In the NFL, it's rarely good practice to count your chickens before they hatch. But sometimes, confidence - or even overconfidence - can be the ultimate key to victory.
The Dallas Cowboys, in a truly stunning bit of pre-season projection, were apparently so certain that they'd make their way to the playoffs this year - despite owner Jerry Jones' early season musing to the media that the team very well might not find themselves playing meaningful December football - that they included a sheet of playoff tickets in the packages they distributed to their season-ticket holders in August.
"It's a convenience for our season-ticket holders to have everything in one package," said Brett Daniels, the Cowboys director of corporate communications, at the time, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. "It's an evolution to be fan-friendly. They have their tickets online and if we clinch a playoff berth they go to the computer and click they want the tickets."
Prior to this season, the Cowboys finished with a record of 8-8 for three straight years and missed the playoffs altogether the past four.
Now, having finished the 2014-15 season with a record of 12-4, the NFC East Division title and preparing to play the Detroit Lions in a Wild Card playoff matchup this Sunday, Jones and the Cowboys are looking less like over-confident fools and more like clairvoyants.
Brian Lafemina, the Cowboys senior vice president of club business development, said that Dallas is the only team in the league to pre-print and distribute playoff tickets, but that it's a practice he expects other teams to adopt in the near future.
"It's operationally efficient for the teams, and it's convenient for the fan," Lafemina said. "There are times when teams don't know if they are hosting a playoff game until a week before, and doing this helps eliminate some of the friction that exists among the teams and fans. This dovetails nicely with our new policy. If a fan says they will pay if a game is played, the team can now charge that fan and the ticket is already in hand."
Operationally efficient or not, this was a bold move by a bold, boisterous owner and his equally as bold NFL franchise.
It paid off this year - we'll see if it continues to pay off in the future.
