Urban Cowboy
I have not been a Dallas Cowboys fan since Jerry Jones purchased the team and fired the legendary Tom Landry. I will admit that Tony Dorsett was my favorite player as a young mind, long before I realized that being born in San Francisco would lead me towards the 49er faithful.
Then, for a period, I was a sports bigamist. I loved the Cowboys and the 49ers, and it was hard. The 49ers were my hometown team and they beat my brother’s favorite team, the Miami Dolphins, in the Super Bowl. Wow. How could you not back that crew. Roger Craig ran with his high knees, and Taylor and Rice flew by defenders to catch passes from the ultra-cool Joe Montana. Bill Walsh was just as cool and collected on the sidelines, and the old gold and red were a great match. (I am extremely excited that the 49ers will start the season in throwbacks, but it will be a sad time to mourn such a coaching genius).
On the other hand, the Cowboys had Dorsett, the star, and the open stadium so God could watch His favorite team. How could you not love that. The always calm Landry patrolled the sidelines with his trademark hat, and never seemed to show any expression, even when Danny White would throw three lame ducks and then stay in to punt the ball as well.
Thankfully, Jerry Jones came onto the scene in the late ’80’s and purchased the team. His first order of business was to fire Landry. Right then and there, I was done. “Never again will I root for that team as long as Jones owns them,” I swore. Luckily, the Cowboys made it easy to dislike them. Emmitt Smith came along and started to become the Greatest Cowboy Running Back Ever. To this day, Touchdown Tony Dorsett is the best in my book. I don’t care about the records. Troy Aikman could have been ultra-cool, but I just could not back him. He was not the military man like Staubach, and he was no Montana. Then again nobody ever will be. Tom Brady has come exceptionally close, though. Then, Michael Irvin and Jimmy Johnson took the cake. I could not stand them. Irvin pushed off and showed too much flash on a first down. Jerry Rice and John Taylor would have scoffed at such antics. Even Emmitt Smith had bad, over-the-top celebrations. (The NFL even created a rule because of Emmitt. He is why no on can remove their helmets after a touchdown). Do not get me started on Barry Switzer. Yeesh.
I was rolling right along with my disdain for the Cowboys, enjoying the post-Aikman years of Coach Campo, et. al., when the Cowboys had to do such a despicable thing. They signed my man Legend. If you do not know what I am talking about, obviously, you are not a regular reader. (Quick recap: I was a mediocre Division III football player for Trinity University, and I played alongside Jerheme Urban “Legend” for three years. Hence, he is my favorite NFL player). I was exceptionally happy when Urb scored his first, and only thus far, NFL touchdown against the Cowboys.
Now, I find myself scanning the ‘Web daily for information about the Cowboys. I ritualistically tune to the NFL Network in the hopes that Rich Eisen will talk about the Cowboys. I was even pining to draft Tony Romo and Jason Witten in my fantasy draft this past Sunday. Dare I say it? Am I once again a Cowboys fan? …
Nah. But I’ll root for Urban, and hope that he works his way into a roster spot, which appears to be the case thus far.
For now, I hope that Urban makes the squad and plays well. I will even go so far as to hope the Cowboys make the playoffs, so long as Urban is on the squad. But if they do my boy wrong, it is back to the hatred and animosity which they rightly deserve. Hey, maybe the 49ers need another receiver!
