Search - NFL: America's Game: 1971 Dallas Cowboys on DVD

Yes, it's a good DVD, but . . .

Canuck in WA | Vancouver, WA | 12/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have purchased (3) others in the America's Game set, and for my money, this is the one I would rank far, far behind. Yes, it is worth the money. Yes, it is very well produced. And yes, there are some insights revealed in this DVD that are enjoyable to watch. Roger Staubach and Bob Lilly come off as articulate and down to earth, but the biggest negative this DVD has is Duane Thomas himself. He has always come off in the past as "misunderstood" and a "mystery", and I have to admit that perhaps I gave him the benefit of the doubt as being portrayed by the media as a jerk because he didnt want to be interviewed by them. But throughout the video, Thomas cannot help but coming off as a racist jerk time and time again; and the whole time I kept saying "no wonder the rest of the team couldn't stand this guy." Maybe there is something in his past that makes him harbor such pent up emotions, but in my opinion, any bit of compassion that I might have had for this guy in the past went straight out the door with some of the totally stupid remarks that he makes in this DVD. It really makes you wish that Walt Garrison had been interviewed for this rather than Thomas, given Garrison's past interviews with NFL Films and how totally funny and greagarious he is. But then again, maybe it was good that Thomas was interviewed for this DVD and had his feelings made known for the rest of the world to critique . .because this way, if there was any doubt whatsoever as to whether or not this guy was a jerk or not, all doubts were firmly erased 45 minutes later."

First Championship for the Cowboys!

JAG 2.0 | IN United States | 06/02/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I enjoyed this video immensely! There are three threads that wind their way through this video: 1)The Cowboys had never won a championship and unfairly wore a crown of "can't win the big one". 2)The indecision of Coach Tom Landry in picking a quarterback to lead the team and its effects. 3)The "silent season" of Duane Thomas.

One can feel for long-time players like Bob Lilly who suffered through so many disappointments for so many years to finally have their day of freedom from the naysayers.

The viewer gets a sense of why Roger Staubach was called "Captain America". He was not only a great athlete who quarterbacked "America's Team" but also a fine American who (unlike later Annapolis athletes) proudly served his country and paid the price by losing the peak years of his athletic life in order to do so.

The viewer gets a sense of the athletic potential of Duane Thomas. At the same time, one must admit Thomas is also a man with a "bad attitude" that destroyed his chance of a long career in the NFL by his own arrogance.

This is more than just a video for Cowboys fans. This video did a masterful job of transmitting the hopes, struggles, determination, and hubris of men in a competitive endeavor. This is a good video, not just a "sports video", for that reason and I highly recommend it."