Cowboy Ka-boom: The Demolition of Texas Stadium

An ode to Emmit, Troy, and Michael.

Texas Stadium, home to 38 seasons of the Dallas Cowboys, was blown up to rubble this weekend…by an 11 year-old boy. Casey Rogers won an essay contest and got to be the big button-pusher for the emotional demolition of the club that housed America’s Team for decades. More than 20,000 people gathered at various locations around the metroplex for perhaps the largest tailgate party to date to watch fireworks shoot over the stadium one final time. Then. the real fireworks began. and a ton of dynamite brought the near 1-million foot stadium to its knees.

Interesting enough, three large pillars swayed and leaned but failed to fall completely. Irving mayor Herbert Gears was said to have joked, “Now we’ve got Stonehenge.”

Among the viewers were Cowboy players, cheerleaders and of course, club owner Jerry Jones, who purchased the stadium for $160 million in 1989. The building was revered for the large hole in the roof, “So God could watch his team,” as most Dallasites see it.

Starting with last year’s season, the Cowboys began playing in the new stadium in Arlington worth a staggering $1.2 billion, and Irving officials decided they needed the land more than the old stadium.

The stadium was also frequently used for major concerts, and most will remember the location from a birds-eye view of the top from helicopters during events.

The state already has a 10-year lease to use the property as a staging area for a highway construction project–which proves the old Texas law: If you can’t play football in it, you can drive over it.