The Secret of The Dallas Cowboys ‘Black Matte’ Helmets
FRISCO - Years ago, when he was first faced with the accusation that ‘“all he cares about is profit” - an odd thing to say about an owner who’d just written enough checks to win three Super Bowls - I posed a question to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
“Jerry,” I asked, “Do you think of yourself as more of a ‘businessman’ or more of a ‘sportsman’?”
Jones’ slick-but-honest reply: “ I couldn’t wake up every morning and look myself in the mirror as a sportsman if I didn’t act like a businessman. And I couldn’t look myself in the mirror as a businessman if I didn’t conduct myself like a sportsman.”
Jones is now the patriarch of one of the wealthiest families in the world and the overseer of the most profitable sports franchises in history. Part of that success is the result of seeing almost every occasion as a “sales opportunity”; transforming last year‘s Ezekiel Elliott contract holdout into "Zeke Who?'' T-shirts for sale is a most recent example.
The team's actual uniforms are of course the centerpiece/generator of sales to fans who not only want their favorite player's jersey ... they also want throwback jerseys and military-style jerseys and personalized jerseys and ladies half-shirt jerseys and on and on and on. Every sort of hat, sock, slipper, glove, necktie, whatever ...
Fans also like to buy Cowboys helmets. And once you own the familiar and classic Cowboys helmet (silver and blue) ... and then you've purchased the throwback (white and blue) ... what if you have $369 more dollars burning a hole in your Cowboys pocket?
Well, can the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop interest you in a black matte Cowboys helmet?
"This was, by far, the most asked question by Cowboys Nation about our new matte black helmets,'' the Pro Shop Twitter account responded to a "what-about-on-the-field?'' question from my 105.3 The Fan buddy Cory Mageors. "They look amazing! But there's no plan to wear them on the field. Strictly a fun, new look for a fan cave, office or future tailgate display.''
Every person I know thinks he/she "has taste,'' but tastes vary. My friend Ian Rapoport responded to my tweet about the helmets by saying, "Looks like that helmet is playing a Cowboys helmet in a movie.''
But listen. If you don't like the black one? If enough people wanted to buy an orange Cowboys helmet, I bet they'd make one. And the Pro Shop would design it and market it in its usual-masterful manner.
Jerry has said many times that the Cowboys uniforms are "like the New York Yankees,'' classy and classic, traditional and treasured. So, no, the Cowboys are not going to be wearing "black matte'' uniform pieces.
But - because Jerry is both a sportsman and a businessman - you can wear all the "black matte'' uniform pieces your budget will allow.
