Former Dallas Cowboys players complain about distractions caused by group tours
Multiple former Dallas Cowboys players spoke out in an ESPN article about how they find the tours of the franchise’s practice facility as distracting.
Fans can sign up for the tours on the Cowboys website and will be taken through the team facilities passing weight rooms, scouts offices, and other locations usually reserved for team personnel.
The Cowboys are the only NFL franchise that offers such tours.
Former players said it can be distracting trying to go to team meetings or workouts and having fans constantly around gawking at you.
According to the report the Dallas Cowboys leadership council discussed how distracting the tours were but ultimately felt there was nothing they could do about the tours.
Current Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz laid out some of these concerns last year when he called the Cowboys facility a ‘zoo,’ partly because of the tours.
“There’s people literally going on tours while you’re lifting in the weight room and they’ve got like a one-way mirror for people to look in. Like it’s literally, its a zoo due, you’ve got people tapping on the glass trying to get people’s attention as they’re doing power cleans or whatnot,” said Schultz.
After spending 2021-2023 with the Cowboys, Jayron Kearse agreed with Schultz’s assertion.
“You’re walking by the tour guide, and they’re pulling [the fans] to the side, and you hear them say, ‘Oh that’s CeeDee Lamb, that’s CeeDee!’” says Kearse, “Like Dalton said, it’s kind of like you’re in a zoo and kids are going to see a lion. That’s not a reason why we didn’t get over that hump. But I just don’t think that really equates to winning. That has nothing to do with us winning the game.”
Tony Pollard, who spent the first five years of his career with Dallas, explained the difference between the Cowboys and his current team the Tennessee Titans.
“This is more about football, just X’s and O’s,” said Pollard, “I’m in a better place mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, just all around.”
Team owner Jerry Jones defended the tours saying players were not missing or making tackles because of the presence of fans in the team facilities.
The tours can cost fans anywhere from $40-$75 depending on the package and bring in a reported $10 million annually when combined with the tours that take place at AT&T Stadium.
This story was originally published October 23, 2024 at 10:35 AM.
