2 New NFL Rule Changes Due to Cowboys Player and Stadium

Since 1933, there have been 14 NFL rule changes due to a specific player’s habit. Five of those have been Dallas Cowboys. First there was the Deion Sanders Rule; players began to get penalized for excessive touchdown celebrations. Then came the Emmitt Smith Rule; players were not allowed to take their helmets off on the field of play. The first monumental decree is due to Erik Williams; offensive lineman began to get penalized for putting their hands on defenders’ facemasks. Then there was the playmaker; Michael Irvin created two of his own rules. All players began to get penalized for taunting opponents and wide receivers were called for offensive pass interference when they pushed off of cornerbacks. After about a decade of no such player rule changes, former Cowboys safety Roy Williams tackled then Philadelphia Eagle Terrell Owens by the back of his collar and drug him to the ground with Owens breaking his ankle in the process. The Roy Williams Rule reads: “no horse-collar tackles.” The total list increased to 15 player rule changes on Friday, with the latest resulting from a positive play by tight end Jason Witten. Another NFL rule change gives credit to the new Cowboys Stadium. (more…)

Fort Worth’s Sundance Square to Host ESPN’s Super Bowl Coverage

ESPN has announced it will anchor its coverage of Super Bowl XLV from Sundance Square in downtown Forth Worth, Texas. Many people from around the world will see the city’s entertainment district for the first time through television. ESPN will build an outdoor television studio, using Sundance Square’s color mural of a 19th-century cattle drive as a Texas-flavored backdrop. ”Thanks to ESPN being here, millions who have never visited Fort Worth can experience the city through the magic of TV,” said Fort Worth mayor Mike Moncrief. “ESPN gets a lively city as a partner, with a dynamic Texas backdrop.”

Super Bowl XLV will be played on February 6, 2011, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, about 15 miles from Sundance Square. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones built the largest and most expensive indoor arena in league history in 2009. Still without a sponsor, Cowboys Stadium cost a whopping $1.15 billion, complete with a retractable roof and endzone glass walls. The Cowbys will attempt to avoid any travel in the final week of the postseason as they attempt to become the first team to host the Super Bowl.

Romo an MVP Candidate?

 

 

The expectations are high this year for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, but this is not unfamiliar for him. For three miserable seasons in a row, the Cowboys were criticized for not playing well down the stretch. No Cowboys player was scrutinized more than quarterback Tony Romo. It all started with the fumbled snap on the easy field goal attempt to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round of the playoffs in the 2006 season.  In 2007, the Cowboys’ superb regular season was overshadowed by the New England Patriots’ 16-0 phenomenon. That year, Dallas tied its franchise record of 13 victories and claimed the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs. Many expected Dallas to meet New England in the Super Bowl that year in a clash of the titans. Instead, Dallas lost to the 6th-seeded New York Giants, whom they had previously beaten twice that year. Personally in attendance at that game, I watched in despair as a Romo pass fell incomplete on 4th and goal with only seconds remaining. (more…)