(Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
From a young age, I knew the importance of hating the Dallas Cowboys. I’m young enough that I don’t remember their Super Bowl victories in the 90’s. However, I’m old enough to just remember the tail-end of the Aikman days. This was when the collapse of the Cowboys dynasty started. Since the mid-90’s, the Cowboys haven’t been much of a threat to win another championship. They’ve won two playoff games since 1996 and Jerry Jones continues to get in his own way.
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Despite the Cowboys ineptitude the last 22 seasons, it certainly hasn’t made for bad entertainment. Quite the contrary, I take great pleasure in watching the Cowboys failures. Their ability to get in their own way is unparalleled and has made for some great moments growing up. It helped lead to my favorite memory of the rivalry, which took place December 28th, 2008.
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The Cowboys all but had a playoff spot locked up. They were 9-5 and coming off of a win against the defending champion Giants. A week after beating the Giants, they fell to the Ravens at home. The loss would set up a win or go home season finale in Philadelphia. As the saying goes, the rest was history. The Cowboys came into Philly and got their doors blown off.
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Tony Romo was a turnover machine and the Eagles dominated the game in all phases. I’ll never forget the grin I had on my face all night while watching with my friends, parents, and grandparents. Even my grandfather who isn’t a huge (American)football fan was loving it. It doesn’t get much better than beating your number one rival at home, in a play-in game for the playoffs. The Eagles went to the playoffs and the Cowboys got to watch from home. The Eagles playoff run eventually ended in Arizona in the NFC championship game. However, that win or go home game vs Dallas week 17 added an incredible highlight to the historic rivalry.
