The rise of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1990s was too significant to ignore. So, the story behind it was worth telling for the longtime fans and those who joined the journey along the way.

In August 2025, the eight-part series America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, which involves the untold story of GM Jerry Jones, released.

The series has now earned multiple nominations for the 2026 Sports Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Sports Documentary Series. In 2025, it earned a Critics' Choice Documentary Awards nomination for Best Sports Documentary.

Now, the 47th annual Sports Emmy Awards have nominated the docuseries for Outstanding Sports Documentary Series, Outstanding Sports Camera Work (Long Form), Outstanding Sports Editing (Long Form), and Outstanding Sports Open/Tease.

America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys include interviews with the Cowboys' Legends QB Troy Aikman, WR Michael Irvin, and RB Emmitt Smith. They were behind three Super Bowl wins in the 1990s, ending a 15-year drought.

To tell the Cowboys’ story, former U.S. President George W. Bush and Nike co-founder and former CEO Phil Knight also joined the docuseries directed by Chapman and Maclain Way.

At the blue carpet premiere, held in Hollywood, California, Jones said, “It's really impressive. For me, really to end up with a story we've had of our success, it was a close call. No matter how you make it, it was really close all the way through.”

Who Else Is Nominated Alongside Jerry Jones and Co. in the NFL?

The National Football League has earned 32 nominations at the Sports Emmy Awards for its work. Of those, 23 nominations went to NFL Films, the most in the company’s 63-year history.

For Outstanding Sports Camera Work (Long Form), America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys is accompanied by Raise the Flags: 50 Years of Buccaneers Football and Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Buffalo Bills. 

Also, for Outstanding Sports Editing (Long Form), the Cowboys docuseries is accompanied by Saquon and WWE: Unreal.

Not just these, but films like Short for The Arctic Challenge, Quarterback, and The Superdome at 50 are also nominated. NFL Game Day All Access, for a 5th consecutive year, has earned a nomination in the Outstanding Edited Sports Event Coverage.

Tune in Tuesday, May 26, for the Sports Emmy Awards Ceremony. It is being held at the Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall.

You can read more at the Dallas Cowboys Community!

Written by

Monika Khatai

Edited by

Kalp Thaker