One Cowboys fan takes a pilgrimage to The Star

My niece recently got married which meant a return visit to my hometown of Dallas. With a few hours to kill on a Friday afternoon I enthusiastically gathered the family (myself, wife and 8-year old daughter) to lobby for a visit to Dallas Cowboys’ World Headquarters. The Star was less than 10 minutes from our hotel and the pleasant afternoon was a perfect opportunity to make a pilgrimage to bask in the glow of greatness. Five minutes later I hit the road alone as the ladies opted to lounge at the hotel.

I made no preparations, instead mostly interested in checking out the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor Walk and having no real expectations beyond that. It was a wise decision as the visit was both enjoyable and informative.

(Scroll through the gallery of photos below)

Grid View

• We start our journey at the intersection of Avenue of Champions and Cowboys Way.
• I’ll let this speak for itself.
• Every Ring of Honor member is memorialized on the surrounding streets. If you don’t know who’s being remembered here your Cowboys Fandom membership is revoked.
• All around the walk are plaques like this with statistics and quotes from and about Cowboys’ greats.
• There’s a number of office buildings in the area adorned with classic Cowboys players and imagery. Opposite this building is a similar facade that has a number of empty slots awaiting future honorees.
• Across the street is another facade that has a number of empty spaces to honor future Cowboys’ greats.
• There’s a traffic circle at the intersection of Winning Drive and The Star Boulevard (actual street names) with a small park and fountains. Also this statue created by Tom Friedman simply called Huddle. A favorite for small children.
• A view of the fountains surrounding much of the park.
• Outside the Ford Center is a miniature football field (open for all to enjoy) along with a big screen. Cowboys game are shown here which sounds like a pretty cool place to watch the game on a nice autumn day.
• And of course there’s a gift shop, with hats. Lots of hats. And mugs and shot glasses, auto accessories, jewelry, key chains and helmets and...well you get the idea.
• More stuff to buy.
• To enter inside The Star you’ll need to purchase a tour for a cool $39.95. They’re available every 30 minutes and, while expensive, was very interesting. First stop is the 12,000 seat indoor football stadium. When I visited it was undergoing work but often times visitors are able to go down onto the field.
• The Ford Center hosts high school football games on Friday nights and has a number of memorials to great Texas high schoolers. Here we see Cole Beasley’s high school career highlights.
• Throughout the facility are motivational messages and themes. This wall of inspiration welcomes players outside two of many meeting rooms.
• On the opposite side is a view of one of two practice fields. Here we see the ProTurf field; the other is made of grass. Jerry Jones’ office is in the middle of the first floor of the glass building we see here. Behind the far end zone is Jerry Jones’ private helipad.
• One of my favorite features is the wall of honor documenting every Cowboy ever named to a Pro Bowl. Here we see the offensive honorees.
• And the defensive honorees.
• A reminder that being a part of the Dallas Cowboys’ organization is a privilege, not a right.
• The luxurious seats found in the team’s mammoth meeting room. Frankly, the room is too big for my tastes, allowing players to sit far from whoever is speaking.
• On the left is the team’s gargantuan workout facility; on the right is the team’s locker room. If empty, tourists can enter the locker room but apparently that’s never happened because Sean Lee is always inside.
• The team’s functional dining room was (mostly) empty during our visit. You can see a smoothie bar in the back, which is apparently a player favorite (enter your favorite Chip Kelly joke here).
• Another of my favorite features is this museum-quality display featuring uniforms sported by the Cowboys throughout the team’s history.
• This is the microscopic broadcast booth where a number of television, radio and podcasts are recorded.
• Here we see one of many franchise highlights noted throughout this area of the facility.
• The team’s five Super Bowl trophies on permanent display near the primary entrance.
• Nearby are glass displays with rings from each of the team’s five Super Bowl championships.
• Another cool feature is this wall of helmets. The Cowboys and that week’s opponent’s helmet are lit up during the season.
• The front area of the team’s surprisingly small media room where press conferences are held.
• A side view of the same media room.
• The floor of the main foyer is populated with numerous quotes from players and coaches throughout the franchise’s history. Leave it to Dandy Don to crack us all up.
• And finally the outside view of the playground-like outdoor field in front of the Ford Center.

In summary, there’s a lot to do in the area. In addition to the park and mini-football field there’s more than a dozen restaurants, bars and eateries within walking distance. The Cowboys hold watch parties on game days.

The official tour lasts an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, depending on which areas are available on a given day. And while we did not meet or chat with any players and coaches during our visit, apparently it’s not uncommon for players to take time for a brief meeting.

I’m glad I made the visit and recommend it to any serious Dallas Cowboys fan. Obviously, bring your wallet, as pretty much everything has captive audience-type pricing. One of the things I particularly appreciate is that whenever I see an image from anywhere at the facility now, I know where it is and how it fits in with everything else.

I’ll finish with this observation, which shone through throughout the tour: if I worked at the facility, I would feel like I was part of greatness. Every aspect of the buildings and the surroundings sets a high standard and creates high expectations.