This story appears in the Sept. 23, 2019, issue of Sports Illustrated. For more great storytelling and in-depth analysis, subscribe to the magazine and get up to 94% off the cover price. Click here for more.
As lunch wraps up, the Cowboys Club, the social space and restaurant in the team’s Frisco, Texas-based headquarters, is humming along in comfortable silence. Transparent fireplaces in the entryway and near the bar flicker, highlighting the dark, hardwood floors. The pillows on the brown and silver custom-made furniture are all fluffed the same way, indented in the center. There’s an aroma of essential oils, and a spa soundtrack plays from ceiling speakers. Olaf Nicolai originals hang on…
