Moore or Less: Why Cowboys Fans Keep Coming Back Despite Everything

Moore or less sports commentary

By Merv Moore  |  Shop in Seagoville |  June 24, 2026

I get it. I really do.

Thirty years. No Super Bowl. No NFC Championship Game. Not even a sniff of one. The Cowboys haven’t been to the conference title game since January 1996 — the night they beat Green Bay and then buried Pittsburgh 27-17 for their fifth Lombardi.

Since that 1995 season win, Dallas has appeared in 18 playoff games. Not one reached the conference title round.

That is not a slump. That is a generation of heartbreak dressed up in star jerseys.

And yet — here you are. Still watching. Still believing. Still arguing with Eagles fans at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Why?

“Cowboys fans are not stupid. They are faithful. There is a difference.”

— Merv Moore, Shop in Seagoville

I’ll tell you why. Because the Cowboys aren’t just a football team. They are a condition. Something you catch young and never fully shake. I’ve lived on three continents and coached in eight countries. Cowboys fans are everywhere. They don’t belong to Dallas. Dallas belongs to them.

The Cowboys are valued at $13 billion — the most valuable sports franchise on earth — generating approximately 9 million global searches per month. Jerry Jones has built the greatest business in sports on the back of fans who keep showing up even when the product on the field makes you want to throw your remote through the window.

Think about that. In 2024 alone, the Cowboys generated $1.2 billion in revenue — more than any other NFL team.

Not the Chiefs. Not the Eagles. The Cowboys. The team that went 7-9-1 last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight year.

You cannot build that without the most loyal fan base in football. Full stop.

The Cowboys’ Super Bowl drought is now 30 years. And you know what Jerry Jones said? He said he’s “so defensive” about his approach because he can’t get “convicted” that it needs to change.

You can’t write comedy that good.

But here’s the thing — Cowboys fans are not stupid. They are faithful. Stupid is not knowing the odds. Faithful is knowing the odds and showing up anyway.

“The Cowboys have failed their fans on the field for 30 years. But those fans? They haven’t failed anyone.”

— Merv Moore, Shop in Seagoville

First-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer finished 2025 at 7-9-1 — a tough debut. But the organization believes he laid a real foundation for 2026. Dak Prescott enters year 11 saying he sees nothing ahead but greatness. CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens give Dallas a receiving pair that will scare every defensive coordinator in the NFC East.

Is it enough? I don’t know. Neither do you. That’s the point. That is why you watch.

The average home crowd at AT&T Stadium from 2008 to 2024 was 93,465 per game — best in the NFL. People don’t fill that building because the Cowboys are winning Super Bowls. They fill it because being a Cowboys fan is part of who they are.

My column is called Moore or Less for a reason. No filter. No spin. Just what I see.

What I see is this: the Cowboys have failed their fans on the field for 30 years. That is the truth and it needs to be said.

But those fans? They haven’t failed anyone. They have shown up. They have bought in. They have passed it down to their kids and their grandkids.

That is not something a 7-9-1 record can touch.

So go ahead and come back again in 2026. Not because it’s guaranteed. Come back because you are a Cowboys fan. And that means something to you even when it probably shouldn’t.

It means something to me too.