(Irving, TX) Cold and pissed. That's the only way I can describe how I was feeling as we left Texas Stadium for the last time. I've been going to Cowboys games for as long as I can remember. My Dad has had season tickets since they were playing at the Cotton Bowl. I've been going to games at "The Stadium With the Hole in the Roof" since I was a kid.
I was there for the Jason Garrett game on Thanksgiving against the Packers. I was there for a bunch of playoff games and even an NFC Championship game. The only Thanksgiving game I've ever missed was the ice game against the Dolphins where Leon Lett touched the blocked field goal and Miami got to kick again. Going to Cowboys games has always been a tradition in my family.
This year, I actually purchased a season ticket myself, for the the first time. The ticket was all mine. I didn't have to wait to see if my uncle wasn't going, or if my dad wasn't going, or if my grandfather wasn't going. The ticket was mine. It seemed like a smart investment at the time. The team was coming off a 13-3 season, and hopes had never been higher. It was the last season at Texas Stadium. Everything seemed to be coming together at the right time. It had the chance to be the perfect storm season. Instead, it was just a storm.
I fully admit...I bought into the hype. I believed what the players were saying on Hard Knocks. I thought that this team was the real deal. I was wrong and I feel like I've wasted the last few months caring about a bunch of schmucks who don't care about anything other than themselves. I spent my money and my time to support a team, and this is the thanks they give me.
I should have known better. But as the season went along, I looked past all the signs. The infighting, the bickering, the sub par efforts against supposedly weaker teams. I really thought they had a chance. We went to the Baltimore game fully prepared to celebrate another big Cowboys victory. The week earlier, they had dominated a Giants team that many thought was the best in the NFC. I was thinking "Eh, Baltimore is okay, but there's no way a rookie QB is going to come in here, the last game at this stadium, and beat this team".
Boy, was I wrong. The night turned out to be miserable. First of all, it was cold. Damn cold. Well, not really cold. Not like Minnesota cold, but damn cold for Texas. I checked the weather before we left and it said it'd be in the 40's. They lied. It was below freezing and the wind chill was in the 20's. I was not prepared for this at all. I was in just a fleece. No gloves, no hat. As the game went along, it got progressively colder. My hands froze...my feet froze...and the game was getting ugly.
By the time Willis McGahee broke off his long run, I was so cold that I could barely even get pissed off about it. But somehow, the Cowboys putrid offense put a drive together and got a touchdown. Then they turned it over to the defense, and asked them for just one defensive stand. Down 2, all they needed to do was hold the Ravens, get the punt, and put together another drive.
Then LeRon McClain pulled his leg back and kicked every person in that stadium right in the nuts. 80 yards to the house. I don't know if I've ever had a worse feeling at a football game. Well maybe when Roy Williams did his Superman dive over the Texas o-line, and knocked the ball out of Chris Simms' hand. That one happened right in front of me too.
Normally at a Cowboys game where something like this happens, we're out the door and on our way back home. But not this time. We were going to stay till the end of the game and after for the ceremony for the last game at Texas Stadium. Needless to say, the ceremony was not very exciting considering what we had just seen. I just could not muster the energy to cheer for the heroes of the past.
Finally, after an hour, we left. The walk to the car was the most miserable part of all. We had a mile to go to get to the car. It was the coldest I've ever been in my life, by far. The wind was blistering our faces. It must have been 30 mph. My dad, sister and I were not prepared for this at all. It was the one of the worst 20 minutes of my life. We were freezing, we were pissed off, and we were ready to go home. We finally got to the car, cranked the heat and drove home. It wasn't until we got home that we realized we all had windburn on our faces. Definitely the first time that's ever happened to me.
The whole evening soured my memories of Texas Stadium as a whole. All the good times I've spent there. All the great memories. And this is the final icing on the cake. I can't believe the last time I will ever walk out of that stadium, I was feeling like I was about a having given so much of myself to a truly crappy team. I was tired, cold, and pissed off. And I won't ever forget it.
Willie Nelson- Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys
