Apparently, I write enough about sports, the things that happen within sports because the fates shine on some players. America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys is more about human design and what men allow on the field. For example, what 90s era Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tory Aikman allows, knowing when to play or rest. That insight, among other things, led to victories against the Cowboys’ rivals like the San Francisco 49ers.

Coach Jimmy Johnson and owner Jerry Jones were new to Dallas but won a city that initially disliked them. They did that by piecing together a team that, despite rough beginnings, did what fans asked of them and won Superbowls. Even replacing tough Johnson with Barry Switzer’s fatherly approach still got the team that third Superbowl win. But not for long, as an internal culture of greed, crime, and infighting, leads to the Cowboys’ inescapable downfall.

This docuseries comes to viewers via the Way Brothers and Netflix but we all know why we’re in here. Another Netflix release, America’s Sweethearts, is a critique of Jerry Jones and his deep, stingy pockets. This docuseries doesn’t say the opposite but paints a more understandably nuanced portrait of the team owner. America’s Team shows the side of him that loves football like his friend and eventual enemy Jimmy Johnson does.

As a football agnostic, America’s Team will have things and people I will like and dislike for reasons outside of football. The retro needle drops here are great, and somehow archive footage of 90s era Ed O’Neill makes sense here. But again, this is a docuseries about a rich man, and rich men will have evil friends, becoming evil by association. What I mean is that this docuseries has its share of jump scares like George Bush and Foxcorp’s Rupert Murdoch.

Thankfully, not all the men in America’s Team are bad but it depends on one’s moral perceptions on who’s good or bad. Again, this docuseries is all about nuance about people who were once news items, victims of some journalists. One of those people is Barry Switzer, who some frame as bad but I consider him a good coach and person. He’s ‘too nice,’ but checking up on one’s players, especially the ‘difficult’ ones, shows his progressiveness.

America’s Team has a decent mix of what’s been in these docuseries regularly – news archives and sit down interviews. Some of these interviews are, again, jump scares like Skip Bayless, but he has emotional insight on Dallas’ downfall. I’m by default a Bills fan, and Dallas was an ‘evil empire’ the way the Pats and the Chiefs were and are now that I follow football – ish. But there’s a distinct sadness in watching an adversary not being as formidable as they were once before.

Netflix is the only platform where you can stream America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys.