Cowboys Fans, Be Thankful Today

Cowboys fans have many reasons to be grateful this season. Despite being a couple of decades removed from our last Super Bowl, we have much to look back on and be thankful for, as well.

I am thankful for…

…Landry, Brandt, and Schramm…fourteen members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame…Larry Allen chasing down a linebacker after a 55-yard return of an interception…Manster, Thurman’s Thieves, Mr. Cowboy, Doomsday Defense, Bullet, Too Tall, Too Mean, Captain Comeback, America’s Team, The Hitting Machine, Big Cat, the Zero Club, Thrill, Moose, Dandy Don, Playmaker, Hollywood, The Kitchen, Captain Crash, and the original Triplets, as well as many, many great players without nicknames…twenty-one members in the Ring of Honor…George Teague blasting Terrell Owens off of the Star…Brad Sham…Harvey Martin tossing a funeral wreath into the Redskins’ locker room…Jimmy Johnson…Aikman to Harper on a slant for 71 yards in the 1992 NFC Championship Game…Crazy Ray…Dorsett’s 99-yard touchdown run…Neil O’Donnell to Larry Brown. Twice…Clint Murchison, Jr. and Bedford Wynne, who bought the rights to “Hail to the Redskins” and ensured the birth of our team…the Mad Bomber’s “triumph of the uncluttered mind”…seven Super Bowl MVPs…Lilly sacking Griese in Super Bowl VI for a 29-yard loss…the NFL’s all-time rushing leader…and this portion of my list begins and ends with “the man in the funny hat,” Tom Landry.

I am thankful for…

…the Cotton Bowl, Texas Stadium, and Cowboys (AT&T) Stadium…the hole in roof, so God can watch His favorite team…”How ‘bout dem Cowboys?!”…the team not sticking with the names “Steers” or “Rangers”…the first team to have a modern cheerleading squad…the Great Trade Robbery…the first team to broadcast games in Spanish…Valley Ranch and the Star, both state-of-the-art facilities when they opened…the first team to use computers in scouting…the Landry Shift…the Shotgun…the Flex defense…the Hail Mary.

I am thankful for…

…twenty consecutive winning seasons…eight conference championships…the run of appearing in 10 of 13 conference championship games…the Super Bowl record for nine forced turnovers (XXVII), breaking our own record of eight (XII)…the Redskins, Giants, Eagles, Steelers, and 49ers (how dull life would be without them to hate)…eighteen division championships…the only Super Bowl MVP to play for a team that did not win…the first team with league leaders in rushing and receiving in the same season (1991 – only other team to do this is the 1999 Colts)…Super Bowls VI, XII, XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX…the league record of 13 players selected to the Pro Bowl in one season…the only Super Bowl team to not allow a touchdown (XII)…the league’s #1 offense and #1 defense in 1977…twenty-seven seasons with 10+ victories…the Cowboys record against their division: 67-42-2 vs. the Redskins, 62-49 vs. the Eagles, and 62-44 vs. the Giants.

I’m thankful for…

…the return to relevance…our 9-1 record…Dak…Zeke…Dez…Witten…Beasley…the offensive line…the scrappy, physical defense…all of the players, including Romo…the coaches…the fans.

I’m also thankful every year that our Cowboys play on Thanksgiving (except for 1975 & 1977). Being fans of a team with such a rich history, we have much for which to be thankful. You’ve read my list. What would you add?