We’re 50 days away from the Dallas Cowboys opening the 2023 NFL preseason at home against the Denver Broncos. The game will be played at AT&T Stadium.
Chances are, for at least one person in attendance, it will be their first-ever Cowboys home game. It might even be their first in-attendance NFL game.
So on this lazy June Sunday, how about we take a trip down memory lane and recall our first Cowboys’ game we saw in person?
I’ll start it off. You all can share your memories in the comments below.
Miami At Dallas, 1983
Unfortunately, my family resided in California back when the Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home. So I never got to see a game there.
You try hopping behind the wheel of your dad’s Chevy Malibu to drive from Los Angeles to Dallas at the age of seven. It’s the fastest way to get spanked and grounded.
Parents! No sense of humor at all.
So I had to wait until I was living in West Texas in the 1980s to attend my first Cowboys home game. Flew into DFW Saturday morning August 6, 1983.
A cab ride from the airport to the Holiday Inn that used to be across the freeway, and on the other side of Loop 12, from Texas Stadium and it was a matter of waiting by the pool until gametime.
The Dolphins, coached by Don Shula, had a quarterback named Dan Marino they’d just drafted. I took some pictures from me seat in the stands, and even have a video of the game. Here’s one of Marino holding for a kick.
But Gary Hogeboom stole the show by leading the Cowboys on a game-winning drive in the final seconds. I flew home the next morning with great memories of my first Cowboys’ game.
And yes, I still have the boarding passes, what little bit remained of the game ticket that was torn off at the gate and handed back to me, a postcard from the hotel, and a few pictures.
Never The Same As The First Time
I wound up catching four more games at Texas Stadium. Two in 1984, one in 2007 and the final game in 2008.
The opening 1984 pre-season home game against the Packers was a must see because Staubach and Pearson were re-enacting the Hail Mary pass at halftime.
A few months later I caught a regular season game against Kansas City. They used to be a Dallas team too, so it made sense to 20-year-old me.
I didn’t go to a game in 1985 because I didn’t see one on the schedule worth making the trip to Dallas for. And I figured there was always next year.
“Next year” took 23 years to happen. A 2007 preseason game against the Colts and the place was showing its age. The 2008 game against the Ravens was a sad way for the place to go out.
In 2009 I was back in Dallas to check out the new place. I was surprised you could actually see the stadium all the way from DFW as you made your way from the terminal to the rental car area.
I caught the Cowboys win over the Falcons and I admit, the place is huge, But it lacked the feel I got every time I stepped into Texas Stadium, even that final time.
Now It’s Your Turn
So there’s my six home Cowboys games I’ve attended. I’ve covered the Cowboys in games played at Tempe Stadium against the Cardinals and at the Oakland Coliseum against the Raiders.
But those were road games and really didn’t have the same feel as the home games, even though the Cowboys fans outnumbered the home fans every game.
So, how about you? What was your first Cowboys’ game like, home or away. Even if your first NFL game didn’t involve the Cowboys, let us know in the comments below.