They called it the end of an era and perhaps it was. Texas stadium stood at the intersection of Loop 12, 183 and 114 for 39 years, welcoming players and fans to the Sunday excitement that was a Cowboy’s game.
Some of my friends remember it being built. Not me. My very first recollection of the famous icon was from the opening credits of the hit series Dallas. You see, back in the early days of my marriage and my growing family, football was not a big part of my life, and when I had the time, I was watching the Steelers, the Eagles or the Giants, not the Cowboys. Who would have believed then that someday, going to Texas stadium would become a Sunday ritual?
When we arrived in north Texas in January of 1991, it was hard to absorb the fervent fever that permeated the very air here. I’d lived in Baltimore and in Cleveland, but never remembered the fan base being as loyal as here. Cowboy shirts were everywhere and the people wearing them would not hear a disparaging word about their ‘boys.
My first trip to the stadium came as the preseason of 1991 began. My daughter played in the band at R. L. Turner High School in Carrollton, Texas. The band boosters made the majority of their fund-raising money by running a concession stand at the stadium. Every Sunday for the next three years, I would spend hours before and after the game preparing and cleaning up the stand. But the hours during the game were the most special, when what seemed like millions of people passed by or stood in line waiting for a hot dog or nachos and a drink. I learned to be quick to provide service and give change—and no—there was no big register that told me how much to give. If you hesitated even a little, some fan might get angry about missing even a minute of action on the field. I loved the hustle bustle, the lines, the crowds, the excitement. The only thing I didn’t miss when my time there ended was the intense August and September heat that often raised the temperature in the stand well above 100 degrees.
When the demand for hot dogs went down at the stand you knew something exciting was happening on the field. One at a time, some of us would sneak away to a gate, to stand and watch a great play and sometimes a touchdown by the Cowboys. In 1993, I jumped at the chance to work all three of the Garth Brooks concerts. Again the stadium was packed to the roof with excited fans. What a stage show, complete with thunder, lightning and rain, courtesy of Garth’s concert tour! I managed to sneak a few moments watching the concert and even though Garth appeared to be not much larger than child’s action figure, it was a great moment.
In the fall of 1993, my former husband and I became owners of season tickets. He and I attended quite a few games and when I let my daughter or son attend instead, you’d find me back in the concession stand, serving up dogs and counting out change at something close to the speed of light. The Thanksgiving Day game on November 25, 1993, was perhaps my most memorable. My husband decided to forgo the game tickets that day, when we awoke to find the weather miserable and predicted to be worse. I would have liked to stay home that day too, but the Band boosters were desperate as so many people bailed that day. So off I went for a 3:30 game start. Of course that meant I had to be in the stadium two hours before they opened the gates to fans, which was 11:30 for a 3:30 game. Things didn’t look bad when I got on the road but oh how that would change during the course of the day. When the fans started exiting the stadium around 6:30 that evening, I still had an hour or more of work to complete before I could leave. I got to my car around 8 PM, and finally got home about 10 PM, even though I only lived about 16 miles away. And what a drive that was! Some of you may also remember that this was the game in which Leon Lett made the blunder of his career. His touching the ball and failure to hold on to it in the icy conditions allowed the Dolphins another chance at their field goal, which they made, beating the Cowboys 16-14.
In January of 1993, the Cowboys ended up in Pasadena for the Superbowl. My husband was lucky enough to get tickets and he and my son, Evan, spent a few memorable days in California, which included watching the Cowboys win and Michael Jackson perform.
Even more memorable for my son was being in the old OTB on Beltline in Addison on January 7, 1994, when Jimmy Johnson, Norv Turner and Dave Wannstedt who were also at the bar, signed autographs for my son and daughter. I like to say that was the day that Jimmy bought me a drink for my birthday—sometimes I leave out the fact that he bought drinks for everyone in the restaurant that night. Of course, it wasn’t long after that night that Jimmy Johnson resigned and Norv and Dave left Dallas for careers with other teams.
For me, that was the end of the era. My husband had no desire to return to the stadium as season ticket holders with Johnson gone. My marriage ended that same year and my daughter graduated from high school and while I worked a few more Cowboys games for the band boosters in 94, it wasn’t the same. The memories were bittersweet, as they were today when I watched Texas Stadium collapse on cue. I wonder what the drive to work will be like on Monday morning as drivers slow to take a last look at the rubble that was once such a famous icon.
