When Dan Devine, a Dallas Cowboys fan from New York City for the past 53 years, came across Tuesday’s news—that Cowboys owner, president, and general manager Jerry Jones, despite his team’s stunning 48-32 home playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers last Sunday, was keeping Mike McCarthy on as head coach—he couldn’t believe what he was reading. Enough, he decided, was enough.
Despite his half-century strong allegiance to the team, despite the five Super Bowls and the 30 or so Cowboys games he’s seen in person all over the country and all the jerseys hanging in his closet and the Dallas memorabilia in his office, Devine, 59, was swearing off his Cowboys fandom forever. “I am done,” says Devine, a forensic accountant. What really rankled him was Jones’ contention, in Tuesday’s statement announcing McCarthy’s retention, that “this team is very close and capable of achieving our ultimate goals.”
Green Bay had a 27-0 lead on Dallas in the first half. “Did he not watch the game?” says Devine, his volume rising. “To think he’s still got a roster that can compete with the 49ers or the Ravens? They played against the youngest, most inexperienced team and got their asses kicked. And you’re close?”
