The Monday after a home game at the Dallas Cowboys Pro Shop finds half-empty shelves and apologetic employees. AT&T Stadium workers can't restock fast enough as shirts, jerseys and caps are popular purchases on game day ... or any other day for that matter.
The Cowboys again rank first in team jersey sales _ as they do most seasons _ with rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott's jersey the highest-selling in the league from April 1-Sept. 20, according to the NFL.
"I really never felt there was a question who really should be America's Team," says former Cowboys fullback Daryl Johnston, now a Fox Sports analyst. "I really don't see anything different now. They're No. 1 in almost every measurable category.
"For all those teams that think they're America's Team, if you were America's Team, you'd be No. 1."
The Cowboys continue to wear the crown despite not having won a Super Bowl since the 1995 season. They sport only a 167-159 record the 21 seasons since, including 5-1 this season.
"Everybody's got names and tags and slogans and phrases," Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins says. "Every team has theirs, and I think (America's Team) is one that's become synonymous with the Cowboys. It just kind of is what it is."
The Cowboys became America's Team before Jerry Jones bought the team, before they won the last three of five Super Bowl titles and before they built their $1.2 billion stadium in Arlington.
The Cowboys won over the nation with 20 consecutive winning seasons from 1966-85. It was the fourth-longest such streak ever in professional sports.
The team with the star on its helmet became America's Team because of its stars on the field. The Cowboys have nine Pro Football Hall of Famers from the 1970s, including coach Tom Landry and quarterback Roger Staubach.
"I think of Tom Landry and Roger Staubach and so many great players and coaches that really, when the NFL was all coming together, those were the guys who made it into America's Team," Cowboys tight end Jason Witten says.
By the late 1970s, Cowboys games were broadcast on 225 radio stations, including 16 in Spanish. Their in-house newspaper, Dallas Cowboys Weekly, touted a circulation of 95,000, more than Pro Football Weekly. Cowboys merchandise represented 30 percent of the NFL's apparel market, and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders sold more than a million posters and were featured in two made-for-TV movies.
"We did a lot of things people didn't really realize we did," says Gil Brandt, the Cowboys player personnel director from 1960-89. "We answered every letter from every fan, and we would put a little flyer in there that they could buy T-shirts for $4 and wristbands for $2 and so forth. Everybody was surprised that they would actually get a letter from an NFL team and every player on our team. It was good for us, and it was good for the future of NFL Properties.
"I think we're probably into the grandkids of those people we started with."
Dr. William Sutton, the director of the University of South Florida's Sport and Entertainment Management program, credits the Cowboys' "reach" across the country. The Cowboys play in the South, have held training camp on the West Coast for 37 of 57 seasons and play in the NFC East with Philadelphia, Washington and the New York Giants.
"Geographically, they've got it nailed," Sutton says.
