ARLINGTON, Texas — It's football season, and Cowboys fans are hoping the luck shines down on America's Team this season.
Since moving to AT&T Stadium in 2009, the Cowboys have only had one thing shine down on them: the sun.
And it's a real problem.
But AT&T Stadium is indoors, so why would the sun be an issue?
Most stadiums are built with endzones facing to the north and south, so that the sun, which famously rises in the East and sets in the West, isn't in the eyeline of players.
AT&T Stadium is different; its endzones lie toward the east and west, and massive windows invite sunlight in to shine directly down on the field.
This presents an issue for players facing west during afternoon games. If you're a quarterback, you could be throwing into the sun. If you're a receiver, you could be catching the ball blind.
Notably, this presents an issue for both teams, but it's had a real in-game impact on the Cowboys.
The most notable example was during the 2022 postseason, when Dallas took on the San Francisco 49ers at home for the NFC wild-card. Quarterback Dak Prescott threw a pass to receiver Cedrick Wilson, who did nothing. The ball sailed right past him, and Wilson didn't even stick his hands out.
Why? The sun.
Wilson was directly in one of the infamous spots where he couldn't have seen the ball if he tried. If Wilson had caught the pass, Dallas would have been in field goal range.
Instead, they got a turnover. The Cowboys went on to lose that game 23-17.
Why don't the Cowboys use blackout curtains?
This point has long been a sore spot between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and fans. In fact, we know that AT&T Stadium has blackout curtains; they frequently use them for events like concerts and even Wrestlemania.
After the infamous Wilson play, Jones downplayed the sun's impact on the game.
"I wish to hell all I had to worry about was a ball hitting the screen or a little sun getting in there," Jones said in a 2022 interview on 105.3 "The Fan" [KRLD-FM]. "Conditions and elements have been a part of football since it was spelled the first time. No. That’s about 10,000 on my list of things to worry about. And, no, we’re not going to do anything with it."
Jones has been adamant in his point that the sun affects both teams equally.
It also seems to be a decision rooted in aesthetics. After all, it creates some beautiful photo ops.
PHOTOS: Sun glare at AT&T Stadium
Still, the main goal of a football team shouldn't be capturing the perfect "golden hour" photo. It should be winning games.
Jones puts the responsibility of that on his coaches, often stating they must make adjustments factoring in the sun. So, Cowboys fans, unless the Sun magically disappears, get used to seeing it shine through those big glass windows.
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