America's Team

NFL Films The Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys: The Complete History of America's Team 1960-2003 DVD Cover
Directed by	NFL Films
Starring	The Dallas Cowboys
Distributed by	Warner Home Video
Release date	November 25, 2003
Running time	73:00
Language	English

The term "America's Team" is a nickname that refers to the National Football League (NFL)'s Dallas Cowboys. The nickname originated with the team's 1978 highlight film, where the narrator (John Facenda) opens with the following introduction:

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."

The term is recognized and often used by media outlets, including ESPN,Yahoo!,HBO, and Sports Illustrated.

Bob Ryan, now Vice President and editor-in-chief of NFL Films, coined this for the Cowboys while preparing and editing the team’s 1978 season highlight film. He was quoted as saying:

I wanted to come up with a different twist on their team highlight film. I noticed then, and had noticed earlier, that wherever the Cowboys played, you saw people in the stands with Cowboys jerseys and hats and pennants. Plus, they were always the national game on television.

Ryan told the NFL Network for their Top Ten Nicknames show:

I saw all these fans in away stadiums. Hey, they're the most popular team in the country. How can I use that? Why don't we call them "America's Team"?

During the Cowboys' first game of the 1979 season, a nationally televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals (Dallas won 22-21), the television announcer for CBS introduced the Cowboys as America’s Team and the name just stuck.

Dallas' Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry originally did not approve of the appellation of America's Team. He felt that it would give opposing teams extra incentive to play harder. Eventually he gave in and actually came to like the name. The nickname was coined at the height of Landry's then-NFL record 20 consecutive winning season streak, during which Dallas appeared in 12 conference championship games (counting the 1966-67 league championships) and five Super Bowls, and was exemplified on the field by the iconic Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, but the team's popularity has continued over the decades during periods of both mediocrity and dynastic success.