October 14, 2008 has always stuck in my mind. My friend’s father picked me up from school after soccer practice. On the way home, the car was full of excited voices. Sports news blared on the radio. We kids were arguing. Even my friend’s father was excited.

This was the scene the day the Dallas Cowboys gave up premium draft picks – plural – to acquire wide receiver Roy Williams from the Detroit Lions. This was gigantic.

We all know what happened. Williams signed a large contract extension shortly after the trade, but failed to last even three full seasons in Dallas. Three years later, he was washed out of the league. This transaction remains one of the worst in franchise history.

As bad as the trade was, I can’t help but think back to those few years of Cowboys football because of the feelings that came with it. When the Cowboys traded Williams in 2008, they were already more than a decade into their championship drought, one that is nearing an end. three decades. But there was an optimism about the team that was almost as palpable as the frustration and skepticism today.

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After wandering in the wilderness for half a decade at the start of the new century, Tony Romo’s official arrival in 2006 brought the excitement he’d longed for. The 13-3 2007 season confirmed that sense of hope, and the heartbreaking playoff losses during those years felt more like growing pains than an annual tradition.

Unlike today, the Cowboys showed a certain aggressiveness back then. In 2006, Jerry Jones signed Terrell Owens as a free agent. The following year, they got Leonard Davis for seven years. In the spring of 2008, they traded the controversial – but talented – Adam “Pacman” Jones. After Week 6 in 2008, the Cowboys were in a good position at 4-2. Nevertheless, they relied on Williams.

The Cowboys haven’t played in a conference championship since my first birthday. Most don’t need a reminder of how long that drought has been, but it’s necessary context for my perspective.

Maybe you were already jaded by the ten-year drought in the mid-2000s, but as a Dallas native, I remember the revival of the fandom at that time. It felt like there was a different energy in the city.

It’s hard to say exactly when that positive mood turned, because it usually happens over a long period of time rather than in one glaring moment. But if I had to pinpoint when the turnaround began, it was that same 2008 season. In the final week of the season, the Cowboys had a chance to clinch a playoff spot and knock the Philadelphia Eagles out of the postseason. The Cowboys were crushed 44-6 on national television. After the game, Romo made his infamous remarks, “If this is the worst thing that ever happens to me, I’ve lived a pretty good life.” After the Cowboys lost to the Green Bay Packers last January, I thought about that Eagles game more than once.

The Cowboys made the playoffs just once over the next five years, finishing 8-8 three times and giving every NFC East opponent the pleasure of eliminating them in the season finale.

Mike McCarthy expects big things from Dak Prescott in his fifth season as head coach of the Cowboys. (Jason Parkhurst / USA Today)

Hours before the start of the 2024 season, the discourse surrounding the Cowboys is wide-ranging. There are Cowboys fans who can look at this roster and convince themselves The is the year – maybe not to win the Lombardi Trophy, but at least to have some postseason success. Others are holding off on any optimism until the team gives a reason to be in January.

Wherever you fall on this spectrum, your feelings are valid.

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It’s not easy to win 12 games in three straight seasons. The Cowboys have done it, and the core that achieved that regular-season success is back in the saddle this year. The playoff losses to the San Francisco 49ers in 2021 and 2022 were one-possession losses to the finish. The loss to the Packers in January was less a case of a lack of talent and more a case of the biggest loss possible… at the worst possible time.

Looking at the roster, there aren’t too many holes. Dak Prescott is a top-10 talent, CeeDee Lamb is top-5, the offensive line looks solid, and the tight end position is on the up. The secondary is strong, especially with the return of DaRon Bland, and the linebacker position is one of the team’s strengths after a complete rebuild. The defense has a top-3 player in the league, and the special teams unit is led by one of the best kickers in the game.

This is all real.

The Cowboys have also made a habit of beating bad teams lately and putting up far less than inspiring performances against quality opponents. This season, they have a six-game series that includes road games at Pittsburgh, Atlanta and San Francisco, and home games against Detroit, Houston and Philadelphia. That doesn’t include games against the Baltimore Ravens or Cincinnati Bengals, or the road game against the Eagles late in the season.

The roster is solid in most areas, but the running game – offensively and defensively – raises legitimate questions. Prescott is top-10 caliber every week, but also has trouble consistently performing in big games against good teams. The owner is still the general manager, and he will run things the way he cares, even if it is perceived as compromising the goal of winning.

This is all real too.

The present is neither the angst of the post-Troy Aikman era nor the innocent joy of the early Romo era. Whatever perspective, optimistic or pessimistic, you choose to take at the start of this season, you are entitled to it. Sports fans are a personal experience in this regard.

There is an understanding at every level of the organization that the success of this season will only be measured at the end. Head coach Mike McCarthy reiterated that sentiment on Monday: “The end result is everything.”

For the Cowboys to inspire lasting excitement among their fans, this victory must come in a place where it hasn’t been seen in 28 years.

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(Top photo: Matthew Pearce / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)