Houston Texans Vs. Dallas Cowboys: A Roadie To Remember

October 5, 2014.

Yep, I had that date circled in red on my calendar shortly after the release of the NFL schedule this past summer.

I was thinking to myself, “wait a minute…we haven’t faced the Dallas Cowboys in a few years, I think we’re due!”

When the NFL released each team’s opponents earlier in the year, I knew I had to go to this game.

I absolutely adore traveling — especially when I’m following my favorite home teams on the road.

Although I’m a writer for this blog by night, I work for a major airline during the day.

I’m quite thankful that part of the benefit of working for an airline is that one does get complimentary standby travel and I’ve used that benefit immensely to see my teams compete in some of America’s most revered sports facilities over the years.

The Texans and the Cowboys face each other once at least every preseason but because the Texans reside in the AFC and the Cowboys are in the NFC, we don’t get to see them in regular season that often.

In fact, the occurrence of these two match ups happens every four years.

That’s a long time for such an interstate rival where emotions run deep between sports fans in Texas’ two largest cities and some of the largest metropolises in the United States.

The Texans last faced the Cowboys was Sept. 26, 2010 at NRG Stadium.

It ended up being a 27-13 loss.

You talk about emotions running deep!

Our beloved franchise changed the life of tailgating forever shortly after that game because of the large amount of civil unrest that occurred out in the patchwork quilt of parking lots NRG Park has.

The law enforcement just could not keep up!

Two key things they changed to mitigate the madness:

Any fan must have a ticket/tailgate pass to enter NRG Park property.
One can only tailgate for a max of an hour after end of the football game.

Things have calmed down quite a bit; and, four years later, it was the Cowboys turn to host the Texans.

Oct. 4, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Mid-morning photo of the glimmering AT&T Stadium from the blue parking lot. Credit: Brian K. Patterson

That’s when friends and I decided to take to the road to witness something that only happens in fours.

I did not fly this time because of the short distance, the amount of things I needed to bring to tailgate and just to experience seeing other Texans’ fans along highway up north.

It was truly beautiful weather the entire weekend I was up there for the game.

With the exception of it getting a bit steamy during the day, I was able to manage piddling around Big D either wearing jeans or shorts with my Texans gear on.

Friday, Oct. 3

So I packed my bags, grabbed my laptop and arrived Friday afternoon to get settled in the area and take a pulse of the atmosphere.

There was a major shutdown that was to take place that night on Interstate 45 North’s main lanes near the Woodlands and I wanted to not even be close to Houston city limits by the time.

I’m happy to have met that objective breezing through that burgeoning area with ease.

After getting our Web site’s signature weekly Injury Report and What To Look For posts done, I took to the streets with friends to check out the Uptown Dallas’ bustling McKinney street strip littered with restaurants, bars and clubs.

Oct. 4, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; The atmosphere of Uptown’s tree-lined Allen Street Saturday morning. Credit: Brian K. Patterson

I’ve liked what they’ve done with the area, being able to mix the old architecture with the new enabling it to blend quite well together.

I would liken the area being similar to Houston’s Midtown area but I have to admit that Dallas is further along in terms of development.

I would definitely recommend that being a nice area to hangout — if you can find parking. That’s their Achilles’ Heel. It was rather difficult and took a lot of circling to find a space but I was pleased after I was able to find one.

Primebar is a good stop along the way with a considerable beverage lineup coupled with an keen eye for eclectic music selection — they even had a guitar-playing duo out on the porch playing just about every Top 40 hit — past or present you could think of.

After the live entertainment shut down for the night, the bar D.J. turned it up a notch with a variety of music to listen to and some the stuff that was cranked out took me back to memory lane.

And the flat bread pizza was delicious!

Anyway, if you’re not able to make it to Uptown by 5 p.m., you can forget about an easy chase for a spot.

But it’s worth the wait, if you have the patience.

Saturday, Oct. 4

The next day was another gem with the headliner of the day being the official Traveling Texans — a traveling group of Texans’ fans — photo with all of the turbocharged fans ready to take part.

The setting? Right in front of the Old Red Courthouse in Dealey Plaza.

Oct. 4, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; House of Houston Co-Editor Brian K. Patterson taking a moment to take a picture while relaxing at The Nodding Donkey, a popular Uptown Dallas establishment. Credit: Brian K. Patterson

This was after I hung out at The Nodding Donkey, a popular Uptown Dallas sports bar that was spacious enough and afforded unique, laid-back views of the bustling action of the neighborhood — if one were to sit on the porch — in its open-air format on that cool Saturday morning. That’s were I sat. They have an impressive lineup of brew and I had the Smoked Turkey Club, which includes bacon, cranberry mayo, avocado and Swiss cheese on whole wheat-toasted bread. The cranberry was a nice, unique touch that gave it a sweet, delectable taste. This was all while witnessing Texas A&M U get pummeled by Mississippi State.

The Traveling Texans started with a small group of fans who traveled up to the 2011 AFC Divisional playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

The size of the group has exploded and the rest has been history. They’ve come a long way from those handful of fans that wanted to come together, hang out and travel to wherever the Texans were undertaking their opponent on the road.

I don’t even think the Traveling Texans moniker had even been formulated just yet…

Their presence and growth has exploded and now they’re the go-to source for all things Texans when one is on the road.

They share valuable pieces of information such as hotel deals, packages and keep fans in the know on what to wear on game day.

The creation of the group has banded Texans’ fans together to help meet one common goal — to watch the team and have a fun doing it.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to have had a chance to connect with members of the group last season as well as this year.

Feel free to follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/travelingtexans or on Twitter @TrvlngTxns.

Oct. 4, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; Houston Texans fans band together to form likely the largest assembly of road fans in franchise history near the Old Red Courthouse in Dealey Plaza. Credit: Traveling Texans

Anyway, I arrived to the area for the photo shoot about 20 minutes early for the 4 p.m. scheduled shoot and thousands of fans had already arrived.

Fans were loud, boisterous and anxious in their Battle Red attire to be a part of history — the history of arguably the largest assembly of Texans’ fans in a different city ever to be made.

It seemed to be a takeover of the City of Dallas as every bit of grassy real estate in front of the courthouse was covered with a sea of red.

Fans who were running late for the photo shoot and didn’t have time to park, they just simply lined up their cars near the adjoining curb on Commerce Street, put their hazard blinkers on and jumped into the photo.

The photo was one that made me and I’m sure many Texans proud — it demonstrated how much we care about our team.

I spent the rest of the day with a larger group of friends that had just made it into town as we partook in the multiple meet-ups that were occurring in downtown’s West End.

Usually the Traveling Texans have just one area everyone meets up at but because of the large turnout — it was split amongst three areas.

That would be Gator’s, Dick’s Last Resort and Hard Rock Cafe Dallas.

I got to experience them all — I’m not sure how you can get a good vibe from Gator’s within their tight quarters but it seemed to please the many that were able to elbow their way into there.

Dick’s Last Resort’s trademark is those paper, message-inscribed hats that patrons create to have some fun and I did see quite a few creative ones that were donned on a many Texans’ fans throughout the facility.

Oct. 4, 2014; Dallas, TX, USA; House of Houston Co-Editor Brian K. Patterson (left-center) hanging out with friends at the Hard Rock Cafe Dallas. Credit: Brian K. Patterson

The Hard Rock Cafe was my favorite — it was spacious, the food-and-drink selections were quite solid and many members of our local media — such as KHOU 11’s Larry Seward — were there to cover local fans.

It was a great night to spar with Texans’ fans alike in regard to just about everything.

Game Day — Sunday, Oct. 5

Oct. 5, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; House of Houston Co-Editor Brian K. Patterson (right) displaying team spirit along with friends before entering the stadium for the start of the game. Credit: Brian K. Patterson

The day has finally arrived and it was time to load up the truck, pile in with friends and head out to the enormous AT&T Stadium — also known as Jerry World. I had never been before so I didn’t know what to expect.

But I couldn’t head to the stadium with eating breakfast that’s one of champions.

We stopped at Fuel City Tacos — one of the most sought-after taco stands in the city. It’s connected to a Gulf gas station and the idea is ingenious. While you’re stopping for gas, one get pick themselves up a hot breakfast before heading out to work or wherever.

I savored the flavor of the tacos and one can have them added with eggs, bacon, chorizo on flour or corn tortillas.

After leaving from there, we hopped on Interstate 30 and arrived in Arlington at about 9 a.m.

I was disappointed in the traffic control in the area — it took nearly 30 minutes just to get to Blue Lot 11, where our tailgate was to commence.

In comparison, at NRG Stadium, when I get to attend a home game, I usually get there at 9 a.m. to tailgate — the earliest possible — traffic is a breeze because it’s controlled and I’m getting out of the truck at 9:05 a.m.

It was a cool, crisp morning and extremely conformable to take in a Texas tradition.