Bounty Bowl
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Bounty Bowl, the infamous NFL Thanksgiving Day game in Dallas when the Philadelphia Eagles supposedly put a $200 bounty on Dallas Cowboys kicker Luis Zendejas, cut by Philadelphia earlier that season.
On November 23, 1989 Philadelphia Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan found himself at the center of yet another controversy. The Eagles put on a 27-0 whitewashing of Dallas that was not merely the worst defeat ever suffered by Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, but the only shutout it's ever suffered on the holiday. During the lopsided game, vitriol came to the surface from time to time on the field as the rivals got into several skirmishes; most notably when Dallas placekicker Luis Zendajas left the game with a concussion following a hard tackle by linebacker Jesse Small after a kickoff.
Following the game, Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson alleged that Ryan had taken out a "bounty" on two of his players, then-current Dallas (and former Philadelphia) kicker Luis Zendejas and quarterback Troy Aikman. Johnson said "I have absolutely no respect for the way they played the game, I would have said something to Buddy, but he wouldn't stand on the field long enough. He put his big, fat rear end into the dressing room."
Zendejas was still with the Eagles when one player received $200 - $100 each for hits on a punter and kicker. Which is why Zendejas and his coach Jimmy Johnson were vocal that the Eagles had a $200 hit on him.
Buddy Ryan responded to Johnson's accusations with his typical charismatic bravado. "I resent that," Ryan retorted a day later. "I've been on a diet, lost a couple of pounds. I thought I was looking good."
This seemingly theatrical series of events set the stage for the scheduled rematch two weeks later in Philadelphia which understandably has been termed "Bounty Bowl II".
