Surprise cameo: KRBC anchor David Bacon appears in Cowboys doc

BIG COUNTRY, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – KRBC anchor David Bacon may be a familiar face on TV, but recently, he was surprised to see his own face pop up in an unexpected place: the new Cowboys documentary on Netflix.

“I’ll say this in defense of Jerry Jones, and I’ve been saying this for years. He is a great businessman. I think Jones is a great owner. He’s willing to spend, wants to spend. He can go to sleep making money,” Bacon shared. “He’s a great owner, but a lousy General Manager, and that’s always been the lightning rod for the criticism that guy has received for years.”

For more than 20 years, Bacon served as KTAB’s sports director, covering every Dallas Cowboys season before Silver Star Nation existed. Back then, if you wanted local coverage, you had to get it yourself.

“I do remember 1985, they beat the New York Giants at Texas Stadium to clinch the NFC Eastern Division title, and I’ll always remember the gleam that was in Tom Landry’s eye after that game, in the post game locker room interviews, there was a special joy there, because he later talked about that ’85 team really was not very good, and somehow they managed to stitch together enough victories to get into the playoffs. They lost in the first round, but at least they got there,” Bacon recalled.

He also remembers when Jerry Jones fired the legendary Landry, a decision fans still talk about decades later.

“Jerry Jones took the fall for that. Jerry Jones made it clear from the start that if he bought the team and he told Bum Bright, I’m going to bring in my own coach. Well, Bum didn’t tell anybody that,” Bacon shared. “Jones took the fall and fell on the sword, the sword for firing Tom Landry, but it was Bum Bright who was going to get rid of him anyway. Johnson had a swagger to him. He knew what he was doing.”

That swagger brought the Cowboys back to dominance, with Jimmy Johnson leading them to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.

“It’s pretty impressive. He knew what he was doing, and you could tell that. I got to go to two Super Bowls, covered Super Bowl 28 when the Cowboys beat the Buffalo Bills at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta,” Bacon recalled.

He remembers one surreal moment from that game, when he and longtime KTAB colleague Clemente Morales scrambled for content for the 10:00 p.m. news. Just after checking into their hotel, they ran into Van Miller, the legendary radio voice of the Bills.

“I said, Look, my news director wants something back for the 10 O’Clock News. We don’t have anything; we just got here. Could I interview you about the Buffalo Bills and the upcoming Super Bowl game? And he said, I’d be happy to do that for you,” Bacon shared. “He said, If you’ve done research in the Super Bowl, if a running back runs for X number of yards, then that team wins 90% of the time.”

Later, on the sidelines, Bacon had the perfect view when James Washington recovered a fumble and tied the game in the third quarter.

“Our vantage point couldn’t have been better for that pivotal third quarter,” Bacon shared.

But while watching the new Cowboys special years later, Bacon was stunned to find himself unexpectedly featured.

“I’m sitting on the couch watching the special, enjoying the replay of James Washington recovering that fumble, returning it for the touchdown, and from the angle they’re showing it, I’m going, That’s me and my wife. Wait, what? So we stopped, replayed it in freeze frame, and there I am,” Bacon shared. “It’s pretty cool. It was totally unexpected, but I’m younger, so there I am.”