America ' s Team The term " America ' s Team " is a nickname in the United States that can refer to the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League . The nickname originated with the team ' s 1978 highlight film , where the narrator opens with the following introduction : The term is recognized and often used by media outlets , including ESPN , Yahoo ! , HBO Sports , and " Sports Illustrated " . History . Bob Ryan , now Vice President and editor - in - chief of NFL Films , coined this for the Cowboys while preparing and editing the team ’ s 1978 season highlight film . He was quoted as saying : Ryan told the NFL Network , for their Top Ten Nicknames show : During the Cowboys ' first game of the 1979 season , a nationally televised game against the St . Louis Cardinals ( Dallas won 22 - 21 ) , the television announcer for CBS introduced the Cowboys as America ’ s Team and the name just stuck . Dallas ' Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry originally did not approve of the appellation of America ' s Team . He felt that it would give opposing teams extra incentive to play harder . Eventually he gave in and actually came to like the name . Records and media . In 2003 , NFL Films released a DVD collection chronicling the Dallas Cowboys franchise entitled " The Dallas Cowboys : The Complete History of America ' s Team 1960 - 2003 " . In 2008 , NFL Films would release an updated DVD of The History of the Dallas Cowboys . The popularity of the Cowboys as America ' s Team has been supported somewhat by such NFL records as " Team with Most Consecutive Sold Out Games " , a streak of 160 home and away games ( including playoffs ) that began on December 23 , 1990 , at Philadelphia ' s Veterans Stadium and came to an end on December 24 , 1999 , in a Christmas Eve game against the New Orleans Saints in the Louisiana Super Dome . Other examples are the NFL games featuring the Cowboys that result in record - breaking ratings at the time of broadcast , such as 7 of the 8 Super Bowl games featuring the Cowboys and the NFC Championship Game between the Cowboys and 49ers , the only non - Super Bowl NFL game to be ranked in the Top 45 Primetime Telecasts of All Time . Other uses . The Atlanta Braves laid claim to the name due to their games being broadcast on cable television systems nationwide on WTBS , building a fan base in areas of the United States far removed from a Major League Baseball team . A 1982 issue of " Sports Illustrated " had referred to the Braves as " America ' s Team II " . Franchises with long successful histories and large nationwide fan bases are occasionally referred to as America ' s Team . The most prominent example is probably the New York Yankees , who rose to prominence in the United States in the 1920s . As a jab against the Cowboys before Super Bowl XXVII , Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy proclaimed his team to be America ' s Team because they would be " wearing red , white , and blue " . Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney dismissed the suggestion that the Steelers were " America ' s Team . " " ' We didn ' t want that , ' Rooney said . ' We ' re Pittsburgh ' s team . We feel strongly about that . ' " In an ESPN . com article titled , " The Great Debate : ' America ' s Team ' , " four sports writers stated their case as to why three other teams besides the Cowboys could lay claim to the nickname of America ' s Team . Following their win in Super Bowl XLIV , a few media writers referred to the New Orleans Saints as " America ' s Team " , as their successful bid to win the Super Bowl was seen by many to represent the city ' s resurgence after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina ( " for one game , the Saints are America ' s Team " ) . After several " Cinderella " runs in the NCAA tournament , the Gonzaga Bulldogs men ' s basketball team has been called " America ' s Team " as well .