Friday, December 16, 2011 – 12:08pm

TYLER —
Before there were Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, there were Apache Belles.

During the 1960s, the Tyler Junior College Apache Belles performed as the official half-time entertainment of the Dallas Cowboys franchise. The Belles performed not only at home games but also traveled to away games in Buffalo, New Orleans and California.

When the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders were established, the Apache Belles shifted their focus to local sports but were still invited to take the field at Texas Stadium on occasion. Many Apache Belles have gone on to become Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

On Christmas Eve, the Apache Belles will perform for the first time in the new Cowboys Stadium and present a pre-game show for those attending the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles game. They will showcase their dazzling high kicks and sharp pom precision in a Christmas show while proudly sporting their traditional black and gold uniforms and trademark white hats and boots.

“It is always an honor to entertain the NFL fans,” said Apache Belles Interim Director Jasilyn Schaefer, “especially America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys.”

The Apache Belles have spent much of the holiday season on the road.

“This will definitely be a season to remember for the 64th and 65th lines of the Apache Belles.” Schaefer said. “They will be spending all major holidays together performing.”

On Thanksgiving Day, the group performed for the Houston Holiday Parade; and Christmas Eve will be spent in Cowboys Stadium.

On Dec. 29, the Apache Belles leave for Florida, where they will perform on New Year’s Day for another NFL game as the Miami Dolphins take on the New York Jets at Sun Life Stadium. The Apache Belles and the Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders will team up to present a special half-time show. On Jan. 2, the Apache Belles will be featured performers at the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla., where the Nebraska Cornhuskers will play against the South Carolina Gamecocks. Kickoff is at noon and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

For more information on the TJC Apache Belles, go to www.apachebelles.com, or find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/apachebelles.

Information from TJC

December 15, 2011 – United Football League (UFL)
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Thursday, December 15, 2011 – Quarterback CHRIS GREISEN, who led the Virginia Destroyers to victory in the 2011 United Football League Championship Game, has rejoined the Dallas Cowboys.

Greisen, who also reached the 2010 UFL Championship Game as the starting quarterback for the Florida Tuskers, spent time on the Cowboys roster during the 2010 season and has signed to the NFL club’s practice squad following a season-ending injury to Jon Kitna.

“It’s always cool when an NFL team calls you up and says we want you to play for our team,” Greisen told his hometown Green Bay Press Gazette. “It’s the highest level of football, and one of the marquee franchises in the league.”

Greisen completed 61 of 87 pass attempts for 695 yards, 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in four games for the Virginia Destroyers in 2011. In the 17-3 Championship Game victory over the Las Vegas Locos he completed 21 of 31 passes for 154 yards.

“Chris Greisen has all the qualities that are important to a team, especially leadership,” said Destroyers head coach MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER. “Chris has an instinct for the game that jumped right out at me.”

Prior to signing with the Cowboys on December 27, 2010, he connected on 58 of 84 pass attempts for 664 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions for the Florida Tuskers. Having won the starting job under center, he passed for 346 yards and rushed for two touchdowns in a 23-20 defeat to the Las Vegas Locos in the 2010 UFL Championship Game.

Greisen joins JOSH MCCOWN (Chicago Bears / Hartford Colonials 2010), RICHARD BARTEL (Arizona Cardinals / Sacramento Mountain Lions 2010), JEFF GARCIA (Houston Texans / Omaha Nighthawks 2010) and 2009 UFL Championship Game winner J.P. LOSMAN (Miami Dolphins / Las Vegas Locos 2009) among former UFL quarterbacks currently with NFL clubs.

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• UFL Champion QB Rejoins Dallas Cowboys – UFL

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Melissa Kellerman’s Twitter account has been reactivated, but is now locked, after reports said the team forced her to delete her account after the Cowboys 20-19 win over the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving.

Kellerman was accidentally tackled by Cowboys tight end Jason Witten, who ran out of bounds trying to avoid a tackler after catching a pass. The cheerleader tweeted twice about the incident the next day.

“Nothing hurtin’ today, like some of y’all thought I would be! Our TE isn’t as tough as he looks…That or I’m WAY tougher than I look,” said the first tweet.

“I’m not the best at Jason Witten trust falls,” said the other.

That same day, CNBC’s Darren Rovell reported that Kellerman tripled her followers since getting tackled, and the next day, he reported that the Cowboys were not allowing her to answer interview questions.

Then, Rovell reported that the Cowboys forced the 22-year-old to get rid of her account.

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“Shame on the Cowboys for pulling cheerleader @MelissaRae off Twitter,” he tweeted. “Not allowing these girls to capitalize is criminal.”

CBS reported that the team’s Vice President of Public Relations & Communications Rich Dalrymple had nothing to do with deleting Kellerman’s account.

“The Dallas Cowboys Football Club did not [delete],” said Dalrymple. “We don’t get involved in administering twitter accounts.”

CBS also reported that Kellerman’s account reactivated on Monday, in which the cheerleader seemingly validated Dalrymple’s statement.

“Cowboys did not “force” me to deactivate,” Kellerman said. “I chose to spend the Thanksgiving wknd with my family….& not my twitter account.”

Kellerman’s account, which is now locked, now has over 3,300 followers,

Watch the video of the popular tackle below.

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The Dallas Cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins on Thanksgiving Day and find themselves now all alone in first place in the NFC East. With the Arizona Cardinals on the schedule, it looks like they will remain in that position when they host the New York Giants on Dec. 11. With the NFC East suddenly in the Cowboys’ hands, here is a look at their opposition within their own conference.

New York Giants

What has happened to the New York Giants? They began the year on a tear. They started off with a 6-2 record and looked to be coasting to the NFC East title. However, this is the New York Giants we are talking about and have always had the propensity to choke in the NFC East race. It is also interesting that two of their early losses were to Washington and Seattle, two teams that Dallas beat pretty soundly.

People like to talk about how Dallas is playing an easy schedule now and that contributed to them taking this lead. However, during the 6-2 start, New York beat St. Louis, Arizona, Philadelphia, Buffalo and Miami. Does that sound familiar to a certain Cowboys’ franchise? Yes, the Giants beat New England, but since then, they have lost three in a row, including to San Francisco, who Dallas also beat this season. Next up is Green Bay and Dallas should have a two-game lead when the Giants come to town.

Philadelphia Eagles

Remember when the season started and everyone called Philadelphia the 2011 Dream Team? Everyone compared them to the Miami Heat. But then, they beat St. Louis is Week 1 and dropped four in a row. When they beat up Dallas on Oct. 30, it looked like they were about to rebound into the NFC East race. It didn’t happen as they lost three of the next four games.

However, don’t count Philadelphia out yet. They are three games out of the NFC East, and if Dallas chokes down the stretch, the Eagles have a tiebreaker over them right now. Their next three games are against Seattle, Miami and the Jets, so they could easily win those three heading into their next game with Dallas. Could the Eagles race back? Stranger things have happened.

Washington Redskins

Norv Turner. Marty Schottenheimer. Steve Spurrier. Joe Gibbs(notes). Jim Zorn. Mike Shanahan. Three of those names were extremely successful earlier in their career. Another had greatest success after leaving. Another was a college legend. The other used to be a quarterback. None of them have been able to win since Daniel Snyder bought the Washington Redskins. They have been to the playoffs three times since he took over ownership and this will be another disappointing season for the Redskins

Author Shawn S. Lealos has followed the Dallas Cowboys since he was a child, his favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s. Through the great years of the ’90s and the hard times of the ’80s, Shawn never turned his back on America’s Team.

Source: Dallas Cowboys

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Dallas Cowboys cheerleader Melissa Kellerman got quite a surprise during the Thanksgiving game against the Miami Dolphins when the Cowboys’ tight end Jason Witten collided with her after he caught a pass from Tony Romo.

Later, Kellerman took to her twitter account to reassure Cowboys fans that despite her unexpected moment in the spotlight — her shock was apparent in replays — she was just fine.

“Not hurtin’ today, like some of y’all thought I would be! Our TE isn’t as tough as he looks… That or I’m WAY tougher than I look,” she wrote the next day, adding a winking emoticon. Later, she added, “I’m not the best at Jason Witten trust falls.” With another emoticon for good measure, of course.

That night, Kellerman’s twitter account was deleted.

Which, of course (??) spurred lots of media coverage and an investigation. Because her Twitter is apparently super important to tons of people.

CNBC’s Darren Rovell reported that the Dallas Cowboys administration forced Kellerman to delete her Twitter. “Shame on the Cowboys for pulling cheerleader @MelissaRae off Twitter,” he tweeted. “Not allowing these girls to capitalize is criminal.”

Huh? The Cowboys, in turn, denied meddling in Kellerman’s online life. “The Dallas Cowboys Football Club did not.  We don’t get involved in administering twitter accounts,” the team’s VP of PR told CBS.

Kellerman’s Twitter is now back online.

The mystery remains, however, because it’s locked. All we can see now is her bio, which, for the record, states: “22-ish. Wears white cowboy boots and stars to work. Bridesmaid x2. Chapstick addict. Enjoys romantic walks to the fridge.”

Story developing. Obviously. Because it’s very important.