The bye week should have been a time for Dallas to reset and relax, yet the headlines generated by team owner Jerry Jones during their time off turned into a media circus. Fittingly, that sentiment was recently relayed by former players who believe the Dallas workplace came with “other stuff,” in an article published by Kayln Kahler of ESPN.
The specific ire? Stadium tours. Cowboys team headquarters, The Star in Frisco, offers tours of various varieties, in which attendees can run into players, coaches, and front office members. Kahler alleges to have spoken to several former players who voiced opinions on the subject, leading to current Cowboys star Micah Parsons weighing in.
Sometimes you gotta call bull shit when you see it ! This ain’t it 💩💩👎 https://t.co/eoNvYreTMd
— Micah Parsons (@MicahhParsons11) October 23, 2024
Current Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz started the public conversation when he took a shot at his former team last March while talking to Pat McAfee and compared the environment to a zoo. Bengals rookie defensive tackle Justin Rodgers warned defensive end K.J. Henry, who signed with Dallas on October 1, about the random people walking around the team facility at any given time.
Dallas selected Rodgers in the seventh round of the 2024 NFL draft. After not making the initial 53-man roster, he opted to sign on the Bengals practice squad rather than remain with the Cowboys.
Instead of staying silent, Parsons, who is still on his rookie contract, opted to openly disagree. He’s not alone.
After the Cowboys’ loss to Detroit, Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis offered an interesting response to the distractions that come with playing for Dallas.
“Football players, we are some of the most mentally tough people in the world — supposedly. You challenge a man’s will every single snap. So if [the tours are] a problem, that’s going to carry on in other aspects of our game. So hopefully that’s not a problem.” – Jourdan Lewis
Many teams around the NFL offer facility tours, and almost all teams allow fans to attend training camp practices.