Dallas Morning News: The Chiefs have replaced the Cowboys as America's Team

[Hammock Parties]

Brings a tear to my eye. Almost full circle from childhood. I used to sit and read Tim at my breakfast table in Carrollton.

A (Taylor) Swift reaction: The Chiefs have replaced Cowboys as America’s Team https://t.co/Ss34ekpk2i

— Tim Cowlishaw (@TimCowlishaw) September 28, 2023

As majestically as the Cowboys soar when they pocket a couple of victories to start a season, a loss in Arizona mandates an equally spectacular fall back to earth. That’s what has me pondering this week whether the wrong team left Dallas 60 years ago.

Aren’t the Kansas City Chiefs “America’s Team” at this point?

For those who weren’t around in 1963 (and by “around,” I mean I was migrating reluctantly from New Jersey to Dallas as an 8-year-old that summer), the Dallas Texans and Dallas Cowboys went head to head for attention at the Cotton Bowl for three seasons before the Texans packed bags and became the Kansas City Chiefs.

Many years ago Lamar Hunt bragged to me in his office that the Texans, of the upstart American Football League, actually outdrew the expansion Cowboys in those days. To which President Tex Schramm replied, “Yes, I’m sure they gave away more tickets than we sold.”

The Chiefs actually got the upper hand on the Cowboys by playing in the first Super Bowl. The name even came from Hunt, after seeing one of his kids play with a super ball. Dallas just missed the first Super Bowl by losing to Green Bay — and then Kansas City won Super Bowl IV in New Orleans before the two leagues officially merged their schedules, creating the NFC and AFC in 1970. You never would have known the Chiefs were defending champs of anything. They played in one AFC title game, losing to Buffalo in 1993, over the next 48 years.

The Cowboys, of course, played in five Super Bowls during the 1970s, winning two of them. They became unofficially branded “America’s Team” by NFL Films, a nickname that stuck for better or worse through the years as they regained their footing and won three more Lombardi Trophies in the 1990s. The Cowboys won five of the first 30 Super Bowls. They participated in 16 of 30 NFL or NFC Championship games. There was no one like them, certainly not the Chiefs who had that one uneven loss to Buffalo during Joe Montana’s career send-off to their credit.

Then a Texas Tech quarterback arrived in Kansas City. The NFL shifted on its axis. The Chiefs have played in three of the last four Super Bowls. They won two of them. Their most impressive stat, to me, is not that they have played in five straight AFC Championship games, but that they have hosted five in a row. That requires maximum effort throughout the regular season, no stumbles in order to maintain that home-field edge. Mahomes led Kansas City to 12-4, 12-4, 14-2, 12-5 and 14-3 records to keep those games in Arrowhead Stadium.

Andy Reid’s next win ties him with Tom Landry for fourth on the all-time list (250) although Reid’s winning percentage is substantially higher. Of course, Reid never had to coach an expansion team that was given no draft picks in 1960, which meant an 0-11-1 start out of the gates for Dallas.

With all this going in their favor, the Chiefs discovered the only way to blow the doors off their competition. Taylor Swift showed up in a Kansas City suite last week, standing and cheering in Chiefs’ gear along tight end Travis Kelce’s mother, and she apparently will attend the Chiefs-Jets game in New York on Sunday night.

This isn’t fair. The Cowboys used to own the dating world along with the occasional Lombardi Trophy. It started with Lance Rentzel and Joey Heatherton. That didn’t end well for reasons we won’t even dive into. More recently, you had Tony Romo with Jessica Simpson or Carrie Underwood. Does anyone recall Miles Austin and Kim Kardashian? If you blinked, you missed it, but it happened.

Now, we have rumors of young Dallas tight end Jake Ferguson dating one of the Cavinder twins of University of Miami basketball and TikTok fame. That’s a noble effort, but you don’t understand the Swifties and the phenomenon that Taylor Swift brings to the Chiefs just by showing up for a few games.

Every professional sports franchise — Cowboys included — would love to sell out their stadiums at Taylor Swift prices. When she played three straight nights at AT&T Stadium this year, resale tickets for obstructed view seats went for at least $900. Imagine attending a Cowboys game at that price and not having a clear view of Dak throwing a 2-yard pass to Luke Schoonmaker.

Mahomes is the finest quarterback of this era and will be regarded as one of the five best ever when he’s done. Kelce might already be the game’s all-time greatest tight end. Reid is sliding past Landry toward Bill Belichick on the wins chart. And now the mighty force that is Swift joins the club. It has been said that Swift already had all the teenagers and younger music lovers in her camp, then figured out how to grab their dads with two Americana-type albums (folklore and evermore, which come highly recommended by this columnist) released during the pandemic.

With Mahomes, Reid, Kelce and now the powerful Swift, the Chiefs have it all. It’s an embarrassment of riches, a marketing guru’s dream team.

The Cowboys? It’s 27 seasons and counting since that last NFC title game. Currently a very good 2-1 team that has not fixed last year’s biggest defensive issue and may have created new ones on offense with its glacial-like Texas Coast offense.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot. The Cowboys get Chris Christie in the owner’s box.

Now tell me which one of these is America’s Team.

[Eleazar]

This stuff is getting sillier by the day.

[Rain Man]

This is the most famous that I've ever been.

I'm a fan of the Chiefs. Here in Denver, that means that women throw me their hotel keys.

[scho63]

Growing up in New Jersey with 3 of my 4 best friends and their parents, families and clique all DIEHARD LUNATIC COWBOY'S fans who would punch walls, not speak to me after a Dallas loss, break shit and be the sorest losers and most obnoxious winners.

This took over 45 years but the tide has turned and I can give them a little good natured ribbing and pick on them since they never sniff real success since a long time ago.

They know I think Dak is crap and they know. Took them about 6-7 years, bit they know.

[Tribal Warfare]

Bask in the glory," We Good"

[Bump]

Everybody in my high school (in Kansas) was a freaking Cowboys fan when that America's team was being said all of the time. I always hated the Cowboys because of this, they are right up there with our division rivals for me.

I was actually thinking about this the other day, pretty sure the Chiefs are America's team now!

How much did Mahomes increase the value of this franchise? I wouldn't mind seeing the value in 2018 compared to now. Then you would have to look at every NFL team and do some calculations.

[Hammock Parties]

In a weird way the Chiefs are almost too popular now.

The Chiefs were OUR thing, and now they have to be everybody's thing. Which maybe means our thing gets a little less real and more manufactured.

But if the alternative is what happened to Brees and Rodgers, slap some more 15s on a plastic lunchbox.

[Enid Borden]

Dat wayciss.

[Enid Borden]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

This is the most famous that I've ever been.

I'm a fan of the Chiefs. Here in Denver, that means that women throw me their hotel keys.

Colfax hotels don't count tho.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

In a weird way the Chiefs are almost too popular now.

The Chiefs were OUR thing, and now they have to be everybody's thing. Which maybe means our thing gets a little less real and more manufactured.

But if the alternative is what happened to Brees and Rodgers, slap some more 15s on a plastic lunchbox.

As an out-of-area fan, people used to be really interested when I'd say I'm a Chiefs fan. They'd want to know the story. They would try to empathize when I shared my misery and frustration. At worst, I was inoffensive. At best, I was a wise soul who commanded respect.

Now? I get dirty looks. I have to explain, "No, see, I was a fan long before Mahomes got there" and that just makes it worse because people don't want to hear from a former pauper about how great their life is compared to what it was. I don't get to share anything about who I am as a fan. All I'm allowed to do is smile and admit that I'm lucky.

And then I have to come home to my man cave full of two years' worth of Super Bowl shit and stare at it and ponder the human connection that is now gone from my life and feel bad that I really actually don't ****ing give a shit, and that I'd gladly be completely ostracized by all future strangers I meet for another handful of Super Bowls and more Super Bowl shit to stare at and appreciate.

The Chief fan's burden, I tell ya...

[Buehler445]

1. **** the Cow****s.

2. I don't give a **** who thinks the Chiefs are their team. They're mine. I will fight you.

[Chiefspants]

We are a brand that’s ascended into popular culture. It is interesting seeing the old heads complain about the notoriety. This amount of success makes it feel inevitable. Denver grasped this a bit in my childhood (at least in my hometown in Kansas), but Elway retiring right after his second ring ended the ride pretty quickly. Not even Manning had this. He never got the second championship in Indy.

I am enjoying every bit of the ride. Especially now that I’m in Colorado.

[ChiefsCountry]

Chiefs are the 90s Bulls now. And it's amazing just enjoy the ****ing ride and who gives a shit who hops on the bandwagon. Just enjoy Mahomes while we can.

[suzzer99]

"Imagine attending a Cowboys game at that price and not having a clear view of Dak throwing a 2-yard pass to Luke Schoonmaker."

[Chief Pagan]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Chiefs are the 90s Bulls now. And it's amazing just enjoy the ****ing ride and who gives a shit who hops on the bandwagon. Just enjoy Mahomes while we can.

The more bandwagoners the better.

Tell them to get on social media and complain about THEIR right tackle being targeted by the evil refs.