Book Review and Author Interview: Texas Stadium by Mac Engel

by Todd E. Jones of College Football Top Ten

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The Dallas Cowboys’ last year at Texas Stadium was supposed to end in a “blaze of glory,” or at least a playoff win. The Cowboys’ most recent trips to the playoffs had not produced a playoff win, and, it seemed, Owner Jerry Jones went all out to put the pieces of the puzzle together to make a Super Bowl run which would give Texas Stadium one last “hurrah.” However, like a football falling just short of the goal post on a long field goal attempt, the Cowboys fell just short of the playoffs. Now all that is left to remember Texas Stadium by is Mac Engel's collection of the most memorable moments in the beloved stadium’s history.

Mac Engel, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Cowboys beat writer, somehow got the job to put together the book that everybody expected to be published. In fact, Dew Pearson has his own book out about Texas Stadium. But Mac is a media guy, a journalist, and therefore, he gets all of the publicity from the other media cohorts such as Randy Galloway and, yes, even Mac’s own wife, Jennifer Floyd Engel.

After a forward by Cowboy Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, Mac takes us on a tour of the stadium’s history that has been beloved by fans and players alike for several decades. First up in the book is the Cowboys organization’s decision to build a new stadium and the decision to put that strange hole in the roof. The Cowboys organization became a trailblazer with its building of luxury suites and use of cheerleaders. Thus, a prized franchise was born.

Engel then proceeds to organize the book in chapters which contain memorable moments. Chapter two covers memorable Cowboys moments during the regular season. The next chapter contained Cowboys memorable moments during Monday Night Football games. The last two of the chapters contained memorable Cowboys moments during Thanksgiving and the playoffs respectively. The Cowboys memorable moments were then followed by colleges, high schools and then a chapter Engel calls "Everything In-Between: Madonna, Billy Graham, Axl Rose and a Dog Show, Too."

In summary, Mac preserves the memory of a great stadium which inspired an organization to build a great franchise that became known as "America’s Team." Many other memories survive, to be sure, and for us all, there is always a memory that stands above the rest whether it was a classic high school playoff football game, a Billy Graham Crusade or a famous come-back by former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach. Mac has a drawn a historical time-line, and with each stop, in our minds and hearts, we hear anew the calls from television or radio of some of the most famous moments in Texas Stadium history. As Randy Galloway says on the cover of the book, "Somebody needed to give us the historical memories, and with this book, Mac Engel has captured them all, plus added a fresh perspective."

Q&A with Texas Stadium author Mac Engel

Q: How did you get the opportunity to write this book?

A: After my last book I was kicking around something to do; I wanted to write a longer book. The Romo book was only 28,000 words and took me three weeks to write. I wanted something where I had more room, etc.

One day my wife asked me if I was thinking about another book and I said, "This is going to be the last year of Texas Stadium. Maybe I should do something about that."

The more I thought about it I thought it had some potential. I presented the idea to a publisher, and then my agent and we had the framework for a book.

Q: How was writing this book different from writing the Tony Romo book?

A: Night and day. The Romo thing was meant to be written fast so it would be on the shelves to capitalize on the timing of a good Cowboys' season as well as the holiday shopping season.

I wrote it in three weeks. Basically, the first draft was my last draft.

This book required a great deal amount of research as well as live interviews. I used the Dallas Cowboys library as well as the archives of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald, USA Today, Washington Post, etc.

I interviewed more than 80 people as well for the project, which was the most fun/frustrating.

Unlike the Romo book, which I think required about 8 or 10 interviews, I really wanted to get an broader perspective of this place. So I tried to find as many people as I could.

So I ended up talking to pro players, college players, high school players, the people involved in the building of the place, etc. I think what I came up with was a multi-layered look at the place and was able to learn the impact Texas Stadium had on a wide array of people as well as the landscape of pro sports.

By the end of it, I was able to include just about everything of major importance that happened at Texas Stadium. I look back on it now, of course, and I see where I could have interviewed this person or that person. But I think that is probably the case in nearly any project that includes "live" interviews. There is always going to be one more person the author could have talked to.

Q: Who helped you pick the games and events to include in the book as the "memorable moments?"

A: I had to do a lot of that on my own. The Cowboys games were the "easiest". That was almost a matter of deduction. The college games required some good people at SMU.

Easily the most difficult was the high school section. That required talking to long-time Texas high school followers. There were nearly 700 high school games played there, so I knew I was going to be leaving out a lot of deserving games and moments.

I think, overall, what I wrote is a pretty decent look back at the stadium. It's not perfect by any means. But for fans of the Cowboys and Texas football it's a nice walk down memory lane and a chance to remember Texas Stadium again.

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Published by Ascend Media Books

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Fred Goodwin says:

The complete title of the book is "Texas Stadium: America's Home Field -- Reliving the Legends and the Legendary Moments".

One significant event that was omitted from the book that I thought merited inclusion was the Moscow Dynamo-Dallas Tornado soccer match in 1972. The Soviet team was making its first-ever appearance in the US, and the defending NASL champs played them to a 0-0 tie. It was the first time that "major-league" soccer was played at Texas Stadium. I attended the game, and it was the first time I'd ever seen big-time soccer.

I enjoyed the match, but it didn't spur me to go out and take up soccer.