The Dallas Cowboys have been a staple on NBC’s Sunday Night Football since its inception. The Cowboys last won a Super Bowl in 1996, but America’s Team has always been a ratings darling, so it should never come as a surprise when they’re on primetime football, no matter what their record is.
And if anyone would know the answer to why the Cowboys receive such different coverage than the rest of the league, it’s Cris Collinsworth, who’s served as an analyst on the Sunday Night Football broadcast since 2009. Up until last season, the Hall of Fame broadcaster had been next to Al Michaels for the entirety of his career on NBC, but Michaels has since departed for Amazon Prime, which has left Mike Tirico to take over the play-by-play duties.
As Collinsworth prepares for a second season next to Tirico, he appeared on The Dan Patrick Show on Monday and discussed a bevy of topics, including the relationship between how much coverage the Cowboys are going to receive and how good they are going to be. Patrick asked how close those two entities are.
“Historically, it was they were really great for a decade and then they really weren’t for a long time,” Collinsworth told Patrick. “And yet, if NBC had their choice, we would do 17 Dallas Cowboys games. Right? I’m not kidding. It doesn’t matter what their record is.”
Collinsworth said that NBC could have their pick of games, but they would ultimately choose a 4-6 Dallas Cowboys team over the field.
“It’s insanity, but it’s true,” he said. “They draw the ratings. They get it done.”
Collinsworth said he still believes that the Cowboys are an intriguing team, even though NBC does already have them on opening night.
“Every opening night, we want the Dallas Cowboys if we can get ‘em,” Collinsworth added.
The Cowboys are currently scheduled for three Sunday Night Football games in 2023: Week 1 at the Giants, Week 5 at the 49ers, and Week 14 hosting the Eagles. And remember, when it comes to Sunday Night Football, the NFL reserves the rights to flex games, and it may be used up to twice between Weeks 5-10 and at the league’s discretion during Weeks 11-17.
“They are an intriguing team. I think they always will be…Look at me, I can’t do this with any other team. You can kind of go off the top of your head and go, ‘Hey, Cowboys. I got ’em. I know what’s going on with ’em.’ It’s craziness, but the Cowboys continue to be America’s Team and that is no lie.”
