Are Cowboys No Longer 'America's Team'?

According to Chiefs admirers, the Dallas Cowboys are no longer America's Team. Let's take a look at why they're wrong.

Back in 1978, NFL Films released their annual season summaries, aimed at recapturing the fortunes of each team in the league that season. It was at this point when one of the most famous and divisive nicknames was revealed to the footballing world, with Tom Landry's Dallas Cowboys known from there on as 'America's Team.'

However, according to Hall of Fame offensive lineman Willie Roaf, this badge of honor no longer applies to the Cowboys, but the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

"Kansas City is now America’s team," said Roaf. 

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"Kansas City went from being a small-market team to being 'America’s Team' right now with Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek (Hill), (Travis) Kelce and all those guys. I’m excited for them."

With all due respect, this is simply wrong.

Let's look at this moniker in the context it was intended. By 1978, the Cowboys had made the playoffs eight times, appeared in five Super Bowls, and won two since the turn of the decade. 

This title, however arrogant it may seem to some, was not the Cowboys' idea ... and it was clever and fully deserved. 

Led by 'Captain America' himself, Roger Staubach, the Cowboys boasted one of the all-time greatest head coaches in Landry, and some of the best players the league had ever seen in Tony Dorsett, Bob Lilly and Randy White, to name but a few. This was something NFL Films heavily referenced in their aforementioned video. ...

"The sum total of their stars, make up a galaxy. Their record is envied, and their innovations copied down to the last glamorous detail. They appear on television so often, that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars. They are the Dallas Cowboys, 'America's Team."

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We can discuss their innovations over the years that have changed the sport, from the introduction of cheerleaders as we know them today, to sponsorships and stadium enhancements, but none of that alone is why they remain 'America's Team.'

The fact is, this is not a trophy that can be handed from one team to the next. It is a permanent-identifying label earned by one of the most dominant groups - and maybe the best marketed group - to have played the game. 

If anybody were to ever suggest that the 1970's Pittsburgh Steelers defense was no longer the true 'Steel Curtain', or the 1990's St. Louis Rams offense was no longer the 'Greatest Show on Turf,' there would be outrage. Another team can't be "The Purple People Eaters'' just because they might have a uniform color that matches the Minnesota Vikings'. 

The history of any great team cannot be overwritten or diminished, and the titles they earned should not be re-used or re-purposed. To do so would be disrespectful to the teams of the past, and the teams of today.

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Today's Chiefs - pending Sunday's Super Bowl against the Bucs - are in the process of having earned their own moniker, their own label. What that is, remains to be seen. At this moment, Roaf and the Chiefs are what followers of the Packers, Patriots, Broncos, Raiders and maybe others have claimed in the moment ... that their temporary success and popularity means they get another team's nickname.

But the facts are simple: "America's Team'' isn't about "this year's best'' or even "this year's pet.'' It's permanent. It's Dallas. It's the Cowboys.