My memories of Texas Stadium Part I

Texas Stadium in Irving has been the home of the Dallas Cowboys since October of 1971. Come Saturday night – 37 years and two months later – the Cowboys play their final regular season game in the stadium with a hole in the roof.

The Cowboys host the Baltimore Ravens on the NFL Network – Channel 212 if you have Direct TV. There is a possibility the Cowboys could play another game in January IF they make the playoffs as the 5th seed and are lucky enough to play the 6th seed for the NFC Championship and the right to go to the Super Bowl.

But don’t count on it.

For me it’s sad to see Texas Stadium eventually demolished. I have a lot of fond memories of attending either Cowboys games, college games and high school games, mainly high school games. As a sports writer for 35 years I’ve been blessed to cover 34 high school playoff games and although I may not remember exactly what happened in the game I do remember most of the scores and the teams who played in them.

My very first experience at Texas Stadium was not even to watch or cover a game. That summer before the Cowboys began playing in it, the stadium was used for a Billy Graham crusade. I went with my next door neighbor, Virgil Barnes, and his family and we sat on the front row of what would be about the 10-yard line on the Cowboys’ side.

The stage was in the south end zone. The only reason I went was to see Texas Stadium. Virgil’s dad was a preacher for a small church in Grand Prairie and he had free tickets. I thought at the time – I was 14 – what an awesome stadium Texas Stadium was.

Not only was it a football stadium but it had two outdoor movie screens on the east side where the Cowboys’ pro shop is now. Drive in movies at a football stadium – wow.

Now when I was in high school in the mid 1970s only a handful of high school playoff games had been played at Texas Stadium. I remember Tommy Kramer, a former NFL quarterback, playing one of the first high school games in 1971 when San Antonio Lee, Kramer’s alma mater, played Wichita Falls in the state championship game.

Five years later was my first chance to cover a high school game – South Grand Prairie vs. Highland Park – in a bi-district game. November of 1976 to be exact, just months after graduating from Grand Prairie High School. I was the sports editor for a small newspaper – The Grand Prairie Urbanite.

Oh my gosh I thought, I’m going to Texas Stadium to cover a game! That Saturday I was all giddy and was still giddy walking in Gate 1 to receive my press pass at the will call window. Then sitting in the press box, which at the time was between the first and second levels on the Cowboys’ side, I had a hard time keeping stats and keeping play-by-play.

I kept looking around and thinking, wow! I’m 18 years old and I’m sitting in the press box at Texas Stadium. I’ve made the big time!
And to top it off, I was able to go down on the field after the game and now I was really on Cloud 9!Even though South Grand Prairie lost that night, 41-13, I knew it was something I would always cherish.

Not in my wildest dreams did I think it was the beginning of covering 34 playoff games at the home of the Cowboys. To this day I cherish EVERY game I’ve covered. Even my last game to cover there – the 2006 SGP-Colleyville Heritage area round game on Thanksgiving Friday night – I was as giddy then as I was 32 years ago.

Part II of my Texas Stadium memories will be a list of games I covered with most of the final scores as well as a little summary on some. All of these memories are not written down on a note pad, either.