Ex-NFL WR James Jones explains why Chiefs can never "overtake" Cowboys as "America’s Team"
The Chiefs have been the big-ticket item for the past few seasons, with some wondering if the Cowboys have been supplanted as 'America's Team'. Kansas City has been to the last three Super Bowls, winning two. Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league. Travis Kelce is a superstar in his own right, and his romantic bond with Taylor Swift is television gold.
That is why the Chiefs featured prominently in primetime games last season, including on Christmas Day. But the one place where the Cowboys reigned supreme was on Thanksgiving Day games. However, that too will change this year as Dallas will take on Kansas City on that date, meaning that Jerry Jones' team will not have exclusive domain over that festive period.
This spawned the discussion whether the Chiefs are now 'America's Team' and former NFL wide receiver James Jones shot it down immediately. Now working on Fox, he said,
"We talk about the Cowboys when they’re winning. We talk about the Cowboys when they’re losing. We talk about the Cowboys when they’re average. We talk about the Cowboys when they’re healthy. We talk about the Cowboys when they’re hurt."
Emphasizing the outsized influence Dallas has on talkshow and the general NFL observers' psyche, he declared,
"The Dallas Cowboys will forever be America’s Team. That will never change."
And to underscore that point, James Jones even made it clear that nobody will overtake Dallas on that score, concluding,
"Jerry Jones is brilliant, but the Cowboys will never be overtaken—especially not by the Kansas City Chiefs or anybody else."
Cowboys vs. Chiefs rivalry goes back decades
The Chiefs were formed as the Dallas Texans before they moved to Kansas City. They were part of the AFL before they ceded the city to the NFL's Cowboys. Therefore, this rivalry, which is set to be reprised on Thanksgiving this year, is symptomatic of the early days when the two professional leagues were yet to merge, and when the two teams were competing for the same market.
Last year, when Missouri residents voted not to increase the sales tax to fund a new stadium for the Chiefs, it led to a war of words between Kansas City and Dallas as the latter's mayor wanted to bring the team back to its original home. The passions were already inflamed, and now the two teams will go at each other on Thanksgiving. It promises to be a ratings blockbuster.