If the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl, you’ll have Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band to thank.
Or blame, depending on your team preference.
Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is a Boss fan and he’s using a story from Springsteen’s memoir, “Born to Run,” to teach the Cowboys a lesson on how not to be satisfied with second place.
MORE: Springsteen's 'Born to Run' coming out on paperback
This comes after a 12-4 season which ended with a divisional playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“Have you read the Springsteen book?” said Garrett to Sports Illustrated recently. “He’s 20 years old, everybody at the Jersey Shore loves him, but he’s unknown nationally, and a good friend and adviser tells him, ‘If you really want to be great, you’ve got to get off the Jersey Shore.’ And so they pile everything in a couple vehicles and head west to this sort of open mike night in San Francisco.”
Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. (Photo: Associated Press)
It was Springsteen and Steel Mill, which would later become the E Street Band, with then manager Carl “Tinker” West, who drove cross country and played in a music showcase, which they lost. While Steel Mill were the kings of the Jersey Shore, they had to work ever harder to become the legends they became. So for the Cowboys to become Super Bowl champs, they have to work even harder — as hard as Bruce Springsteen.
The story resonated with Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
“It hit home,” Prescott said. “I felt him on that story. Here’s (Springsteen) and his band, local heroes, and they go west and it doesn’t work for them. That’s like us, winning the division and being local heroes in our city, in our division. That’s not what we want. We want to be worldwide heroes. That’s what we’re playing for this year — something more than the division — and that story reminded us you’ve got to work for it every day.”
“Born to Run” is coming out on paperback in September.
Chris Jordan: cjordan@app.com Published 1:24 p.m. ET Aug. 1, 2017