Cowboys on the ranch work closely with animals. Cowboys at the team facility feel like ones.
“It’s like you’re in a zoo,” Jayron Kearse, a starting safety with Dallas from 2021-23, said in a story published in ESPN on Wednesday.
Kearse was among the handful of former Cowboys who ripped into the infamous practice- and training-facility tours Jerry Jones and the franchise offers to their fans.
Starting at $40, fans are presented with the opportunity to live the life of a player, if only for a few hours. They are guided past or through virtually every corner of The Star — Dallas’ 91-acre campus in Frisco, Texas where both players and personnel train and work — which includes personnel meeting rooms, gym and rehab spaces, scouting offices, the war room and more.
“You’re on your way to eat lunch and you’re running into tours,” Kearse said, per ESPN. “You’re on your way to meetings, you’re running into tours.”
“We have 24/7 access to the facility, and it should be a place of solitude,” said another player who requested anonymity to discuss the topic freely. “I come in for extra work at night … and there’s fans walking through, poking out at you.”
It is a situation that is uniquely Dallas-ian, or more aptly, Jones-ian.
The Cowboys owner has not been shy about parting the veil for the public’s perusal. He was, after all, the first owner to present a draft room livestream. Jones has, over the years, continuously advocated for increased access during televised game broadcasts.
He is the only owner or GM — Jones is both to the Cowboys — who speaks with the press after nearly every Cowboys game.
Say what you will about the means, the ends speak for themselves: the Dallas Cowboys are the only team in the world valued at over $10 billion.
Except, the other ends are not as becoming: the Dallas Cowboys haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1996.
It would be a naive oversimplification to say that the lack of results is because of the increased access, but the commercialization of the Dallas football brand — as epitomized by these tours — may not be conducive to the Mamba mentality.
As Kearse said, “[Public access] is not a reason why we didn’t get over that hump [in the playoffs]. But I just don’t think that really equates to winning.”
It has not thus far this season with the Cowboys at 3-3 and coming off an embarrassing 47-9 home loss to the Lions.