed right back out. I’m an Emmitt fan, but I had no desire to linger in that setting. However, there were a few diehards/lunatics that still wanted to hang around & snap pictures of Emmitt in a towel. I think they have issues, but that’s another story.
Anyway, my buddy & I saw Emmitt (and the NFL Films crew accompanying him) again the next morning going out to his car before the game (we stayed at the team hotel). There were a few of us there, and we shouted that we hoped he would break the record. He smiled and waved, then drove off. Of course, you all know later that day he did break the record, and me and my buddy were fortunate enough to see it. My program & ticket are framed on my wall!
So that’s my Cowboys story. I apologize again for the length, but I hope if you made it to the end you found it to be a good read.
As the season went on, I wanted Emmitt to do well, but of course part of me was hoping he wouldn’t do too well & break the record before my trip! And as fate would have it, when it came time to go to Dallas, Emmitt was 93 yards away.
We arrived in Dallas on Saturday 10/26 totally ready for the game. Our tour package included an “exterior” tour of Valley Ranch on Saturday, basically meaning we could drive by and take pictures of the HQ and the practice fields from the road . Well, our bus stopped and we all got out to take our pictures. We were very pleasantly surprised to see that the Desperados were holding cheerleader tryouts that day, and the tryouts were right in front of the building. While we were watching this, who comes strolling out unexpectedly to say hi but Jerry Jones! There were over 100 people in our group, and Jerry greeted and took pictures with almost everyone! After a few minutes he asked if we were going inside Valley Ranch. Our tour leader told him that our tour was only an “exterior tour” and that we were not allowed inside VR. Jerry said “I want you people to see Valley Ranch!”. He then got on his phone to some security guy inside and asked him to meet us, take us inside and show us everything!
The security guy took us all inside VR and asked us to wait in the lobby. Once we got in the lobby, we saw that there were more cheerleaders in there waiting to tryout! You couldn’t turn around without bumping into a cheerleader. The receptionist definitely wasn’t prepared for us to be there. People would ask us why we were there, and we just told them “Jerry Jones said we could be”. No one argued with that. The lobby itself was really cool - lots of plaques commemorating players, & Super Bowl trophies on display! I couldn’t believe that I was actually at Valley Ranch, looking at the SB trophies, during Cheerleader tryouts! What more could a Cowboys fan ask for? (Well, maybe Cowboys cheerleader tryouts, but I wasn‘t about to complain).
Eventually the security guy split us into two groups to tour the building. He took Jerry’s instructions to heart & took us everywhere. We went out to check out the practice fields (the players had recently finished practice), through the coaching rooms and all the meeting rooms. We saw Coach Campo’s famous “time clock”, a giant “blueprint” detailing each game that year, the results and in-house awards for each game, even coaching strategies for the Seattle game left on a chalkboard! I kept telling my buddy “you know we’re not supposed to be here!” I kept waiting for someone to come kick us out, but I guess it was OK since Jerry said so.
The funniest part, though, was yet to come. We had been told that we could check out the VR locker room, but since the players had recently finished practice we of course had to wait for them to clear out. After security was sure the locker room was empty, we were told we could go inside and check it out. Well, when a only a few of us had made it through the door (blue curtains, actually) when who comes walking in from the shower (wearing only a towel) but Emmitt Smith! He took a few steps into his locker room, saw a few dozen tourists mingling around, and said “What the @#$% are you doing here?”. He then bolted back into the shower while the security guy tried to get us back outside as quickly as possible. I personally headed right back out. I’m an Emmitt fan, but I had no desire to linger in that setting. However, there were a few diehards/lunatics that still wanted to hang around & snap pictures of Emmitt in a towel. I think they have issues, but that’s another story.
Anyway, my buddy & I saw Emmitt (and the NFL Films crew accompanying him) again the next morning going out to his car before the game (we stayed at the team hotel). There were a few of us there, and we shouted that we hoped he would break the record. He smiled and waved, then drove off. Of course, you all know later that day he did break the record, and me and my buddy were fortunate enough to see it. My program & ticket are framed on my wall!
So that’s my Cowboys story. I apologize again for the length, but I hope if you made it to the end you found it to be a good read.