Here's my e-mail to Mr. Telander personally. I focused on his errors.
For the record I sent a comment about this article regarding your classification of the late Tom Landry as a hypocritical "Jesus Freak" to the CST Editors and will be sending a comment to Mike Ditka as well.
In the comment to the CST I said your article was full of errors. It was.
For the record, the nickname "America's Team" was bestowed on the Cowboys in 1979 by Bob Ryan of NFL Films. It is not a self appointed nickname. Every year some team tries to make it theirs. It never works.
First of all if it is so offensive why do so many teams and their fans want it? It's a freaking nickname. Get over it already.
You mentioned Duane Thomas and Lance Rentzel as part of America's Team. No they weren't. Look at the date above again. 1979.
Lance Rentzel's last year with the team was 1974.
Duane Thomas' last year was 1971.
The nickname has nothing to do Pete Gent's book either. He was gone from the team in 1968, and he published his book in 1973.
Time should play a factor in your reporting Mr. Telander. The purpose of the nickname should too. The reason for Mr. Ryan's dub was the attraction of the team nationally. In other words, everywhere he went there were fans.
Did you see how many Cowboys fans were at the game in MIAMI last week? Ever seen how many show up when the team goes to Arizona? They are an attraction. hence the nickname.
How many National TV games do they have this year Mr. Telander? Do you need me to do that research for you too? Here you go. No charge.
Week 1, NBC
Week 3, NBC
Week 5, ESPN
Week 9, NBC
Thanksgiving, Week 12, CBS
Week 13, NFLN
Week 16, NFLN
That's 7 of the 17 weeks sir. That isn't even taking into account how many times they could possibly be the featured game on Fox this year. Now ask yourself, why would they have so many Nationally televised games? I can answer that too courtesy of a poster on our forum named AdamJT13. Every assertion below can be backed up with links.
In 2006 here are the top 8 highest rated games of the regular season.
1. Dec. 3 -- FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Giants), 27.6 million
2. Nov. 26 -- FOX Sunday National (mostly Bears-Patriots), 24.2 million
3. Nov. 23 -- FOX Thanksgiving Day (Bucs-Cowboys), 23.8 million
4. Nov. 19 -- CBS Sunday National (mostly Colts-Cowboys), 23.4 million
5. Dec. 25 -- NBC Christmas Day (Eagles-Cowboys), 23.2 million
6. Sept. 10 -- FOX Sunday National (mostly Cowboys-Jaguars), 22.7 million
7. Sept. 10 -- NBC Sunday Night (Colts-Giants), 22.6 million
8. Oct. 8 -- FOX Sunday National (Cowboys-Eagles), 22.1 million
Look closely. They are FOX's highest rated game. CBS's highest rated. NBC's highest rated. Which networks are missing? ESPN and NFLN. Son of a gun here's ESPN's top rated game.
1. ESPN Monday Night Football (Giants-Cowboys), 10/23 -- 16.0 million
So the only network where they were not the highest rated game they televised was the NFLN game against Atlanta. Interesting.
Also, according to NBC, our game against Seattle was the most-watched wild-card game in NFL history, with 26.7 million viewers.
In other words, in a medium where ratings drive the story the Cowboys drive the ratings. That sir, is why they earned the nickname America's Team and why no one can take it away from them even though they try.
The only question that remains is, can you admit you had no clue?
Good day sir.
