COMMENTARY: Are Dallas Cowboys fans excited for the upcoming season or weary of another letdown?

DALLAS — These tweets were posted in the Twitterverse a little more than one week ago:

It was later retweeted by Pro Football Talk Writer Charean Williams.

Fast forward to Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones’ annual “State Of The Cowboys” presser (one day later than originally expected due to his legal issues in Texarkana), where he said he’s not concerned with starting fast as much as he’s worried about finishing strong and winning another Super Bowl.

If you think nobody from within the organization is happy with the playoff nightmare delivered by the Green Bay Packers last January, you’d be right about that.

But are the fans really apathetic about one of the most recognizable and beloved sports brands in the world? 

Long answer needed here: 

Jones said upon his arrival at Training Camp in Oxnard that the team’s season ticket renewals put the other 31 teams in the league to shame this offseason. Dak Prescott went as far as to tell the fans in his first post-practice interview that fans either need to be fans or don’t. 

Well, there ya go! And we have to remember there is separation here. Fans are apathetic for that very obvious reason: playoff disaster after playoff disaster. 

Maybe apathetic should be replaced with cautious?

Everybody gets over those brutal losses with time, especially fans. Coaches and players carry it much longer than fans ever will, trust me, and the fans know that. And as they say in life: Hope will always spring eternal, and in professional sports more than any other when you consider the overwhelming passion by everyone involved. 

Dallas Cowboys fans will still pack AT&T Stadium and they’re still gonna take over road games in Glendale and Landover, Maryland, but we do understand the issue beyond that. The fans of America’s Team have become preprogrammed to be devastated. 

They just don’t know that. Or they just don’t wanna realize that. 

They’ll continue, as they should, to ride or die for their ‘Boys with that collective hope that it’s finally going to be their year. 

And maybe it will be? 

Maybe the San Francisco 49ers will help that cause by not being as good, again, as advertised? Or maybe Green Bay finally won’t be another postseason obstacle?

So… apathetic? No, I’d say more along the lines of the expectation to be let down one more time. But maybe this attitude is exactly the reverse psychology that everybody – and I mean everybody – associated with The Star needs. 

Jones said on more than one occasion on the opening day of camp that he’s “all in” and wanted his fanbase to be aware of that. 

So, are fans “all in” with him and their beloved Cowboys for the 2024 season ride? Of course they are. But maybe they’re a little more measured this late summer than in years past. 

Can you blame them?