Cowboys Fan Shaq 'Bets The Farm' - Literally! - in Stephen A. Smith Wager
At 7-1 and 325 lbs., Shaquille O'Neal is literally one of the Dallas Cowboys biggest supporters.
The basketball legend put himself in the Cowboys' corner this week, engaging in a war of gridiron fandom with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith. With Smith well-known for instigating Cowboys fans, O'Neal occasionally trolls him by calling into his programs with pro-Dallas takes under the alias "Tex Johnson."
Despite Smith's skepticism, O'Neal claims to have been "born and raised a Cowboys fan," joking that he would tell people that former defensive star Ed "Too Tall" Jones was his father. O'Neal put his love for Dallas a step further by offering "Johnson's" farm as a wager against Smith, offering him 50 acres if the Cowboys don't end a 27-season championship drought.
Troy Taormina, USA TODAY Sports
“I live on a 50-acre farm right down here in Texas, if they don’t win the Super Bowl, you can have my farm," O'Neal, clad in a cowboy hat, declares before procuring the apparent deed. "Here is the paper to Tex Johnson’s farm. If we don't win that Super Bowl, you can have it. You can have the deed and the trust, it's all yours."
Smith counters by claiming that the Cowboys (12-5) are no match for the first-round vacationers, the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens. That does nothing to deter O'Neal's trust, as he offers words of encouragement to quarter Dak Prescott, which was enough for a disgusted Smith to steer the conversation to the hardwood.
"Cowboys forever," O'Neal declares. "Let's go, Dak Prescott, I believe in you, Dak!"
Unfortunately for Smith, it doesn't appear that he'll be able to ride off into the sunset if the Cowboys fail to obtain a sixth Vince Lombardi Trophy, as the wager seems rather symbolic.
Why? DallasBasketball.com has reported that O'Neal two years ago purchased a lovely home now valued at $1.4 million that sits on a 9,931 square-foot lot. It's a 5,000-square-foot home in Carrollton, a suburb of Dallas. ... nothing like a farm or a ranch. (Though maybe "Tex'' owns other Lone Star State properties.)
Johnson ... or O'Neal ... will be among the many pulling for the Cowboys on Sunday, as their title trek gets underway against the Green Bay Packers at AT&T Stadium (3:30 p.m. CT, Fox) - with the farm, er, home, on the line.
