America's Team????

[The Reservoir Dog]

I've been hearing for years & years this phrase of the Dallas Cowboys being "America's Team".

Why is this?
Is it self styled? A great piece of marketing?
Are they generally loved by everyone?

Who made this up and when?

[medic9016]

Bob Ryan, now Vice President and editor-in-chief of NFL Films, coined this for the Cowboys while preparing and editing the team’s 1978 season highlight film. He was quoted as saying:
I wanted to come up with a different twist on their team highlight film. I noticed then, and had noticed earlier, that wherever the Cowboys played, you saw people in the stands with Cowboys jerseys and hats and pennants. Plus, they were always the national game on television. Ryan told the NFL Network, for their Top Ten Nicknames show:
I saw all these fans in away stadiums. Hey, they're the most popular team in the country. How can I use that? Why don't we call them "America's Team"? During the Cowboys' first game of the 1979 season, a nationally televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals (Dallas won 22-21), the television announcer for CBS introduced the Cowboys as America’s Team and the name stuck.
Dallas' Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry originally did not approve of the appellation of America's Team. He felt that it would give opposing teams extra incentive to play harder. Eventually he gave in and actually came to like the name.

[Daisy'sMom]

We've been huge Cowboy fans since the 70's. To us they are America's Team!

[kakn7294]

They are definately NOT, NEVER HAVE BEEN, and NEVER WILL BE my team. I love the Pittsburgh Steelers.

[Ian]

Yeah, they're not America's team. They're the team of people from Dallas and sorry frontrunners everywhere else.

Being a Cowboys fan not from Dallas is as bad as being a Yankees fan not from New York. Frontrunning all the way.

[Daisy'sMom]

I am a Floridian, and I am proud to be a Cowboy FAN! Call me what you will. Do you have a problem with that Ian?

[2Epcot]

Yeah, they're not America's team. They're the team of people from Dallas and sorry frontrunners everywhere else.

Being a Cowboys fan not from Dallas is as bad as being a Yankees fan not from New York. Frontrunning all the way.

I'm not from Dallas, grew up in AZ where there are many Cowboy fans (long before AZ had it's own NFL team). I became a fan as a kid. The ups and downs of the Cowboys haven't changed my loyalty, any more than 11 years in LA have ever made me root for the Lakers over the Suns.

I supported the Cardinals from day one when they came to AZ, spending a week at there first training camp. I always root for the Cardinals over the Cowboys because they are our real "home" team. The Cowboys will always be an adopted team in AZ, because we never supported CA teams. As long as the Cowboys aren't playing the Cards, I hope they win every Sunday.

[2Epcot]

I've been a Cowboy Fan since I was a kid, going back to the Tom Landry, Roger Staubach days.

Around the world the US is still the West, what better team represents the West than the Cowboys. Both the team and cheerleaders are known not only all over the US, but in other countries as well.

The Cowboys also generate a lot of money for the NFL (the real America's favorite pastime) and are the most valuable franchise according to Forbes. That makes them "America's Team".

For the fourth consecutive year, the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins are the NFL's most valuable franchises, according to a report by Forbes. Despite league-wide team values falling by approximately 2 percent, the Cowboys' net worth rose from $1.65 billion to $1.8 billion in the past year, just ahead of Washington's $1.55 billion net worth.

The last time the Cowboys did not hold the title of NFL's most valuable franchise was 2006, when the Redskins sat atop the throne, followed by New England. Dallas placed third that year, at approximately $1.17 billion.

The complete list of team values, courtesy of Forbes.com (numbers rounded up to the nearest million):

1. Dallas, $1.8 billion
2. Washington, $1.55 billion
3. New England, $1.37 billion
4. New York Giants, $1.18 billion
5. Houston, $1.17 billion
6. New York Jets, $1.14 billion
7. Philadelphia, $1.12 billion
8. Baltimore, $1.07 billion
9. Chicago, $1.07 billion
10. Denver, $1.05 billion
11. Indianapolis, $1.04 billion
12. Carolina, $1.04 billion
13. Tampa Bay, $1.03 billion
14. Green Bay, $1.02 billion
15. Cleveland, $1.02 billion
16. Miami, $1.01 billion
17. Pittsburgh, $996 million
18. Tennessee, $994 million
19. Seattle, $989 million
20. Kansas City, $965 million
21. New Orleans, $955 million
22. San Francisco, $925 million
23. Arizona, $919 million
24. San Diego, $907 million
25. Cincinnati, $905 million
26. Atlanta, $831 million
27. Detroit, $817 million
28. Buffalo, $799 million
29. St. Louis, $779 million
30. Minnesota, $774 million
31. Oakland, $758 million
32. Jacksonville, $725 million

[gueli]

I've been a Cowboy Fan since I was a kid...
Around the world the US is still the West, what better team represents the West than the Cowboys....

Um, anyone else.
Just because you like them, does not make any of the rest of US like them.

as a kid I recall (and I thought this was more around 76 or so) I heard them called "america's team" and I thought to myself, I did not vote for them...

The Cowboys also generate a lot of money for the NFL (the real America's favorite pastime) and are the most valuable franchise according to Forbes. That makes them "America's Team".

again. NO.
Just because Jerry Jones has dumped tons of money into them does not make them anything other than an overpriced ball club. and isn't the forbes list an indicator of team value (including stadium), not the amount of money that it generates ?
Their stadium is brillant, and I credit him for that. But that doesn't make it "america's stadium" just because it is here in the US.

Hey, I appreciate the 'boys and their fans.
But do not force a team on the rest of america without all of us having a say in it...

Go JETS

[Greenlawler]

I've been a Cowboy Fan since I was a kid, going back to the Tom Landry, Roger Staubach days.

Around the world the US is still the West, what better team represents the West than the Cowboys. Both the team and cheerleaders are known not only all over the US, but in other countries as well.

The Cowboys also generate a lot of money for the NFL (the real America's favorite pastime) and are the most valuable franchise according to Forbes. That makes them "America's Team".

No, once again what made them "America's Team" was that a nickname caught on. It had zero to do with fan support or worth.

[Missy_Mouses_Dad]

I agree with most of the posters. It's all about hype. The cowboys were almost always the 3:00 game on Sunday's with Pat Sommeral (sp) and John Madden. The network was force feeding us the Cowboys.

For me it's the Packers and whoever is playing the Bears or Vikings.

[brownie]

I thought the Red Wings were America's team! They seem to have a good size following wherever they play on the road.

I don't think you can call any team America's team.

[Stickey]

I never paid any attention to the "America's team" label, however the Cowboys have always been my favorite NFL team. The 1970's Cowboys were a model of consistency with great players, especially Roger Staubach.

I do not believe you should blindly choose the local team as your favorite. You should pick based on a team's history, players, and performance. There are some franchises that do not deserve a following.

Unfortunately, any successful team, company, or individual will attract the jealous haters. Disney is often the target of these intellectually challenged individuals. It is very much like the fans of this one NFC Eastern conference team that has not won a Super Bowl and thus resent the championships won by the Cowboys, Giants, and Redskins. They had a shot with McNabb...

[Pagan]

It is very much like the fans of this one NFC Eastern conference team that has not won a Super Bowl and thus resent the championships won by the Cowboys, Giants, and Redskins. They had a shot with McNabb...

Oh no you di'nt! LOL