The Cowboys "Mystique"

[leeblair]

Mystique: a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning.

Those of us around for awhile will remember this term emerging in the late 60's and early 70's and would lead to the term "America's Team" coined by NFL Films.

When the Cowboys came into being, the NFL landscape had been ruled by the Bears, Browns and Packers with blue collar no holds barred football that always included blood and mud on the uniforms. Back then they didn't have the names on the uniforms so it was not uncommon not to be able to identify the players' numbers by the 4Q. It was a pipe fitters dream of a sport.

This mystique began to emerge and no one could explain it. What was this fascination with this team in Texas? This team even had the unflattering football word "finesse" attached to it and another would emerge in the late 60's through 1970, "bridesmaid". Always a bridesmaid and never a bride. Finesse denoted a team more suited to accountants and lawyers than pipe fitters.

I believe in the Cowboys "Mystique", how else can I explain the popularity and must cover by the media of a team that has accomplished so little in the last 25 years but are as popular as when they had a record 20 winning seasons in a row?

I can't tell you what happened but the first time I saw the Cowboys play it was just like the first time I saw my bride to be a full two years before I would even meet her. It was love at first sight and I was a longtime Cardinals fan growing up in Arkansas and they would be co-favorites for 8 years until that game in Green Bay when finesse and mystique would meet mean, tough and ugly in inhuman conditions and lose the game but destroy the word finesse as a label for that team. Pipe fitters that day stood up and took notice.

But the mystique not only stayed with the team but began to even grow more pronounced and football fans across this nation were all forced to choose sides with this team. No indifferent fans here, you hated or loved the Dallas Cowboys. The Yankees of the NFL had arrived.

And I can tell you first hand that neither side could explain why they felt the way they did. I had my East buds even say they loved Tom Landry but hated the Cowboys. Same with Staubach, they liked him but liked seeing him get drilled even more in that uniform. That uniform, part of the mystique?

So, my friends, do not think there is anything wrong with you because you can't shake this team. Ask yourself "why do I keep putting myself through this? I know they're going to lose and I still am a moth to the flame".

Some have their reasons, they were raised a Cowboys fan or followed a favorite college player to the team. I do not have a reason. I deserted my longtime favorite and co-favorite after they lost the biggest game in their history to that point. And I've never looked back.

They are that desire of your heart that does you wrong and you keep coming back for more. You can call her a tramp but no one else better because she is, after all, yours.

Might we use this thread to discuss how we became fans and how much being a fan means to us and share stories of how we became infected with the "Cowboys Mystique"? Particularly you fans in enemy territory because you fascinate me. And just what is this mystique and why only this team?

There are plenty of other threads for us to be angry about but being a fan should bring joy. Frustration? Sure. but rejoice in the fact that you are still there for the desire of your heart. You will not forsake them. Be proud that you are a loyal fan.

It's pretty simple; the Cowboys at one time carried themselves with dignity and class, and stayed above and away from all of the unprofessional things.
Now, not so much.
Now the players think just wearing the star makes them great.

 

[Fletch]

Mystique: a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning.

Those of us around for awhile will remember this term emerging in the late 60's and early 70's and would lead to the term "America's Team" coined by NFL Films.

When the Cowboys came into being, the NFL landscape had been ruled by the Bears, Browns and Packers with blue collar no holds barred football that always included blood and mud on the uniforms. Back then they didn't have the names on the uniforms so it was not uncommon not to be able to identify the players' numbers by the 4Q. It was a pipe fitters dream of a sport.

This mystique began to emerge and no one could explain it. What was this fascination with this team in Texas? This team even had the unflattering football word "finesse" attached to it and another would emerge in the late 60's through 1970, "bridesmaid". Always a bridesmaid and never a bride. Finesse denoted a team more suited to accountants and lawyers than pipe fitters.

I believe in the Cowboys "Mystique", how else can I explain the popularity and must cover by the media of a team that has accomplished so little in the last 25 years but are as popular as when they had a record 20 winning seasons in a row?

I can't tell you what happened but the first time I saw the Cowboys play it was just like the first time I saw my bride to be a full two years before I would even meet her. It was love at first sight and I was a longtime Cardinals fan growing up in Arkansas and they would be co-favorites for 8 years until that game in Green Bay when finesse and mystique would meet mean, tough and ugly in inhuman conditions and lose the game but destroy the word finesse as a label for that team. Pipe fitters that day stood up and took notice.

But the mystique not only stayed with the team but began to even grow more pronounced and football fans across this nation were all forced to choose sides with this team. No indifferent fans here, you hated or loved the Dallas Cowboys. The Yankees of the NFL had arrived.

And I can tell you first hand that neither side could explain why they felt the way they did. I had my East buds even say they loved Tom Landry but hated the Cowboys. Same with Staubach, they liked him but liked seeing him get drilled even more in that uniform. That uniform, part of the mystique?

So, my friends, do not think there is anything wrong with you because you can't shake this team. Ask yourself "why do I keep putting myself through this? I know they're going to lose and I still am a moth to the flame".

Some have their reasons, they were raised a Cowboys fan or followed a favorite college player to the team. I do not have a reason. I deserted my longtime favorite and co-favorite after they lost the biggest game in their history to that point. And I've never looked back.

They are that desire of your heart that does you wrong and you keep coming back for more. You can call her a tramp but no one else better because she is, after all, yours.

Might we use this thread to discuss how we became fans and how much being a fan means to us and share stories of how we became infected with the "Cowboys Mystique"? Particularly you fans in enemy territory because you fascinate me. And just what is this mystique and why only this team?

There are plenty of other threads for us to be angry about but being a fan should bring joy. Frustration? Sure. but rejoice in the fact that you are still there for the desire of your heart. You will not forsake them. Be proud that you are a loyal fan.

Great post. Thanks for sharing.

I was raised as a Cowboys fan at a very young age. I don’t remember much about Staubach. But I do remember Dorsett, Pearson, Hill, Cosby, Too Tall, Harvey Martin, Randy White, Newhouse, Springs, Walls, Danny White, and Septien,

I watched the historic 99 yard run in Minnesota in my bedroom. I clearly remember seeing my older brother get so upset at a loss to the Giants that he cried. I knew then that the Cowboys were important. And so began a true love affair.

I’ve been through the good times, the miserable times, the mediocre times, the frustrating times, and the sheer bliss of times. Regardless the season, my fandom does not stray.

 

[Cowboy Brian]

Actually we were championship caliber for 4 decades playing for championships.

You darn old timers

 

[Fletch]

My football fandom started as a youngster growing up in enemy territory. The vast majority of my parents generation were Giants fans here, a hop and a skip from the Canadian border in northern New England. There was a smattering of Jets fans and no Patriots fans back then. I picked the Cowboys because the Giants vs Cowboys was always broadcast in this area and everyone in the room was a Giants fan. Someone had to root for the "bad guys". I didn't feel any territorial loyalty as NY was so far away it might as well have been in Texas. It didn't hurt that my buddy's older brother was a Cowboys fan too and I admired him a great deal. He had a chopped Harley and was always doing something cool to the eyes of this impressionable young lad so if it was good enough for him it was good enough for me. Interestingly, the fandoms of my peers were all over the place with practically no Giants fans. There was one New England fan, the only one I ever met until they had some success in the mid 80's. (Now you can't throw a rock without hitting one).

I think the mystique for me began not with any attributes of the team but from the hatred towards them from the old people. One could get away with being a fan of most any other team but a Cowboys fan at that time and place was going to have to defend their choice. Pretty quickly though the team provided it's own mystique for all the obvious, at the time, reasons. They also had a bit of an underdog element to me. They were "next year's champions" at that point. I got the book titled that for Christmas the year they lost to the Colts. I probably couldn't have told you who the president was but sure as hell knew who Tom Landry and Captain America were. Me and them were in it together and next year was going to be our year!

And here I am. Hanging on to today's version of the Cowboy's and the NFL while to often questioning myself as to why. Anyone who has ever pulled a stump understands just how hard it can be to uproot something which has roots that run that deep.

Love it!

 

[DFWJC]

There's plenty of qualified buyers in the world, 99.99% of them wouldn't hold the franchise hostage due to ego.

The franchise may've been gone in 2-3 years....so no. For the record, as far as we know...nobody else could've done it because nobody else has done it.
He daredeviled his way from taking a franchise losing 1 million/month and going out of business to the wealthiest franchise of any sport in the world.

Best move was also a daredevil move in hiring a college coach with no NFL experience (somewhat unheard of).....his college teammate and buddy, Jimmy.

Now, if only he would've let someone else be GM after the Jimmy era. I guess Parcels was, but that's about it....

 

[JJHLH1]

The Cowboys used to have a mystique with their 20 consecutive winning seasons under Landry and the Jimmy Johnson dynasty of the 90’s.

The only mystique left in the league now is Tom Brady, and he’s earned it.

 

[IceStar-D7]

Mystique??? Tom Landry and Roger Staubach started it. Tex Schram added to it with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders. Of which Landry thought to be porn like. Tex showed Landry "Debbie does Dallas" and the rest was historyThen Jimmy brought it back for awhile. That mystique we did have has long been destroyed by Jerry Jones. 25 years of ineptness. Making billions off us fans while returning little in the last 25 years. The fans have made Dallas relevant. And if we put enough pressure on Jones us Fans can make them just as irrelevant. But it'll never happen. Because we're all proud to be loyal fans God help us......so much for mystique

 

[tyke1doe]

Mystique?
How about laughter?
Teams laugh at us when the schedules come out.
Then they watch film of our offense from 10 years ago to prepare for their games against us.

 

[Thomas82]

The Cowboys are the NFL's version of Notre Dame. Living off success decades ago but haven't done squat since the early to mid 90s. Still thinking of themselves as upper crust, the elite but in reality that facade gets chipped away each year they distance themselves from their glory days.

And I say that as a ND grad.

This about sums it up.

 

[Thomas82]

Weren't the Cowboys known as "Next Year's Champions" in the late 60's?

 

[atlantacowboy]

Yep, the 80's too. The Cowboys were the Patriots, dominated 3 decades. However we're now approaching 3 decades of complete mediocrity. What goes up, must come....

I omitted the 80's to avoid people saying the 70's or 90's teams were better or that we didn't win a super bowl in the 80's lol.

If Garret had accomplished in 10 years what Landry did from 80-85, he would have a lifetime contract and Jerry would be putting him in the ROH. I remember being so pissed off that we lost those NFC title games b/c my expectation was always the super bowl. My how things have changed.

 

[atlantacowboy]

People forget that when Jerry bought the Cowboys they were drowning in massive debt and not in good shape at all financially....losing 1 million per month.
Hate him all we want but he rescued the franchise.

Nobody is questioning Jerry's business savvy. And do not think for one minute the Cowboys were about to declare bankruptcy and wouldn't have been around had Jerry Jones not come along. They were being run poorly, but the brand was there. The popularity was there.

The finances were a an issue b/c Jerry put everything he owned as collateral against the loan required to purchase the cowboys. He was one of the poorest owners in the league. It is highly likely that Bum Bright was taking losses on purpose to avoid taxes. Accounting is a very grey art. One man's business expense is another man's taxable income.

 

[Aven8]

The Cowboys are the NFL's version of Notre Dame. Living off success decades ago but haven't done squat since the early to mid 90s. Still thinking of themselves as upper crust, the elite but in reality that facade gets chipped away each year they distance themselves from their glory days.

And I say that as a ND grad.

Rudy-Rudy-Rudy..........

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

The older generation remembers how awesome the Cowboys were and the younger generation remembers how awesome the Cowboys think they are. My teenage kids would rather root for the Panthers because they are local.

 

[Aikmaniac]

Apathy has certainly set in with my Cowboys fandom. I thought they were close to contending (been saying that a lot over the last 25 years).

I even chuckle now when FA or draftees say something about "wearing the star on the helmet". That's like saying you get to drive the #43 in NASCAR. There's no mystique anymore because of going on three decades of mediocrity.

The sad thing is that we've had the players to return to glory, but didn't surround them with role players, effective coaching, and/or gameplanning.

 

[fgoodwin]

Somebody else does because the team continues to lead in ratings and revenue.

They flexed them to the early game and were the top rated early CBS game all season and I do not get that. Why do so many people keep watching this team?

If only they handed out Super Bowl Trophies to the TV ratings winner. Sadly that's not how it works, even though Jerry's wallet is very thankful regardless.

 

[visionary]

Mystique: a framework of doctrines, ideas, beliefs, or the like, constructed around a person or object, endowing the person or object with enhanced value or profound meaning.

Those of us around for awhile will remember this term emerging in the late 60's and early 70's and would lead to the term "America's Team" coined by NFL Films.

When the Cowboys came into being, the NFL landscape had been ruled by the Bears, Browns and Packers with blue collar no holds barred football that always included blood and mud on the uniforms. Back then they didn't have the names on the uniforms so it was not uncommon not to be able to identify the players' numbers by the 4Q. It was a pipe fitters dream of a sport.

This mystique began to emerge and no one could explain it. What was this fascination with this team in Texas? This team even had the unflattering football word "finesse" attached to it and another would emerge in the late 60's through 1970, "bridesmaid". Always a bridesmaid and never a bride. Finesse denoted a team more suited to accountants and lawyers than pipe fitters.

I believe in the Cowboys "Mystique", how else can I explain the popularity and must cover by the media of a team that has accomplished so little in the last 25 years but are as popular as when they had a record 20 winning seasons in a row?

I can't tell you what happened but the first time I saw the Cowboys play it was just like the first time I saw my bride to be a full two years before I would even meet her. It was love at first sight and I was a longtime Cardinals fan growing up in Arkansas and they would be co-favorites for 8 years until that game in Green Bay when finesse and mystique would meet mean, tough and ugly in inhuman conditions and lose the game but destroy the word finesse as a label for that team. Pipe fitters that day stood up and took notice.

But the mystique not only stayed with the team but began to even grow more pronounced and football fans across this nation were all forced to choose sides with this team. No indifferent fans here, you hated or loved the Dallas Cowboys. The Yankees of the NFL had arrived.

And I can tell you first hand that neither side could explain why they felt the way they did. I had my East buds even say they loved Tom Landry but hated the Cowboys. Same with Staubach, they liked him but liked seeing him get drilled even more in that uniform. That uniform, part of the mystique?

So, my friends, do not think there is anything wrong with you because you can't shake this team. Ask yourself "why do I keep putting myself through this? I know they're going to lose and I still am a moth to the flame".

Some have their reasons, they were raised a Cowboys fan or followed a favorite college player to the team. I do not have a reason. I deserted my longtime favorite and co-favorite after they lost the biggest game in their history to that point. And I've never looked back.

They are that desire of your heart that does you wrong and you keep coming back for more. You can call her a tramp but no one else better because she is, after all, yours.

Might we use this thread to discuss how we became fans and how much being a fan means to us and share stories of how we became infected with the "Cowboys Mystique"? Particularly you fans in enemy territory because you fascinate me. And just what is this mystique and why only this team?

There are plenty of other threads for us to be angry about but being a fan should bring joy. Frustration? Sure. but rejoice in the fact that you are still there for the desire of your heart. You will not forsake them. Be proud that you are a loyal fan.

there is NO mystique

overrated team with no discipline or accountability and no real success recently

 

[fgoodwin]

It's pretty simple; the Cowboys at one time carried themselves with dignity and class, and stayed above and away from all of the unprofessional things.
Now, not so much.
Now the players think just wearing the star makes them great.

Sam Baker, Lance Rentzel, Duane Thomas, Pete Gent, Clint Longley, Rafael Septien, Thomas Henderson . . .

Not every Landry-era Cowboy was a Boy Scout, starting with Tex Schramm and Clint Murchison.

 

[fgoodwin]

Weren't the Cowboys known as "Next Year's Champions" in the late 60's?

Yep, there was even a book by that title, written by Steve Perkins about the 1968 season that ended in a playoff loss to Cleveland and the retirement of Don Meredith. 1968 was not a good year, although technically, Don retired in 1969.

 

[fgoodwin]

.........and the the 80's. This was still a team contending for Super Bowls. The strike in 87' was the killer. Vets like Randy White were just mentally done after choosing to cross the picket line. By Landry standards they were not the glory years, but 3 straight NFC title game appearances is wayyy more than this franchise has accomplished in the last 25 years.

Every team in the League was affected by the same strike, why is it that only the Cowboys couldn't deal with it in the late 80s?