The Dallas Cowboys amazing 13-3 regular season gave them a first round bye and the right to host the NFL Divisional round game at AT&T Stadium.
Following the Wild Card round, the Cowboys knew their opponent would be the Green Bay Packers, led by Aaron Rodgers. While this week's game would be the biggest Cowboys game in the history of AT&T Stadium, Rodgers actually won the biggest game in the stadium's history with the Packers' Super Bowl XLV win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011.
As the excitement around North Texas reached a fever pitch among Cowboys fans, the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers presented by Miller Lite, the NFL's first and only co-ed hip hop professional dance team in the NFL, were at the epicenter of the action.
The Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers have reached such heights of popularity that they are in high demand for television and sponsor appearances throughout the year.
Thursday morning, the DCRB were featured on WFAA's Good Morning Texas, where they performed a routine and talked about the upcoming playoff game as well as how an aspiring DCRB dancer can make the team.
Friday, American Airlines brought the DCRB out to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport to meet and greet many of the fans who were flying in for the playoff weekend.
DCRB Dancers Deanna and Marcus rode around with Rowdy on a golf cart, stopping to take photos and hand out Dallas Cowboys towels to fans in the airport restaurants and terminals.
The Dallas Cowboys Club, a full-service dining venue by global restaurateur HMSHost inside Terminal A, was a popular spot that day.
"People were really excited to see us at the Dallas Cowboys Club," Deanna said. "The energy felt like a game day as people were cheering and wanting pictures with us."
Game day arrived and with the Cowboys kickoff set for 3:40 p.m., the DCRB arrived at AT&T Stadium shortly after 11 a.m. to prepare for their day. Since the DCRB performs pre-game outdoors on the stadium's two plaza areas, the added adversity of inclement weather came into play.
The stage on the Miller Lite Plaza is covered, so while it was a gloomy afternoon, the DCRB were able to put on a show for the thousands of fans who arrived early in anticipation of the big game. Since the east plaza's stage is open air, the DCRB performed those scheduled dances inside on the stadium's Miller Lite Landing.
93,396 fans were in attendance for the game and most of them arrived extremely early. The DCRB had to go through different doors to get out to the Miller Lite Plaza stage due to the enormity of the crowd and their performance upstairs on the Miller Lite Landing saw the dancers and the DCRB Drumline engulfed by fans from every direction.
The game was an instant classic as Dallas fell down 21-3, only to claw their way back and eventually tie the game at 28-28. However, it was not meant to be and the Cowboys storybook season would come to an abrupt ending as Packers kicker Mason Crosby's field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired, giving Green Bay a 34-31 win over Dallas and advancing them to the NFC Championship against the Atlanta Falcons.
The atmosphere inside AT&T Stadium was beyond electric and while there were undoubtedly many tears shed, one of the highlights of this year's team is its youth highlighted by rookies Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott and the potential that they will be back on this stage sooner rather than later.
As for the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers, this was the final game for this particular group.
"The team is different every year," Deanna said. "For some of the people on this team, when the game ended, that was it. It's not like 'we can't wait until next year, it was like this is it.' Literally, it was just over. We were supposed to have practice on Monday and now we don't."
For those who are interested in auditioning for the 2017-18 Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue Dancers, they are currently offering prep classes on Mondays at 7 p.m. for the auditions that will be in April. For updates on auditions and prep classes, follow the DCRB on Facebook.com/DallasCowboysRhythmandBlue.
While this season has now officially one for the books, this is not goodbye from the Dallas Cowboys Rhythm & Blue, but "see you soon."
