Cowboys and Star Wars: A Look Back In Time

Mandatory Credit: Erich Schlegel-USA TODAY Sports

1999
Dallas Cowboys: 8-8, 2nd NFC East, lost Wild Card playoff
Star Wars – The Phantom Menace, May 1999, $1.027 billion box office

The Cowboys would enjoy a franchise record three Super Bowl wins in four seasons from 1992-1995, a window of time that only included rumors of more Star Wars movies to come. We had all heard of many sequels, but there was never much mention of a prequel.

Enter Episode I – The Phantom Menace, starring a whole new cast of characters, droids excluded, that would tell the tale of events prior to A New Hope. We would see Darth Vader as a harmless child, Obi-Wan Kenobi as a young Jedi in his prime and a very different style of Star Wars movie altogether.

I enjoyed the prequels like I enjoy my children. While they aren’t the same as each other, it’s impossible to forsake any one of them simply because of graphic style or actor selection – at least for the most part concerning the films.

The Cowboys were a different story.

While a new trilogy was being born that year, an era for America’s Team was wrapping up quickly as there seemed to be some similarities to those first years I watched the Cowboys as the 1970s ended. High expectations simply weren’t met, and most decisions made by owner and general manager Jerry Jones in this watered down era of a ridiculous salary cap and free agency repeatedly blew up in his face.

A long touchdown pass from Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman to new wide receiver acquisition Raghib ‘Rocket’ Ismail defeated the Redskins in Washington in overtime on Week 1. Aside from an injury to Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith during a Monday night meeting with the Vikings in Minnesota, I don’t remember much else about that season. Let’s just say that Smith was on his way to possibly a career night before the injury, a precursor to another loss to the Vikings during the Randy Moss era.

The Cowboys would lose again to the Vikings in the Wild Card playoffs before embarking on three straight seasons of 5-11 football as the Aikman era ended in 2000.

A new Star Wars dynasty was just beginning while the last Cowboys dynasty was all but officially over.

Next: Cowboys And Star Wars Hit Aggravating Lows