Bounty Bowl
The Bounty Bowl was the name given to two NFL games held in 1989 between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. The first, a 1989 Thanksgiving Day game in Dallas, was noted for allegations that the Eagles put a $200 bounty on Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas, who had been cut by Philadelphia earlier that season. The second was a rematch held two weeks later in Philadelphia. The Eagles, who were heavy favorites to win both games, swept the series. Bounty Bowl I: The 1989 Thanksgiving Classic The Cowboys/Eagles rivalry had been increasingly heated since the 1986 season, with Buddy Ryan arriving as the Eagles' head coach; the next year, during the NFL players' strike, the Cowboys (who were playing with a number of players that crossed picket lines) routed an Eagles squad filled with replacement players; Ryan, believing that the Cowboys had run up the score in poor form, responded in kind in the second game when the strike was over. After the 1988 season, the Cowboys were sold to Jerry Jones, who proceeded to gut the team and fire longtime head coach Tom Landry in preparation for rebuilding. On November 23, 1989, the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Dallas Cowboys