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Dak Prescott's 'America's Team' comment might help you hate the Cowboys again

The Dallas Cowboys, even at 11-1, don’t seem that unlikable.

The Cowboys are always unlikable to some fans no matter their record, but this particular bunch doesn’t seem too bad. Rookie quarterback Dak Prescott is a great story (he even picks up his own trash!), the Cowboys are a true underdog tale since they weren’t expected to do much this season, unassuming Jason Garrett doesn’t grate on anyone’s nerves like Jimmy Johnson did, and it has been a really long time since the Cowboys were good enough to bother anyone.

If you want to start hating the Cowboys again, to give you a good NFC villain for the playoffs (let’s assume the New England Patriots will play that familiar role in the AFC), then maybe Prescott’s comments about why the Cowboys play in prime time so often might help. Enjoy:

“We’re America’s Team. I feel like everybody wants to see us play,” Prescott said, according to the Dallas Morning News. “It’s exciting. I feel like the Cowboys are always on prime time, but to be in the position we’re in, winning like we are, playing the way we are, it makes for better football.”

The only thing that makes non-Cowboys fans angrier than the “America’s Team” nickname is the Cowboys letting the world know they’re more interesting than everyone else because they’re “America’s Team.” And by the time he gets to “it makes for better football,” you either are getting agitated or you are from Texas.

Prescott isn’t wrong though. Prime-time ratings for Cowboys games have been incredible this season. Dallas’ Week 15 game was flexed, and it’s not because of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Dallas will be on “Monday Night Football” the week after that too, against the Detroit Lions. And you can bet their first playoff game will be in the best possible slot for television ratings. The Cowboys are always a ratings draw, and this season they’re the best story in the NFL. They also have an efficient offense that makes for interesting games.

But the Cowboys aren’t supposed to be the plucky underdog. They’re not as fun as a 1983 N.C. State basketball type of story, coming out of nowhere to have a nearly perfect season to this point. The Cowboys are more fun when they’re the New York Yankees or Alabama football, when people are either devoted fans loving their dominance or enjoy hating them with a passion.

Prescott probably meant nothing by his “America’s Team” quote. But if it starts to get your blood boiling over the Cowboys, that might make December and January (and February?) a little more fun for us all. Every good story needs a bad guy to root against.

Dak Prescott shared his thoughts on why the Cowboys are in prime time so often. (AP)
Dak Prescott shared his thoughts on why the Cowboys are in prime time so often. (AP)

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!