I'm born and raised in Ohio, still live here, but I spent summers in Texas with my aunt in the 70s, which is how I came to know the Dallas Cowboys and become a fan of the team.
But as I sit here now, in 2022, this team is barely recognizable. The Cowboys of the 70s were innovators, doing things before others do them, regularly competing for titles and sometimes winning them.
What is this team now? An egofest for the owner and his children. Win, lose, it doesn't matter. The money rolls in and how the team operates does not change. Sure, they wear the same uniforms (thank marketing), but this team has become an internet meme. Do you really think Jerry & Stephen, after 26 years of failure, are going to strike gold? It's become a laughingstock outside of its own fan base.
I noticed how much things changed for me this postseason. Not only did I bet on the 49ers, previously unheard of, I wasn't the least bit surprised that I won that bet. The Cowboys are all hype, lacking substance. Thinking Jerry and Son are going to turn it into substance is a fool's errand - if they could they would've done it by now.
So the question becomes, why bother? Is "loyalty" until death - to an entity that doesn't even know you exist - a source of pride, or foolishness? I can't answer for anyone else, but I decided a decade ago it would be foolish to keep giving my money to this team, so I stopped doing it.
Leadership did not change (I didn't expect it would), and the results haven't changed either. I'll still follow the team out of habit, but thinking this joke of an organization is actually going to win anything...no thanks.
The Arlington Jonesboys will continue to live off the Dallas Cowboys name, but they won't accomplish anything other than making money off diehards who are still in love with the name. The Cowboys have 5 SB trophies, and they'll still have 5 when I die as long as they remain a Jones family business.
Go ahead, talk about this free agent or this coach - it doesn't matter, and deep down you know it. It's all false hope, rooting for a brand we all loved but that exists no more.