RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Here at WFAA, we like to keep an eye out for "cat on the field" stories during big sporting events, like Cowboys games. You know, the type of story that doesn't really have anything to do with the game itself -- but a moment that everyone will be talking about.
Except one time it actually happened that way. A "cat on the field" story was, quite literally, a cat on the field.
Yes, a Dallas Cowboys game -- on Monday Night Football, no less -- was interrupted by a black cat running across the field.
I'll spare you any puns and get to it: The night was Nov. 4, 2019, and the Cowboys were playing the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the same site and matchup for the Cowboys' game Thursday night.
Leading the Cowboys 9-3 in the second quarter, the Giants completed a pass over the middle for a first down. Tight end Evan Engram barely made it through a brief celebration before a black cat stole the show.
"There is a black cat now on the field," the ESPN announcer said.
With the Giants in Cowboys territory, the cat trotted out to around midfield, then darted back the opposite direction from the players. The feline appeared to be heading for the endzone when it stopped inside the 10-yard-line and soaked in the moment.
A few more steps, then another pause. And again one more time. Finally, the cat made it across the goal line and sprinted around the end zone.
Here's the video. And maybe even better, here's Kevin Harlan's fantastic radio call:
Stadium crews eventually escorted the cat away, but not before it became the moment of the night.
No one probably remembers the Cowboys actually came back and won that game, one of the last gasps of the Jason Garrett era in Dallas.
Leave it to the Cowboys to encounter a black cat and have good luck, instead of bad.
