For fans, these Cowboys are villains worth hating
By Phil Sheridan
Inquirer Columnist
At the risk of committing football blasphemy, it must be said that it's better for Eagles fans when the Dallas Cowboys are good.
It just doesn't feel right when Chan Gailey or Dave Campo is on the sideline for some 6-10 season. If you're honest with yourself, you enjoy it a lot more when the 'Boys are riding high and the Eagles take them down. That's what rivalries are all about. The nastier the villain, the harder you root for the hero.
When the Cowboys are good, as they are going into Sunday's game at Lincoln Financial Field, there is no meaner villain in the eyes of Philadelphia sports fans.
This goes back to the early 1970s, when the pre-Dick Vermeil Eagles were terrible and the Tom Landry Cowboys carried themselves like the rich kids from the nicer side of town. They had their fancy stadium with the hole in the roof, their cheerleader posters, the whole America's Team conceit. It was hard not to hate them.
Fittingly, when the Eagles finally reached their first Super Bowl, they did it by beating Dallas at Veterans Stadium.
It was a mixed blessing. That NFC championship game was the high-water mark of an entire Eagles era. But if you ask Ron Jaworski or Bill Bergey or any of those Eagles, they'll tell you that beating Dallas left the team emotionally drained for the Super Bowl itself. In a roundabout way, even in defeat the Cowboys haunted the Eagles.
When Buddy Ryan got to Philadelphia in 1986, he picked up on the fans' loathing of the Cowboys and saw an opportunity. Ryan made no secret of his disdain for Landry. After his first win over the fedora-wearing legend, Ryan opened his news conference by saying that the Eagles really hadn't played all that well.
"Isn't that what Landry says?" Ryan sneered.
During the 1987 players strike, Landry's team - most of his regulars - trounced Ryan's very irregular replacement squad at Texas Stadium. Two weeks later, with the strike over, the real Eagles were beating the Cowboys, 30-20, as time was running out.
Randall Cunningham took a snap, started to kneel to run out the clock, then heaved a pass downfield to Mike Quick. Dallas was called for a pass-interference penalty, and the Eagles punched the ball into the end zone for a grudge score. As Ryan ran up the tunnel toward the locker room, laughing, he shouted something unprintable about Landry.
Dallas week was like some kind of festival in those years. Linebacker Seth Joyner would stand at his locker and talk with real passion about wanting to beat the Cowboys. For guys like Joyner, Wes Hopkins and Andre Waters, there was something personal about the rivalry that you just don't see in the current players.
Ryan's time in Philadelphia coincided with Landry's decline, and the Eagles beat them nine times in 10 tries through 1992. By then, Rich Kotite was coaching against Jimmy Johnson and a budding young team with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.
That year, the Cowboys zoomed past the Eagles again. Another era ended with Reggie White's final game as an Eagle, a 34-10 playoff loss at Texas Stadium. The Cowboys won the first of their three Super Bowls in the '90s. The Eagles lost White, then Joyner and Keith Jackson and Clyde Simmons.
The rivalry lost some luster, but there were still some memorable games: stuffing Emmitt Smith twice on fourth and 1, the botched chip-shot field goal that cost the Eagles one win, James Willis' end-zone interception off Aikman and lateral to Troy Vincent for a combined 104-yard touchdown return.
If the '90s belonged to the Cowboys, this decade has been all Eagles. In 2000, Andy Reid's team declared itself with that 41-14 opening-day victory in triple-digit heat, then went on to win five of six NFC East titles.
And maybe this is why the Cowboys continue to loom so large in these parts. When the Cowboys have been on top, they've won Super Bowls. When the Eagles have had the upper hand, they've fallen short.
Now the Cowboys appear to be surging again. In Tony Romo, they have a quarterback worthy of your most irrational dislike. He seems like a good guy. He dates singers and actresses. He was seen hanging out with Britney Spears in L.A. last week.
There's Roy Williams, the safety whose penchant for injuring opponents forced the NFL to outlaw the horse-collar tackle. There's DeMarcus Ware, the playmaking outside pass rusher. There's that wide receiver who played briefly in Philadelphia - what's his name again?
The Cowboys are 6-1. Dallas week feels like a big deal, so an Eagles win would feel that much better. That's all you can ask for from any rivalry.
Inquirer Columnist
At the risk of committing football blasphemy, it must be said that it's better for Eagles fans when the Dallas Cowboys are good.
It just doesn't feel right when Chan Gailey or Dave Campo is on the sideline for some 6-10 season. If you're honest with yourself, you enjoy it a lot more when the 'Boys are riding high and the Eagles take them down. That's what rivalries are all about. The nastier the villain, the harder you root for the hero.
When the Cowboys are good, as they are going into Sunday's game at Lincoln Financial Field, there is no meaner villain in the eyes of Philadelphia sports fans.
This goes back to the early 1970s, when the pre-Dick Vermeil Eagles were terrible and the Tom Landry Cowboys carried themselves like the rich kids from the nicer side of town. They had their fancy stadium with the hole in the roof, their cheerleader posters, the whole America's Team conceit. It was hard not to hate them.
Fittingly, when the Eagles finally reached their first Super Bowl, they did it by beating Dallas at Veterans Stadium.
It was a mixed blessing. That NFC championship game was the high-water mark of an entire Eagles era. But if you ask Ron Jaworski or Bill Bergey or any of those Eagles, they'll tell you that beating Dallas left the team emotionally drained for the Super Bowl itself. In a roundabout way, even in defeat the Cowboys haunted the Eagles.
When Buddy Ryan got to Philadelphia in 1986, he picked up on the fans' loathing of the Cowboys and saw an opportunity. Ryan made no secret of his disdain for Landry. After his first win over the fedora-wearing legend, Ryan opened his news conference by saying that the Eagles really hadn't played all that well.
"Isn't that what Landry says?" Ryan sneered.
During the 1987 players strike, Landry's team - most of his regulars - trounced Ryan's very irregular replacement squad at Texas Stadium. Two weeks later, with the strike over, the real Eagles were beating the Cowboys, 30-20, as time was running out.
Randall Cunningham took a snap, started to kneel to run out the clock, then heaved a pass downfield to Mike Quick. Dallas was called for a pass-interference penalty, and the Eagles punched the ball into the end zone for a grudge score. As Ryan ran up the tunnel toward the locker room, laughing, he shouted something unprintable about Landry.
Dallas week was like some kind of festival in those years. Linebacker Seth Joyner would stand at his locker and talk with real passion about wanting to beat the Cowboys. For guys like Joyner, Wes Hopkins and Andre Waters, there was something personal about the rivalry that you just don't see in the current players.
Ryan's time in Philadelphia coincided with Landry's decline, and the Eagles beat them nine times in 10 tries through 1992. By then, Rich Kotite was coaching against Jimmy Johnson and a budding young team with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.
That year, the Cowboys zoomed past the Eagles again. Another era ended with Reggie White's final game as an Eagle, a 34-10 playoff loss at Texas Stadium. The Cowboys won the first of their three Super Bowls in the '90s. The Eagles lost White, then Joyner and Keith Jackson and Clyde Simmons.
The rivalry lost some luster, but there were still some memorable games: stuffing Emmitt Smith twice on fourth and 1, the botched chip-shot field goal that cost the Eagles one win, James Willis' end-zone interception off Aikman and lateral to Troy Vincent for a combined 104-yard touchdown return.
If the '90s belonged to the Cowboys, this decade has been all Eagles. In 2000, Andy Reid's team declared itself with that 41-14 opening-day victory in triple-digit heat, then went on to win five of six NFC East titles.
And maybe this is why the Cowboys continue to loom so large in these parts. When the Cowboys have been on top, they've won Super Bowls. When the Eagles have had the upper hand, they've fallen short.
Now the Cowboys appear to be surging again. In Tony Romo, they have a quarterback worthy of your most irrational dislike. He seems like a good guy. He dates singers and actresses. He was seen hanging out with Britney Spears in L.A. last week.
There's Roy Williams, the safety whose penchant for injuring opponents forced the NFL to outlaw the horse-collar tackle. There's DeMarcus Ware, the playmaking outside pass rusher. There's that wide receiver who played briefly in Philadelphia - what's his name again?
The Cowboys are 6-1. Dallas week feels like a big deal, so an Eagles win would feel that much better. That's all you can ask for from any rivalry.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:16 PM
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