For nearly 50 years, the Dallas Cowboys have been calling themselves “America’s Team.”
The term was first coined by former Boston Globe sports writer Bob Ryan in an NFL highlight film back in 1978 that said: “They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys: ‘America’s Team.’”
Ever since, the team had adopted the moniker, and they’ve been referred to as such by several of the top notable news outlets like ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and Yahoo.
But is the team in danger of no longer being worthy of that notable distinction? COwboys legend Michael Irvin thinks so.
Michael Irvin: Cowboys in Danger of Losing ‘America’s Team’ Status
During a recent appearance on FS1’s “Wake Up Barstool,” Irvin boldly stated his former team is dangerously close to no longer being worthy to keep calling itself “America’s Team.”
“There’s some credence to what [the haters are] saying,” Irvin said. “We cannot remain America’s team if a whole generation of Americans never see us in a championship game. In 10 more years, since the Bible calls 40 years a generation, we would have missed a whole damn generation. So, the time is now.”
Irvin also stated that if the Cowboys were to win the Super Bowl this year — they currently have the 16th-best odds of doing so (25-1) per DraftKings — it will go a long way toward not only justifiably keeping the “America’s Team” moniker but also quieting the naysayers who love to remind the team and its fans that Dallas hasn’t won a championship since 1995.
“I hope he struts his stuff around everything — strut it on everybody,” Irvin said. “I won’t have time to know what Jerry’s doing, I’ll be too busy doing my own s —. I’m tired; I’m so TI-RED of people talking about, ‘30 years — it’s been 30 years since y’all [won a Super Bowl].’ They act like history is only them 30 years. They just throw out the first 30 and focus on them last 30. … So yeah, I want to shut that mouth.”
NFL Execs Are High of Brian Schottenheimer
If the Cowboys are to make a run at a Super Bowl this season, they’re going to need strong play from quarterback Dak Prescott and excellent coaching from Brian Schottenheimer.
NFL executives apparently believe Schottenheimer has it in him to lead Dallas to the promised land, as many of them agreed that Schottenheimer is their pick to win NFL Coach of the Year.
“This race featured no runaway favorite,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler wrote. “Last year’s prediction was Jim Harbaugh, who could be well-positioned to actually win it this year.
“But in a tight race, let’s go with a bit of a wild card: Schottenheimer, who has acquitted himself well in Dallas behind the scenes and has most of what he needs to win.”
If he were to win Coach of the Year, it would mark one heck of a one-year turnaround for Schottenheimer and the Cowboys. Last year, Dallas went 7-9-1 (.441 win percentage) in Schottenheimer’s first year as head coach.
If he’s ending the season as Coach of the Year, the Cowboys will have likely won 12 or 13 games and made a deep playoff run considering the competition they’ll get within the division from the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Commanders.
Michael Irvin Hints Cowboys Are No Longer ‘America’s Team’