CLEVELAND (AP) -They’re more American Idol than America’s Team these days. Celebrities in shoulder pads, the Dallas Cowboys have stars on their helmets, on the field and on their guest list.
From T.O. to Romo to Jerry Jones to Jessica Simpson to Pacman (sorry, make that Adam), the Cowboys can dazzle on the red carpet or in the red zone.
They even had their own hit summer reality TV show as HBO’s “Hard Knocks” spent a few weeks peering behind the scenes at Dallas’ training camp.
True NFL blue bloods, no team has a higher profile. And no team has greater expectations.
“It’s always Super Bowl or bust kind of deal,” quarterback Tony Romo said this week, “and we start the next year and it’s Super Bowl or bust again. It’s just part of it. Every team has pressure at the start of the year because every organization thinks they have a chance to be really good this year.
“We’re no different. I think we’re going to go out there and hopefully do good things on the field.”
Without a postseason win since 1996 – an eternity in demanding Big D – the Cowboys, 13-3 last season with 13 players in the Pro Bowl, will embark on another title run Sunday. They open against the Cleveland Browns, a team with similarly high hopes and an offense capable of matching Dallas point for point.
While the Browns may not be able to match the Cowboys’ Q rating or star power, they also have their eyes on the playoffs – and perhaps something even bigger. And if the football bounces the right way, who knows? The New York Giants weren’t exactly the trendy pick to win it all last season. But they did, knocking the Cowboys off their high horses in the first round of the NFC playoffs.
This, though, is supposed to be Dallas’ season.
“I think everyone knows across the nation that we have the talent,” Terrell Owens said. “We just have to go out there and do what we do best. Everybody is excited with what can become of what we have in this locker room. We aren’t going to by any means win the Super Bowl by what we do in Week 1.”
the toughest assignment they’ll ever face.
“Big-bodied guy. Great receiver. Great hands. Great route-running ability. Pro Bowl starter,” McDonald said, listing Owens’ many attributes. “We’ve got a few of those guys ourselves. We’re going to try to prepare the best we can and get ready for him.”
Never one to miss a chance for some publicity, Owens sent T-shirts to a few of the Browns.
Wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth wore one that said, “iCompete” on the front and “T.O. win” on the back.
“Just messing with the young guys in the secondary,” said Stallworth, one of Cleveland’s top free-agent signings.
On his last visit to Cleveland, Owens caught a pair of touchdown passes in the first half for Philadelphia and punctuated one of the scores by spiking the ball at a “T.O. has B.O.” banner he then ripped down.
Earlier this week, a mature and mellowed Owens refused to discuss his previous trip to the Dawg Pound.
“I’m not really worried about what happened in the past,” he said.
Tell that to those hard-to-please Cowboys fans or Jones, the club’s flamboyant billionaire owner.
Dallas hasn’t won a Super Bowl title since 1995. Anything short of getting their hands on a sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy will be seen as failure by fans deep in the heart of Texas and all other points where the famous five-pointed blue star is worshipped.
Now in his second season as Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, who was raised in the Lone Star State, has learned to embrace the pressure of playing for one of sport’s most storied franchises.
“I told my guys early on, ‘If you don’t want to be in the spotlight, you don’t need to be with the Dallas Cowboys,”’ he said. “I think it always has been that way here and I think it probably will be for a long time. You’ve got to be able to handle media and expectations and predictions and all those things and go on and do your job the Cowboy way.”
The Browns’ way in recent years has meant little more than being a punching bag for the rest of the league. However, a surprising 10-6 record – only the second season with 10 or more wins since 1988 – raised the club’s profile. With five nationally televised regular-season games on its schedule, Cleveland is again being viewed as a pro football hotspot after years of neglect.
Led by an offense that racked up 402 points, the Browns have enough firepower to hang with any team, including these gunslinging Cowboys. Injuries prevented Pro Bowl quarterback Derek Anderson, running back Jamal Lewis, wide receiver Braylon Edwards and Cleveland’s other offensive starters from playing a single snap together during a winless exhibition season.
Those games didn’t count. On Sunday, everything matters.
“We’ve got high expectations for this team, not just the offense,” said tight end Kellen Winslow, who feels he can improve on an 82-catch, 1,106-yard season in ’07. “So the chemistry is going to come. It doesn’t really come in the first game. It’s going to take a little while, but we’re very explosive and we’ve got a lot of weapons.”
As do the Cowboys, who will get their first look at Adam “Pacman” Jones, the troubled and talented cornerback/kick returner. Jones was recently reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell after serving a 17-month suspension for a litany of off-field transgressions.
Mr. Jones, as Browns coach Romeo Crennel referred to him this week, hasn’t played in a regular-season game since 2006, when he was with Tennessee. In his Dallas debut, Jones will return punts, join rookie Felix Jones as a deep man on kickoff returns and may see some time at cornerback.
“I don’t want to get too overhyped, but Sunday I’ll be ready,” he said. “I’m just trying to not get too riled up.”
That may be more difficult than he thinks.
Cleveland fans have been at a fevered pitch since the opener was announced months ago. By the time kickoff arrives at 4:15 p.m., thousands of rabid Browns backers, known for their barking and dog-biscuit eating intensity, will be foaming at the mouth. It’s been a long time since an opener – or any game for that matter – has meant so much, and the sight of the Cowboys will only raise the intensity.
“I’ve been on the other team coming into this stadium,” Lewis said. “It’s not a good feeling.”
Even if you’re America’s Team.
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