Dallas Cowboys Top 10 'Great American' Moments; Happy Birthday, USA!

FRISCO - "America's Team'' isn't just a nickname.

It's a Dallas Cowboys way of life. ... all worthy of being honored as the United States celebrates its 250th birthday on this Fourth of July holiday.

Sports, football and the Cowboys? All part of the fabric of "being American,'' and yes, that includes fans who "hate'' the Cowboys as much as it does fans who "love'' them with a religious fervor.

No, that's not blasphemous; it's ball.

As part of your celebration, I offer Fish's "Dallas Cowboys Top 10 'Great American' Moments ...

10 - Olympics to Super Bowl: In one of the great NFL Draft classes ever, 1964 brought to Dallas the rights to three future Hall-of-Famers: Mel Renfro in Round 2, and much later, Bob Hayes (Round 7) and Roger Staubach (Round 10).

At the time, Hayes was not especially well-regarded as a football player at Florida A&M. As the story goes, not every team was even aware he was eligible to be drafted.

Dallas knew.

And after Hayes became an international sensation when he won two gold medals in the Tokyo Summer Olympics, earning the “fastest man in the world” title?

He joined the Cowboys in 1965 and became the fastest man in the NFL ... and in 2009 was immortalized in Canton, joining Jim Brown as the only two men with both Olympic gold and a HOF bust.

9 - Garrett and 'Ground Zero': Down deep, most coaches are teachers. So it felt completely appropriate when in October 2015, head coach Jason Garrett launched a road trip to play the Giants with a team-wide visit to Ground Zero and One World Trade Center.

The site was the World Trade Center Twin Towers prior to the terrorist attacks that shook the nation on 9/11.

"If the tragedy of 9/11 is the punch in the gut, this building is the fist-pump,'' Garrett said. "In a lot of ways, it's beyond resilience; it's a relentlessness to come back, come back stronger than ever, and I'm not so sure anything manifests itself quite like this building.

"We wanted to show our team that, the emotions of the event and the emotions of the response. It's very inspirational."

8 - The National Medal of Honor Museum: It is located in Arlington, positioned within walking distance of AT&T Stadium, and was built there in 2025 because of the passion and persuasiveness of Charlotte Jones, the Cowboys executive and daughter of team owner Jerry Jones.

As the foundation was making its final decision on the Museum's location, Charlotte made her pitch to its leaders.

“We have a game this weekend against Green Bay,” she said. “If you say yes, I’ll get President Bush and we’ll announce it during the game, and it will be seen by 40 million people.”

And indeed, the announcement came a few days later, during the game, with George W. and Laura Bush joined on the field by nine Medal of Honor recipients.

"Extraordinary,'' Jerry said of Charlotte's efforts. “She took what we’ve learned with the Cowboys about visibility and storytelling and applied it to honoring Medal of Honor recipients and celebrating patriotism. To see her pull it all together? It’s one of her crowning achievements.”

7 - Visiting The White House: The Cowboys won back-to-back Super Bowls and in 1993 and 1994 visited President Bill Clinton's White House to celebrate.

It wasn't about partisan politics; it was simply an honor.

I was fortunate to make the trip with the team, and it was a wondrous time. As the buses rolled up near 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., I watched as players marveled at the sites, from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial and so much more.

There were jokes and there were songs; at one point, Nate Newton led us all in a chorus of Sam Cooke's 1960 hit "Chain Gang.''

On a personal note, there was one disappointment. The brilliant team photographer Ron St. Angelo lined up every visitor, maybe 90 of us, for one-on-one pictures with President Clinton.

When we got back to Valley Ranch a few days ago, Jerry's secretary, Marylyn Love, called me to his office to deliver the bad news: They could only find 89 of the St. Angelo photos; mine had been lost.

Luckily, the memory is rich enough, even without the evidence.

6 - Recruiting Chad Hennings: I love telling this story because it is so Very Jerry.

In 1987, Hennings won The Outland Trophy as college football’s best lineman. In 1988, the pre-Jerry Cowboys drafted him in the 11th round, knowing there would be a wait because of Hennings' four-year commitment to the Air Force.

But Jones didn't want to wait.

As I was first to report at the time, as early as 1989, Jones was trying to pull strings in Washington, attempting to sell the goverment on the idea that Hennings - who was flying dangerous missions in Iraq - could do more for the Air Force while in a Cowboys uniform rather than while in a cockpit.

Jerry's attempts to free Hennings once went all the way to the Secretary of Defense, Dick Cheney, who declined the requests.

But still ... Jerry Jones was trying to win a negotiation with the Pentagon!

Hennings completed his service in 1992 and then won three Super Bowls in Dallas ... a true American hero in every sense of the word - and a model for just how powerful Jones' Cowboys (almost) were.

5 - George Teague And The Flag: Teague was a darn good player who in this case found himself in the middle of an all-time moment.

It was Sept. 23, 2001. As the Cowboys prepared to play following that months' 9/11 attacks, it was Teague who spotted somebody in the tunnel holding "Old Glory.''

“It wasn’t really a planned deal, it was knowing someone there with a flag there,'' he said. "As we were running out of the tunnel, a part of me said, ‘I wanna take this flag and run out with it.’ The young gentleman who had the flag didn’t put up a fight, and let me have it.

Teague's patriotic sprint out onto the field at Texas Stadium created a memorable symbol that resonates still today.

4 - The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders Go International: Most everything about the DCC is game-changing in the world of cheerleading. But one aspect of The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders is literally about the world.

The DCC has since 1979 been affiliated with the USO, having made more 85 overseas in 40 countries to perform for American soldiers.

3 - That Red Helmet Stripe: It's so subtle and yet so powerful.

The Cowboys originally added the red stripe to their helmets for the entire 1976 season to commemorate the United States' Bicentennial, creating a "Red, White and Blue'' motif.

Since then, it's become an annual fixture starting in 2021 as part of the NFL's "Salute to Service'' paying tribute to military service members.

2 - The "America's Team'' Moniker: It started innocently enough. NFL Films producer coined the term for the 1978 team highlight film.

In the video, narrator John Facenda said of the Cowboys, "They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars.''

Coach Tom Landry hated the nickname, believing (correctly) that it would put a target on his team's back. GM Tex Schramm loved it, believing (correctly) that it would be a marketing bonanza.

Schramm obviously won the argument.

It's often claimed, borrowed or stolen by other teams. But this isn't a nickname that transfers depending on who wins a Super Bowl.

"America's Team'' is all yours - for better or for worse.

1 - Waiting for Roger Staubach: Dallas had the foresight to see that the Heisman Trophy winner might be a star ... someday.

So they picked him in Round 10 of the 1964 NFL Draft, fully aware that he had to fulfill his four-year military commitment after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. 

Staubach served in Vietnam before being freed to join the Cowboys in 1969, and became a heroic figure in sports and beyond due to his talent and character ... and fittingly earned the nickname "Captain America.''

Happy Birthday, USA!