Although I live in Arkansas, a neighbor of Texas, I can’t stand the Dallas Cowboys.
It’s all because of a single play that happened more than 40 years ago against my beloved Minnesota Vikings. That moment fuels my hatred for “America’s team.” The play involved one of the nicest guys in football, and it created a religious moniker for similar plays in the decades that followed.
Roger Staubach, the clean-cut Navy graduate who never cursed, caused cussing aplenty on Dec. 28, 1975. With 24 seconds left in the game, the Cowboys quarterback heaved a 50-yard pass to Drew Pearson who, depending on who you rooted for, either pushed Vikings safety Nate Wright out of his way or made a miraculous catch and scampered in for the winning score, 17-14. Staubach later told sports reporters that he prayed during that play and threw a “Hail Mary” pass.
Hail Mary? All I could think was, “Hell, Roger!”
Because I am a Vikings fan, gaining my love for The Purple while growing up in Bemidji, Minn., in the mid 1960s, I choose to believe the first option of the blatant but uncalled offensive pass interference. Pearson wronged Wright and the Vikes’ chances in the playoffs that year. Dallas went on to Super Bowl X, losing to Pittsburgh and giving me only a slight sense of revenge.
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Now, 44 years later, the pain is still there. And, because I live within an eye poke of one of the points of the Cowboy’s star logo, I hear about the Cowboys constantly. I used to work in an office in which the building owner was related by marriage to the wife of Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones. In my building he assembled a shrine to the Cowboys with photographs, tickets, and field passes, all very highly visible. I suggested it would be appropriate to move the display to the bathroom. He said it may be more appropriate for me to find a new office.
The team takes precedent on the sports pages of the state newspaper here where I live. Along with the Razorbacks, the Cowboys’ game recaps dominate the front of the sports section following game days. On Sundays when I leave church and turn on the ESPN radio station in my car, I am treated to Cowboys’ games. I feel like turning around, heading back to the chapel, and begging forgiveness for the sinful thoughts that suddenly pop in my head.
Such is the nature of sports mania. You’re bound to hate some team. You follow a team, and it becomes a vital part of your life. The Vikings win, I’m happy. They lose, I lose. I take losses, especially those like the 1975 Dallas game, personally.
My deepest heartache didn’t occur over some girl who ditched me; rather, it was when the Kansas City Chiefs beat Minnesota in Super Bowl IV in 1970.
I’m sure it’s like that with other teams. Obviously, some New Orleans Saints fans feel the same way about Minnesota as I do about Dallas. This was after, two years ago, Stefon Diggs broke the hearts of Saints' fans in the playoffs when he snared Chase Keenum’s pass with 10 seconds remaining in the game, managed to stay in bounds, and ran for a 61-yard touchdown as time expired, giving the Vikings an improbable 29-24 win.
Sports stay with you. Even 44 years later — nearly half a century — my ill feelings toward a team continue to hinge on one play. I still argue with those old enough to remember Staubach’s prayer of a throw. And, being in the South, I am outnumbered by the scores who say Pearson did not interfere with Wright.
Now, with another NFL season on the doorstep, I reflect on my animosity toward the Cowboys, and I see that my Vikings head to Dallas on Nov. 11. Maybe, just maybe, a win will help ease some of the angst I’ve carried for so long.
Kenneth Heard grew up in Bemidji, Minn., and is the communications director for the Craighead County Prosecutor's Office in Jonesboro, Ark. He was the northeast Arkansas bureau correspondent for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for 20 years and has worked in journalism as a reporter and editor for more than 30 years. He can be reached at kenbobwrites@gmail.com.
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