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'I haven't missed a home game since 1976': Dallas Cowboys fans reflect on decades of support

Dallas Cowboys fans talk about their love for the team despite the frustration of not seeing the team in a Super Bowl since the 1990s.

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It has been tough for Cowboys fans for decades. The team hasn’t made the Super Bowl since the 1990s but that hasn’t stopped die-hard fans from supporting their team.

Charlie Vann has been a fan since 1976. Jimmy Carter was president, a McDonald's Big Mac costs 75 cents and "Happy Days" was the number one TV show. 

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“I got season tickets and attended my first game in '76 and I haven’t missed one since then. I have not missed one single home game, preseason or playoffs,” said Vann.

That is dedication, but he says through thick and thin, he’s a Cowboys fan for life.

He even sat through the icy Thanksgiving Day game against the Dolphins also known as the infamous Leon Lett game, when Lett had the ball stripped in the end zone costing the Cowboys the game.

”And it was a heartbreaker how it ended but it was amazing to me seeing the players play football. I couldn’t even get into the stadium without slipping and sliding. It was solid ice everywhere. I have no idea how they were able to play football,” said Vann.

Even during the 2020 season that had limited seating because of COVID-19, Vann was at every game.

”Well, there’s something I can’t explain in my 46 years of going to Cowboy games, I have never been sick during the football season, off season yes, but not during the football season,” said Vann.

Marvin Lane is 88 years old and has been a season ticket holder since 1975.

He has a funny story to tell about what happened last season when he went to buy a beer.

“And then the first game that I went to last year this young lady asked for my ID at the age of 87. What do you think of that? She’s new on the job and she’s been told to check everybody’s ID,” said Lane.

Both men have been through the good and the bad, such as the firing of Tom Landry, the demolition of the old Texas Stadium and of course the Super Bowl wins of the 1990s.

Lane and his son-in-law Jordan won back-to-back raffles two years in a row to see the Boys in the Super Bowl.

"So, I went to Atlanta to the Super Bowl. We saw the Cowboys beat Buffalo again,” said Lane.

Lane and Vann say they yearn for those glory days but say being a Cowboys fan isn’t just about winning it’s a way of life.

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