About Reilly Mile High

When we accept that being a Dallas Cowboys fan is one of the greatest emotional rollercoasters in sports, then perhaps we will understand and process the agony of being a fan in purple and silver. With pride we tell everyone around us, “I am a Cowboys fan,” with our chest expanded, as if being a Cowboys fan is synonymous with success after all “—, this is “America’s Team.”

The second we stop expecting success, is the second we stop being true fans. How quickly that illusion is shattered, as year after year we endure heartbreak and misery, we are led to a lifestyle of denial by the faint yet tangible hope that this time, THIS time, it is different. We have been dealt a hell of a deck to shuffle if we hope to see a day of clear victory.

Our challenges start with the expectations set by the Cowboys. We may have a season in which we start 4-0 with dominant performances against what we perceive to be a weak schedule, giving hope to a second Super Bowl.

The next week, in an abhorrent show of mediocrity, the Cowboys lost in a new and exciting way against a team that, on paper, was completely beatable. The Cowboys have a history of imploding at the worst possible times, allowing a game-winning drive at the last second, or a simple last-play fumble.

They are a team of tease and torment; no one is exempt from their cyclical taunting. As fans, our emotions and well-being are entirely in the hands of a quarterback’s ability to make the right read, an offensive line’s mobility, a coach’s strategy, or, in some cases, sheer dumb luck.

Nothing is a given, nothing is stable, and we may be waiting years before we can once again scream, “This year is OUR year!”

Worse still is the fact that being a Dallas Cowboys fan subjects us to the largest media spotlight, where every detail is scrutinized by the masses and every season is an existential crisis waiting to happen. The brightest minds of sports analysis take hours to diagram a play and pour over stats to find conclusions that a typical fan will overthink and second-guess for days.

This is not to mention the irony that for all of that time and energy devoted to film breakdown, a top analyst can write off our knowledge by nonchalantly throwing out the phrase “Cowboys fans thinking they will be in the Super Bowl each and every year.”

The Cowboys fan is the punchline to a joke we do not even understand. Sure, the Cowboys have a rich history and legacy that has long been plagued by average or bad seasons, but regardless of your fandom tenure, you, sir or madam, are on trial.

Jerry Jones may have made the Cowboys one of the most visible sports brands in the world. However, his overconfidence and meddling often result in wasted draft picks, bad coaching hires, and players making millions of dollars while producing “game-changing” athletic abilities that do not correlate to results.

And so, every draft pick, trade, or free agent signing is met with trepidation from the fan base. We are at the mercy of the person who has made one of the most polarizing figures in sports for years on end, and there is little to no stability at any moment in any facet of the team.

Cowboys fans have a remarkable ability to hope against hope and come back for more. It is a badge of honor to love the Cowboys despite everything they have given us as fans. In this tough love, we build relationships with others and form new outlooks on life and living it, showing compassion for others as we commiserate our losses and rare and beautiful victories.

We, as fans, have been given a simple task: remain patient and positive because the Cowboys will shine in their glory every so often and leave us to wonder if this was it. In the meantime, we accept that being a Cowboys fan often sucks and plan accordingly.