Tag: national medal of honor museum

Cowboys to bring back red, white, and blue helmet stripes Sunday night

The 1976 helmet stripes returned once last year; this week they’ll honor National Medal of Honor recipients in the team’s Salute to Service. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys will recognize 17 Medal of Honor recipients during Sunday night’s game with the Colts at AT&T Stadium. In addition to much of the Dallas sideline wearing specially-painted cleats, there will be another noticeable pop of color to make the occasion memorable.

The team will wear the red, white, and blue helmet stripes that they sported for one season in the 1970s and then resurrected for one game last season.

The franchise first added a red accent to their iconic helmets as a surprise for the 1976 season as a way to celebrate America’s 200th birthday. (Read the full story of that quirky moment in time here.)

Last season, the throwback stripes made their first return in a Week 9 game versus Denver. The Cowboys were upset in that game by a 30-16 score, prompting many to want the red stripes stashed back in the archives for good.

But this Sunday’s Salute to Service home game- against the 4-7-1 Colts- seemed the perfect opportunity to try to break the bicentennial curse.

Several Cowboys players will be calling attention to the night’s theme, quite literally, from head to toe.

The entire offensive line is also slated to wear matching cleats that support the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation.

“We thought it would be a really cool thing to honor those recipients with the entire offensive line,” Dallas guard Zack Martin said this week. “It really is humbling… I don’t think a lot of people understand the sacrifice that these guys have gone through.”

Twenty-six Dallas coaches, including Mike McCarthy, will also wear at least one painted shoe to show their support.

The National Medal of Honor Museum is currently under development, to be built steps away from AT&T Stadium in Arlington. Charlotte Jones, Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer, is the foundation’s board chair. The Jones family has contributed $20 million toward the project.

Seventeen of the 64 living recipients of the Medal of Honor attended the team’s practice on Saturday. They’ll also be on hand for Sunday’s extra-colorful game.

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Cowboys to break out red, white, and blue throwback helmet stripes for Salute to Service

An obscure bit of Cowboys trivia for years, the tri-colored helmet stripes will be worn as part of the NFL’s Salute to Service weekend. | From @ToddBrock24f7

To the casual time-traveling observer, it will look like 1976 all over again at AT&T Stadium this Sunday. That’s because the Cowboys’ helmets will feature a red, white, and blue center stripe for the first time since the nation’s 200th birthday 46 years ago.

The subtle tweak to one of the most iconic and longstanding uniforms in all of sports comes during the league’s annual Salute to Service weekend, honoring the men and women of the Unites States military.

For the Cowboys organization, there’s extra meaning. Charlotte Jones, daughter of owner Jerry Jones and a team Executive Vice President, is also the chairman of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, with a new facility set to break ground in Arlington next year, within sight of the Cowboys’ home stadium.

Medal of Honor recipients will be in attendance for the Cowboys-Broncos Week 9 clash. Military members will be recognized at halftime. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders will also alter their uniforms for the one-day special occasion.

The tri-colored helmet stripe was a one-year alteration made in 1976, the 200th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. That year, the country had a collective case of Bicentennial fever. A red, white, and blue train was making a whistle-stop tour across the lower 48 states. Fireworks shows and parades were being planned in major cities. Historic tall ships from around the world docked in American harbors. Collectible coins were minted. Mailboxes and fire hydrants across the country got patriotic paint jobs from local citizens. The 1976 movie Rocky featured nods to the Bicentennial, dressing Apollo Creed’s character as George Washington and then Uncle Sam on fight night. Commercial products in stores were rewrapped in star-spangled packaging.

After sporting a special commemorative jersey patch in Super Bowl X, played in January of that year, the Cowboys’ legendary president and general manager Tex Schramm decided to do something different for the ’76 regular season, which would begin soon after the milestone July 4 celebration.

The Cowboys’ helmet stripe and the Bicentennial festivities were a one-year anomaly. After that 11-3 season and an NFC East title, Roger Staubach and Dallas lost to the Rams in the playoffs. The red, white, and blue helmet stripes were never seen again, except in old photographs of that singular season and now on tours through The Star in Frisco, where a mannequin wearing a reproduction helmet is used as a trivia question by tour guides trying to stump visitors.

And except for this Sunday, when the Spirit of ’76 will live again for one afternoon as America’s Team honors America’s real-life heroes.

“The red stripe on the helmet provides a beautiful ribbon to wrap around this salute to those who currently serve our country’s military,” Charlotte Jones said as part of the official uniform anouncement, “and the patriotic love and appreciation that we all share for those who came before them.”

For a more in-depth look back at the Cowboys’ Bicentennial helmets, check out the retrospective piece from Cowboys Wire at this link. It was originally published on July 4, 2020 and excerpted briefly for this article.

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