First Edition First Printing Cotton Bowl Days NFL Dallas Cowboys Hardcover

Cotton Bowl Days: Growing Up with Dallas and the Cowboys in the 1960s by John Eisenberg, first published in 1997, is a nostalgic memoir that looks back at the author's childhood in Dallas in the 1960s, intertwined with the early history of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Eisenberg, a lifelong Cowboys fan and sports columnist, shares a personal account of the then-young team's journey, the city of Dallas, and the Cotton Bowl stadium. The book covers the Cowboys' early years as a struggling expansion team, competing with the Dallas Texans for fan attention in the Cotton Bowl. Eisenberg details his family's long-standing connection to the team as season ticket holders and brings the atmosphere of the old stadium to life. He recounts the Cowboys' evolution from a collection of "expansion cast-offs and NFL wannabes" to national heroes, touching on the players and key moments of that era, such as their rivalry with the Dallas Texans and eventual move to Texas Stadium in 1971. Through interviews with former players, the book also provides insights into their experiences and lives after football. The summary highlights that the book is more than just a sports chronicle; it explores themes of growing up, civic pride tied to the team, and the author's personal journey of confronting his boyhood experiences with honesty rather than just nostalgia. The early edition notes a print run of 17,500 copies.