True Cowboys Fan
TRUE COWBOYS FAN – November 23, 2025 – Midland, Texas, USA
There was no bigger Dallas Cowboys fan than Lambert Price. Every piece of clothing he owned was decorated with the Cowboys logo. His blue and silver truck had stars on the hood and tailgate. The interior of his house was the same blue and silver and loaded with officially licensed posters, pillows, and cooking utensils.
Lambert treated his trips to Texas Stadium in Dallas like religious pilgrimages and considered the star at the 50-yard line as holy ground. His eleven-year-old son was named Troy. His eight-year-old son was named Emmitt. They were living tributes to Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, the Cowboys quarterback and running back he grew up idolizing.
Lambert arrived at his Cowboys fandom as a child in the 1990’s when the team was a Super Bowl winning dynasty. Those glory days felt very long ago. Dallas had not been to a Super Bowl for many years, yet like every truly loyal Cowboys fan, he believed that each new season they would be great again. At the beginning of 2025, he was again wildly optimistic. He grew convinced the team made the correct trades for star players. Their quarterback was injury free. They had the best wide receivers in the NFL. All the pieces were in place for a championship run.
Everything looked bright in pre-season, but by late November, the team’s record was mediocre at best. The offense scored a lot of points, but their defense gave up just as many. They had four wins, five losses, and one tie. The next game would make or break their season. The Philadelphia Eagles, defending Super Bowl Champions, were coming into town with an eight win and two loss record. If the Cowboys were going to be competitive, this was the game to prove it.
After listening to Dallas-based talk radio programs and Cowboys-themed podcasts, Lambert’s confidence soared. Surely, they would win. The team was clicking. They had learned from their losses and were ready to dominate. They had all the right weapons and the Eagles would be surprised by what hit them.
The big game started at 2:30 Texas time. Of course, Lambert reserved the entire afternoon for watching on his big screen TV surrounded by Cowboys paraphernalia. After carefully considering his wardrobe, he chose to wear his CeeDee Lamb officially licensed jersey. He made his usual pulled-pork nachos for gametime snacking and put a case of Pepsi in the fridge to chill.
In addition to his immediate family, Lambert’s brother-in-law and niece usually watched games with him. For the Cowboys versus Eagles game, Lambert’s wife invited over a couple she met at the gym. She assured her husband they were die-hard Cowboys fans and would be cheering just as hard as he was.
Kickoff time approached and everyone found a comfortable seat in front of the TV. Lambert nervously nibbled nachos between sips of Pepsi. “C’mon, we’ve got to win this. We deserve it,” he said to himself under his breath.
When the game started, the Cowboys did not look very good. Their offense could not move the ball. Philadelphia scored a touchdown.
One of the invited guests said, “This could be a long game. Prescott looks pretty sloppy.”
Lambert glared in response. He did not like listening to criticism of Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. “He’ll be fine,” Lambert insisted. “He just needs to get his timing right. From now on, I don’t want to hear anyone bad mouthing the team. It’s bad luck.”
After Lambert’s pronouncement, no one dared say anything negative, but the Cowboys did not look any better. Dak Prescott’s passes were off the mark. The offense went nowhere. The Eagles scored a second touchdown and Lambert grew quiet and sullen. He clenched his fist into a ball and bit his knuckle anxiously.
No one in Lambert’s house criticized the Cowboys but the broadcast commentators did. One of them said, “I think this team is proving they aren’t very good. If the Eagles score again, I don’t think there’s any way the Cowboys come back and win this game.”
Lambert watched his favorite players trot on and off the field. They did not seem to care about winning as much as he did. They laughed off mistakes and retreated to the sidelines where they sat indifferently on the bench. If Lambert was on the field for the Cowboys, he would be playing his guts out. He would run until he collapsed. If he missed a pass, he would not laugh or joke around. And he would do it for free. The players on TV were paid millions of dollars for the privilege.
As Lambert remembered all the time, worry, and money he devoted to the Cowboys, he grew quietly frustrated. His frustration turned to despair and then anger. The Eagles scored another touchdown, making the score 21 to 0 while the game was still in the second quarter. A TV commentator said, “I can’t see the Cowboys winning this. They look lifeless.”
Only 24 hours earlier, a podcast had convinced Lambert the Cowboys would score over 40 points. Could they have been any more wrong? Why had he believed them? He grew red faced as his anger boiled into rage. He growled like a bear caught in a trap. Then he stood and stomped his way to an unoccupied stool decorated with the Cowboys logo on its wooden seat. He picked up the stool, stomped to the door leading to the backyard, and yanked it open. Then he raised the stool over his head and slammed it onto the backyard’s patio. Two legs of the stool broke away and skittered across the concrete.
Lambert stomped back inside, and without closing the door, continued to the garage. He started his truck, revved the engine, and drove away.
One of the invited guests from the gym looked at Lambert’s wife and asked, “Is he going to be okay?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered honestly. “I hope so. He’s never acted this way before. He probably drove off so he could cool down.”
Those left in front of the TV sat in awkward silence. They continued to watch the game while trying to forget Lambert’s outburst.
Meanwhile, Lambert drove aimlessly in his truck. He turned in random directions and rolled down unfamiliar streets attempting to keep his mind as blank as possible. He shut off his phone and the radio. After a half hour of thoughtless driving, he reached Hogan Park and stopped his truck. He got out and walked through the baseball fields where he played in Little League. He circled picnic pavilions where he enjoyed outdoor meals with family and friends. He found a sandy horseshoe pit and then a lost throwing horseshoe. He tossed it around for a while and imagined it clanking against a metal post.
Surrounded by fresh air and thick memories from the park, Lambert realized his life was much more than merely his Cowboys fandom. He knew and loved wonderful people. He held a job he liked most of the time. He was healthy enough to run around the baseball field if he wanted. Getting upset over a Cowboys game that he could not control suddenly felt very silly. He chuckled at himself. From now on, he would keep a broader perspective and remember the things that mattered most. He sauntered back to his truck, deeply breathing in the outdoors and peering off toward the horizon.
Lambert was in no hurry to drive home. He thought sheepishly about his outrage and the broken stool. How should he react in front of everyone who witnessed it? He figured the best approach was simply to ignore it completely and act as friendly and happy as possible. After he parked in the garage, he put on a smile and walked into his house.
Lambert heard cheering coming from the TV room and hurried to find out why. He found his sons jumping up and down, giving each other high fives. When they noticed their father, one of them shouted, “Dad, we won! We won!”
“What do you mean?” Lambert asked in surprise.
“We won, 24 to 21.”
Lambert’s brother-in-law offered more of an explanation. “We scored 24 unanswered points. Our defense totally shut them down in the second half.”
One of Lambert’s wife’s guests added, “The announcers said it was the greatest comeback of the whole year. They were like a whole different team after you left.”
Lambert looked over the joyful faces but did not feel the same excitement. Instead, he felt betrayed and robbed. The anger he felt earlier returned. “And I missed it!” he shouted. “The comeback of the year and I missed it!”
Lambert stomped to the door leading to the backyard, which someone had closed. He swung it open and hurried to the broken stool still lying on the ground. He raised the largest intact portion, which still had two legs attached, and slammed it to the ground. The remaining legs shattered and broke away.
When Lambert returned to the TV room, he was still furious. He now had a new perspective, different from the one he had learned in the park. He bellowed a new pronouncement. “From now on, I promise to never miss even one second of a Cowboys game!”
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