How Did You Become A Fan?

[casmith07]

Like the thread says, describe how you became a fan of the Dallas Cowboys.

For me, my dad was born at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu in 1958 and the family shortly thereafter moved to Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1960 as we all know the Dallas Cowboys came about. My young dad as a three-year-old from 1961 to 1965 (when the Atlanta Falcons came around) watched the one game a week that was on TV - the Dallas Cowboys. He liked the uniform, liked the star on the helmet, and eventually Bob Hayes was his favorite player.

Because of their popularity, the Cowboys stayed on TV mostly, since the Falcons weren't exactly anything special.

The rest is history, with my brother and I having been born into fandom in the mid-80's. I remember the 1-15 season, drafting Troy Aikman, and more, vaguely. My first vivid memories are from the 1991 season, though. My dad still has the old ratty sweatshirt that he wore every Sunday to watch the game, too...he refuses to get rid of it even though my mom hates it because he wore it during all of our Super Bowl wins in the 90's, including the '95 win against Pittsburgh that we watched in our house in...Hawaii, lol.

 

[BigStar]

Cool/refreshing topic CA. Great story and insight into your fandom.

My pee wee youth coach in DC was a Cowboys fan and described to us why DC residents should not respect the history of the Commanders (in great detail). Then I became to really understand deeper concepts (coverages, blocking schemes, route breaks, etc.) of the game that coincided with the 91 season before the run. Aikman's precision and command of the huddle (that vein that almost seemed to pop when he was under center yelling cadence) was my favorite player. My mother and family became fans of Irvin's posterior; and now we have a family of Cowboy fans in the middle of enemy territory.

 

[daveferr33]

My Dad was a huge fan. I never thought of rooting for a team different than his.

My first memories of being a true diehard fan were of the 1981 NFC championship. I was eight years old. Me and my dad were dressed in cowboys gear--I had a number 11 Danny White "jersey." Anyway, long story short: I went to bed crying that night. Been a diehard fan ever since.

 

[Doomsday101]

Like most because of my dad. Dad was a big Bob Lilly fan and anytime the Cowboys were playing he would ask me to watch the game with him. I took to the game of football like a fish in water. Since I started watching the Cowboys in 1965 I have only missed 1 game including pre-season and that was due to a death in the family. I have been fortunate enough to go to the Super Bowl and see the Cowboys, many playoff games and have gone to every Thanksgiving Day game they have played.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

When I was a kid growing up my dad always watched football on Saturdays and Sundays when he was in town. Every single time he was home we'd watch Cowboys game. Starting in 1988 I actually remember watching the games and remember I was absolutely in awe of The Star. There was something about that blue Star and the way it looked on the helmet that had me absolutely hooked from the get go on the Dallas Cowboys.

I had a Roger Staubach kids jersey and helmet and pants thing too and I always wanted to be like the Cowboys great QB.

 

[The Natural]

I've told this story several times on here, but my Dad became a fan during the Tony Dorsett era. When I was born in the early 90's I just remember always watching the games on Sunday with him. My mother is an Eagles fan so having not have been able to really experience the "golden years" of this franchise it doesnt appear as though I can say I made the smartest choice, but it is what it is, I'm taking the star to the grave.

 

[Nova]

You merely adopted the Star. I was born in it, molded by it.
​

(ha, I'm just a Dallas native. No interesting story)

 

[guag]

For me, my dad was born at Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu in 1958 and the family shortly thereafter moved to Fort Benning, Georgia. In 1960 as we all know the Dallas Cowboys came about. My young dad as a three-year-old from 1961 to 1965 (when the Atlanta Falcons came around) watched the one game a week that was on TV - the Dallas Cowboys. He liked the uniform, liked the star on the helmet, and eventually Bob Hayes was his favorite player.

Wow, this is pretty much my story too except my dad was born in 1955 and we're from New York. He was all about the star, uniform, and Bob Hayes.

 

[Moderately_Askew]

My grandfather was born and raised in Alabama and was a huge Tom Landry fan from the inception of the Dallas Cowboys. My parents do not like professional sports so my grandfather made sure I was a huge fan of the Cowboys. My parents tell me stories of me yelling out boomy ball whenever a big hit happened. When Jerry Jones bought the team and fired Tom Landry in 89' my grandfather stopped watching professional football altogether. I was three at the time and I was the only person in my immediate family who watched pro football. I have memories of staying up late and watching the 90's Superbowl wins and seeing my favorite player, Emmitt Smith, saying he was going to Disney World.

When I was in elementary school I remember the Panthers came to town and everyone was switching their loyalties to them. I thought they were insane and I stayed true to the Cowboys. I still remember laying out all my Cowboys memorabilia and being devastated in the lose to the Panthers in the 96' playoffs.

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

I was 6 yrs old when we moved from Dallas to the DC area. When we left Texas I remember a deacon at our church putting a finger in my chest and telling me to never forget that I was a Texan. Ive never forgotten.

I didnt really know much about the Cowboys when we left Texas but I took it personally when the Skins beat the Cowboys 26-3 in the 1972 NFC Championship game. The combination of my disappointment and the glee in all the lil Commander fans was the beginning of my hatred for all things Commanders. My Texas team had been beaten by the Skins and people were ecstatic about it. I was miserable. My grandparents lived in Miami so I adopted the Dolphins as my other team. I was thrilled when they beat the Skins in the Super Bowl!

The Hail Mary from Roger to Drew was really the defining moment in my fandom. It was from that time that I went from being a casual kid fan to serious about the Cowboys. Im still pained over the 2 SB losses to the Stealers, the Catch, the losses in 3 consecutive NFC Championships. My hatred for Dexter Manley is still strong!

Being a fan of the Cowboys was different than being a fan of other teams. There was something unique, more special about it. Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Texas Stadium, America's Team , the list could go on and on. A real sense of pride came with it. And its why the 80's was so tough. Then came the great run in the 90's. That was special. For me, even more special than that great 70's era. I knew to appreciate it because I had been thru a decade of not having it.

I could never be anything but a Dallas Cowboys fan! I thank God almost daily that I have had the privilege of being born in Dallas Texas, and being a Cowboys fan!

 

[visionary]

my brother was (and is) a die-hard Commanders fan

naturally, i had to become a cowboys fan
then came jimmy, the playmaker, aikman, and emmitt

and the rest is history

 

[Seven]

It was a womb thing.............

 

[Zekeats]

It was week one on a monday in 92 and I was 12 and didn't know much about football and one of my friends came to me with a $5 bet. He was a Giants fan and said he would take the Cowboys and not knowing much other than the Commanders just won the Superbowl the year before thought it was a sure thing. I stayed up and watched the whole game from start to finish rooting against my soon to be favorite team and by the end of the game I had fallen in love with that team, those players and the game. I remember Emmitt and Irvin standing out the most. A lot of my friends say I jumped on the bandwagon but if thats the case I just happened to do so at the right time. No matter what that was the best $5 I ever lost.

 

[daschoo]

Used to watch games when I was younger on the weekly highlight programme we used to have over here on Saturday mornings showing the previous weeks games but never really had a team. Think that stopped broadcasting when I was in my early teens, once I was old enough to drink used to get a few friends together and have a superbowl party most years but never really knew much about the sport and didn't really watch it outside of that. 2008 I was over in America visiting my girlfriends parents who at the time stayed in San Antonio. Was going to go for an early night, we were up early the next day to go into town for The Alamo, river cruise and general sightseeing, when her dad mentioned he had some beers in the fridge and the Cowboys @ Green Bay game was starting shortly so I stayed up. Throughout the game they kept talking about Romos "homecoming" and how Dallas had never won there so that coupled with me watching the game in Texas prompted me to buy a Romo jersey the next day and a copy of Madden when I got home. Learned the rules and am now semi knowledgeable, sit up till the small hours of the morning during the season, own a bunch of Cowboys stuff and going down to Wembley in November.

 

[9darter]

I became a fan after Cowboys defeated Bills in a dramatic MNF game in 2007. Romo threw 5 INTs, I think.

When I was a kid I had some Cowboys gear - even without being a fan (the NFL wasn't televised here back then) - because I liked the colors and the star. So it was an easy choice after that MNF win to pick the Cowboys.

 

[Rockport]

I was a sports freak from the day I was born. We didn't have a TV until I was in 5th grade. 3 channels and every Saturday one of them played the Notre Dame game. Living in Texas, the Cowboys were on every game as well. It just made sense to be a Cowboy fan. My older brother was a Rams fan for some reason, so being a Cowboy fan pissed him off. Another good reason.

 

[erod]

Watched Dallas beat Miami in the Super Bowl with my dad when I was six years old. First time I watched a whole game.

Haven't missed a game since, other than a few in high school while working. Dad was too cheap to buy a VHS back then.

 

[erod]

I became a fan after Cowboys defeated Bills in a dramatic MNF game in 2007. Romo threw 5 INTs, I think.

When I was a kid I had some Cowboys gear - even without being a fan (the NFL wasn't televised here back then) - because I liked the colors and the star. So it was an easy choice after that MNF win to pick the Cowboys.

Are you from Sweden, or do you just dip?

 

[erod]

I was 6 yrs old when we moved from Dallas to the DC area. When we left Texas I remember a deacon at our church putting a finger in my chest and telling me to never forget that I was a Texan. Ive never forgotten.

I didnt really know much about the Cowboys when we left Texas but I took it personally when the Skins beat the Cowboys 26-3 in the 1972 NFC Championship game. The combination of my disappointment and the glee in all the lil Commander fans was the beginning of my hatred for all things Commanders. My Texas team had been beaten by the Skins and people were ecstatic about it. I was miserable. My grandparents lived in Miami so I adopted the Dolphins as my other team. I was thrilled when they beat the Skins in the Super Bowl!

The Hail Mary from Roger to Drew was really the defining moment in my fandom. It was from that time that I went from being a casual kid fan to serious about the Cowboys. Im still pained over the 2 SB losses to the Stealers, the Catch, the losses in 3 consecutive NFC Championships. My hatred for Dexter Manley is still strong!

Being a fan of the Cowboys was different than being a fan of other teams. There was something unique, more special about it. Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Texas Stadium, America's Team , the list could go on and on. A real sense of pride came with it. And its why the 80's was so tough. Then came the great run in the 90's. That was special. For me, even more special than that great 70's era. I knew to appreciate it because I had been thru a decade of not having it.

I could never be anything but a Dallas Cowboys fan! I thank God almost daily that I have had the privilege of being born in Dallas Texas, and being a Cowboys fan!

Every time I'm in DC on business, I love to listen to local sports talk radio there. It's more about hating Dallas than it is supporting the Commanders. They hate that there are TONS of people like you there that are Cowboys fans.

 

[WoodysGirl]

I became a fan after Cowboys defeated Bills in a dramatic MNF game in 2007. Romo threw 5 INTs, I think.

When I was a kid I had some Cowboys gear - even without being a fan (the NFL wasn't televised here back then) - because I liked the colors and the star. So it was an easy choice after that MNF win to pick the Cowboys.

So you're basically a new fan. That's kinda cool.

Got a lot of old-timers around here, but not many new fans, especially within the last 10 years or so.