America's Team

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NFL Films The Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys: The Complete History of America's Team 1960-2003 DVD Cover
Directed by	NFL Films
Starring	The Dallas Cowboys
Distributed by	Warner Home Video
Release date(s)	November 25, 2003
Running time	73:00
Language	English

America’s Team is an established term used to describe the Dallas Cowboys franchise that plays in the NFC East of the National Football League.^[1]

Bob Ryan, the Vice President and editor-in-chief of NFL Films, coined this for the Cowboys in 1979. After preparing and editing the team’s 1978 season highlight film he had to come up with a title for the film.^[2] He was quoted as saying:

"After the '78 season, the Cowboys had just lost a crushing Super Bowl to the Steelers. 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."

Drawing upon this inspiration and that of other nationally followed sports teams, such as the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in college football and the Boston Celtics in pro basketball, which Ryan said "are all America’s teams," he decided to use America’s Team as the name of the highlight film.

During the Cowboys' first game of the 1979 season, a nationally televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals (which Dallas won 22-21), the television announcer introduced the Cowboys as America’s Team and the nickname stuck.

Dallas’ Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry originally did not approve of the appellation. He felt that it would give opposing teams extra incentive to play harder. Eventually he gave in and actually came to like the name.^[3]

In 2003, NFL Films released a DVD collection chronicling the Dallas Cowboys franchise entitled The Dallas Cowboys: The Complete History of America's Team 1960-2003.

[edit] Other claims to the name

Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney dismissed the suggestion that the Steelers were America's Team. 'We didn't want that,' Rooney said. 'We're a Pittsburgh team. We feel strongly about that'^[4]
Other fans of NFL teams have used the term for their team include: the New England Patriots because of their winning three Super Bowl victories in a four year period, the Green Bay Packers because of their loyal following, and the New Orleans Saints following the disaster of Hurricane Katrina (and more recently in their improbable 2006 success after a 3-13 2005 season).
The Atlanta Braves laid claim to the name due to their games being broadcast on cable television systems nationwide on WTBS. These broadcasts built a Braves fanbase in areas of the U.S. far removed from a Major League Baseball team. Even before this, a 1982 issue of Sports Illustrated had refered to the Braves as "America's Team II".^[5]
The term has also been conferred to the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics due to their large nationwide fanbases.
In 2004, ESPN christened the University of Utah's football team America's Team during their improbable run to an undefeated season and a BCS bowl game. The Utah Utes became the first non-BCS team to play in a BCS game.
The George Mason Patriots men's basketball team was referred to as America's Team during their captivating run to the Final Four of the 2006 NCAA tournament. According to an ESPN.com survey prior to the Final Four, a majority of basketball fans in 46 states were pulling for the Patriots to win the national championship.

[edit] References

^ NFL Films: The Dallas Cowboys. Retrieved on February 3, 2007.
^ DALLAS COWBOYS. The The Handbook of Texas Online - The University of Texas at Austin. Retrieved on February 3, 2007.
^ Guinn, Jeff, Dallas Cowboys: Our Story, Summit Publishing Group, 1996.
^ From water boy to Steelers president. The Repository Canton, OH. Retrieved on February 3, 2007.
^ Wulf, Steve, America's Team II, Sports Illustrated, 1982-08-09.