The media just uses the Dallas Cowboys brand for ratings and attention

Sports media are obsessed with “hot takes” these days. Everywhere you look it’s bold statement here, exaggerated situation there, extreme opinions everywhere. In todays sports world, it’s what drives ratings. So it should be no surprise the Dallas Cowboys are brought up in just about every hot take from here to Toledo. It gets them the numbers.

Check the stats. The most watched games each year are when the Dallas Cowboys play on national television. Just the topic of Dallas gets fans arguing like politicians fighting for votes. Not just from Cowboys fans but from Cowboys haters. And let’s be real – there’s a lot of each.

The Cowboys brand is leaned on heavily by the talking heads of the media who fight relentlessly for numbers. From self-proclaimed fan (like Skip Bayless of Fox Sports) to the hater (Stephen A. Smith of ESPN), they all have leaned on The Star to boost their rating whether the Cowboys involvement was warranted or not.

The sports media uses the Dallas Cowboys brand for ratings, and are always looking for ways to include America’s Team in their discussion.

Whether you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan or not, you cannot discount their relevancy in the sports media world. They are an instant ratings booster.

Let’s have fun and take a look at a few of those topics that even the haters would agree are comical. The media uses several topics to discuss Dallas, but the quarterback position gets more traction than any other topic besides Jerry Jones. Therefore, I chose a few media topics focusing on Dak Prescott because he’s always the center of attention.

Being the face of America’s Team:  ESPN arguing if Dak Prescott should be a top-10 QB and asks if Dak overrated

In a recent survey conducted by NFL coaches and general managers, Dak made the top-10 quarterback list, sliding in at #10. The NFL decision makers know what many Dallas fans have known for the last few years about Dak’s ability as top signal caller.

However, Dak being a top-10 quarterback but not Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens caused ESPN to create their own topic about Dak being worthy of such ranking! My Gawd!

So, ESPN discusses this topic with their own talking heads. ESPN analyst, Ryan Clark, said that Dak only belongs on this list if Jackson is included. Because Dak rounds out the top-10 list and Jackson was omitted, Clark feels like Dak should be the quarterback removed from the list. How?

For starters, Dak had a more impressive season and set a franchise record with 37 touchdowns against 10 interceptions, passing for 4,449 yards, a 104.2 quarterback rating, and completing 68.8 percent of his passes. On the other hand, Jackson threw for 2,882 yards, 16 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, completed 64.4 of his passes, rushed for 767 yards, and two touchdowns in 12 games.

I believe Jackson is a top-10 quarterback, but to replace Dak and not Deshaun Watson (who hasn’t played a down going on two seasons) is just another ploy by the media to get fans to tune in to another Dallas story that makes no sense. A veteran player like Clark knows Dak belongs on that list with or without Jackson on it. Of course, Clark has to play his role and pump up another player at the expense of Dak. Remember, it’s the Dallas Cowboys.

Jackson is more athletic and therefore might be more exciting to watch than any other NFL quarterback, but if we are looking at it objectively like the NFL decision makers did, Dak belongs on that list.

It gets better with the nonsense when it comes to Dak. On Wednesday’s show of “First Take” on ESPN, the topic of discussion was whether or not Dak could lead Dallas to a Super Bowl victory. Former NFL cornerback, Domonique Foxworth, gave his reasons on why Dak was more than capable and offered bad coaching as to reasons why Dak hadn’t accomplished feat already.

Chris “MadDog” Russo argued why Dak couldn’t lead Dallas to a Super Bowl and that Dak is not a top-10 signal caller. Russo places Dak outside the top-10 because he says he’s good but not great, and Russo states how Dak not knowing the rules about handing the ball to the refs in the playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers makes him unworthy. Wow!

Didn’t the great Tom Brady forget how many downs he had in a loss against the Chicago Bears in 2020? Oh, that’s right, only other quarterbacks are allowed a mental mistake but any player that wears the star on their helmet doesn’t get that mercy.

You see how the sports media just make up stuff as they go! Yes, Dak made a mistake, but it doesn’t make him a lesser quarterback because of it. Once again, it moves the ratings so the media loves it.

There are other topics centered around Dak. For instance, ESPN had a topic about Dak being overrated.

side note: Explain to me how a fourth-round quarterback who exceeds expectations-let alone replaces a great quarterback in Tony Romo-is overrated? Explain how a fourth rounder that was supposed to be nothing but a project QB at best is overrated? Finally, explain how Dak is overrated when he’s succeeded despite inept coaching (Jason Garrett) and a meddling owner who’s stuck in the 1990’s? Not to mention Stephen Jones taking away offensive weapons because he’s cheap!

Dak wasn’t a number one pick, not a Heisman-trophy winner, not a national champion, and didn’t come out of football powerhouse like Joe Burrow (LSU). So why place standards on Dak that you don’t even place on those you say are better than him? The critics rarely criticize Brady when he has a bad game and often make excuses for him, but Dak can lose a single game and his salary now comes into question. Man…

But these guys ahead of him get measured differently. You know their names. Aaron Rodgers, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Brady, Burrow, Matthew Stafford, Justin Herbert, Russell Wilson, Watson, and Mickey Mouse for good measure.

The media knows this too. But anything to drum up ratings, right?  Because it’s all about the money…and the media knows this, even if it doesn’t make any sense.