The Dallas Cowboys
The Outrageous History of the Biggest, Loudest, Most Hated, Best Loved Football Team in America
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
The definitive, must-have account of the all-time players, coaches, locker rooms and boardrooms that made the Dallas Cowboys "America's Team."
Since 1960, the Cowboys have never been just about football. From their ego-driven owner and high-profile players to their state-of-the-art stadium and iconic cheerleaders, the Cowboys have become a staple of both football and American culture since the beginning. For over 50 years, wherever the Cowboys play, there are people in the stands in all their glory: thousands of jerseys, hats, and pennants, all declaring the love and loyalty to one of the most influential teams in NFL history. Now, with thrilling insider looks and sweeping reveals of the ever-lasting time, place, and culture of the team, Joe Nick Patoski takes readers - both fans and rivals alike - deep into the captivating world of the Cowboys.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this superbly detailed, obsessively researched, and equal parts serious sports scholarship and outrageous laugh-out-loud reporting about the Dallas Cowboys, Patoski (Willie Nelson: An Epic Life) focuses in part on Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who spent $1.2 million on a new stadium ("aka Jerry World; aka the Death Star") into which the Statue of Liberty could fit standing up, as well as the Empire State Building laid on its side. Patoski starts with the Death Star as a way into viewing the ups and downs of the 50-plus year history of professional football in Dallas, from its inception as a popular amateur team sport in the 19th century, speaking to "Texas's legacy as a republic that had won its independence from Mexico by fighting hard and using whatever means necessary," through the team's professional start under the direction of businessman Clint Murchison and coach Tex Schramm, to its various championships and its controversial sale to Jerry Jones, who brought in the equally controversial head coach Jimmy Johnson. But Patoski's supreme ability to capture the intricacies of the team's history doesn't get in the way of his equally impressive and cleverly sly portrayals of the many wacky players throughout Cowboys history, from quarterback Don Meredith to the players living and partying in "the White House" in the Dallas suburbs, about which offensive lineman Nate Newton famously said, "We've got a little place over here where we're running some whores in and out, trying to be responsible."