How the Cowboys-Yellowstone crossover schedule release video became a reality

Taylor Sheridan is a fan.

The co-creator of Yellowstone and its burgeoning television universe remembers the day Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson walked into town. He attended the majority of the Cowboys games at AT&T Stadium this past season, many of them as a guest in the Jones family suite.

So when he got the call to gauge his interest in being an integral part of the team’s schedule release video, it wasn’t a hard sell.

“I’m dropping everything,” he told Charlotte Jones, his friend of close to 20 years. “I’ll be right up.”

The shoot took place at The Star over several days earlier this month. The concept and script was written by the Cowboys content and video department. Sheridan, who received an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay for the movie Hell or High Water, punched it up with a few of his own touches.

The premise: The script for the upcoming season of Yellowstone gets sent to Jerry Jones by mistake while the Cowboys schedule for the 2023 season winds up in the hands of Sheridan. In setting up the exchange, Jones suggests that Sheridan hold auditions for his show while at The Star.

The six-minute video shows the casting call for current and former players. Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin lobby for Sheridan to do another spinoff, in the vein of 1883 and 1923, that focuses on 1993 and the Cowboys quest for treasure.

“It was a natural fit," said Charlotte Jones, the team’s executive vice president and chief brand officer.

The Cowboys’ influence on popular culture extends beyond its competitive place in the NFL at any given moment. The world’s most valuable sports franchise has a platform and reach other NFL teams don’t enjoy. It impacts the scope of their projects.

“I think we certainly recognize that," Charlotte Jones said. “It speaks to the interest and the relevance. I do think we have embraced that, our part and our place.

“We also treat that very carefully. You’ve got to do that the right way or you can hurt yourself as much as help yourself. You’ve got to make sure what you do feels right and is truly authentic.”

Two franchises in Yellowstone and the Cowboys that capture the mystique of the west and are part of the current conversation — this was authentic.

This was a crossover event.

“I mean, I’m a big Yellowstone fan,” said tight end Jake Ferguson, who was part of the video. “Getting in that scene was pretty awesome. Maybe I’ll get in an episode.

“We’ll see."

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