Whenever the NFL needs a big draw at the gate or on TV, they turn to the Cowboys. Thanksgiving Day. Check. Lots of MNF appearances. Ditto. Pre-season games in Mexico. Got it. First American Bowl in London (1986). Sure. Help for the Saints after Katrina. We're on the way.
This is why we are The Franchise in the NFL, and this is why we inspire legions of haters. Those legions are a testament to our greatness, no one hates losers, they scorn or pity them. In sports, true hate is always reserved for consistent winners. The "America's Team" tag really drove them batty, the run in the 90's made their heads explode like in the movie "Scanners". (I saw that guy's head explode at the theater as a kid, I haven't been right since).
Think about it, you could show our star logo to anybody and they would know it's the Cowboys, even if they didn't know the difference between Marcus Spears and Britney Spears. Someone needs to run this test; I need to know if our logo is the most recognizable in sports.
I'm sure you guys all know this scenario. You tell someone who's an NFL fan, but a non-Cowboys fan, that you root for Dallas. What's their next sentence? "Dude, I hate the Cowboys!" Sweet, happens everytime. Nothing but haters out there for the Cowboys, complaining about this or that: "we get special treatment, in the 90s we were just drugs and thugs, Jerry Jones is the anti-Christ."
They sure do spend a lot of time thinking about ways to hate on the Cowboys.
Back to the original point, the NFL wants the Cowboys to hook-up with the Saints in preseason in Louisiana. They need to give the Saints a boost and Jerry Jones is glad to help out, even if he is the anti-Christ.
(Can I get a "How 'bout them Cowboys" from everyone in the comments?)