Because of the Rooneys and the Joneses, Steelers (not Cowboys) are new America’s Team
The Dallas Cowboys are America’s Team, but the Pittsburgh Steelers are the team America deserves.
Two of the most iconic franchises in North American sports played in Arlington on Sunday in Arlington, and the Garrett Gilbert Cowboys acquitted themselves quite nicely, thank you very much.
Good job, good effort. Everyone gets a Blow Pop, ice cream and cookies at a socially distanced post-game party.
Watching the Steelers play in Arlington, and hear their insufferable fans, is just such a sad reminder that when it comes to owning an NFL team, the Rooneys have no problem keepin’ up with the Joneses.
The end result to Sunday’s entertaining game was irrelevant, but for the record the Steelers won 24-19.
This was a game the Cowboys should have won, but when you’re the Dallas Cowboys in 2020 you only know how to lose.
The Cowboys showed more on Sunday against the undefeated Steelers than we have seen since they came back to defeat the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 20.
Garrett Gilbert showed a little something-something, and that’s specifically why Texas’ former coach Mack Brown and SMU’s former coach June Junes bet so heavily on him during his college career in Austin and in Dallas.
There is talent, but I digress.
Regardless of what Gilbert does, the Cowboys are going nowhere in 2020 while the Steelers are playing for the playoffs, and another Super Bowl.
Those are the things the Cowboys used to play for, which now multiple generations of Cowboys fans have zero memory of ever enjoying. Because they’ve never seen, or experienced, those moments.
If we are ranking successful sports franchises, the Steelers are on the same plane as the L.A. Lakers, Boston Celtics, New York Yankees, and a few others. And miles ahead of the Cowboys.
Because of the Rooneys. Because of the Jonses.
The Rooney family that founded the Steelers in 1933, and still manages the franchise, run a football team. The Jones family, which bought the Cowboys in 1989, run an entertainment empire with a portfolio that includes a football team.
Sorry, Jerry. This is not personal. This is data.
The identities that these franchises established in the ‘70s, when pro football was becoming the monster that it is today, were the best in the sport.
The Steelers kept building on their success, while after the initial surge of the Cowboys in the ‘90s, they now build pretty buildings.
We are now a quick 25 years since Jerry’s Cowboys beat the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX in the 1995 season in Phoenix. It only feels like 225 years.
As you might be aware, the Cowboys have not sniffed the Super Bowl since that season. They have not been to a conference title game since that season.
Since the 1995 season, the Cowboys have had seven head coaches. They have had eight seasons with 10 wins, and been to the playoffs 10 times, with four playoff wins.
If you are a Cowboys fan, you may want to skip the next part.
Since the 1995 season, the Steelers have had two head coaches, been to the Super Bowl three times and won it twice.
One of those three Super Bowl appearances was in Jerry’s home, in Arlington, when they lost in February of 2011 to the Green Bay Packers coached by ... Mike McCarthy.
Since losing to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, the Steelers have had 14 seasons with 10 wins, and been to the playoffs 14 times.
But the Dallas Cowboys are the most valuable franchise in the NFL, at least according to Forbes. Per the same publication, the Steelers rank 21st.
Maybe the Cowboys can print up those T-shirts, because there will be no Super Bowl tees coming any time soon.
We know there will be in Pittsburgh because when it comes to the owning and running an NFL team, the Joneses can’t keep up with the Rooneys.
This story was originally published November 8, 2020 at 7:28 PM.
