NEW YORK (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys are the first American sports franchise worth more than $2 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
The NFL's most valuable team for the sixth consecutive year, the Cowboys saw their overall worth increase 14 percent to $2.1 billion. That's about $1 billion higher than the average NFL team value, $1.11 billion, up 7 percent.
Only Manchester United of the English Premier League, at $2.24 billion, is more valuable than the Cowboys, according to Forbes' surveys. And Man U's owners, the Glazer family, also own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are $1.033 billion, 18th in the NFL.
New TV contracts, the collective bargaining agreement signed last year that will last a decade, and higher premium seating revenue contributed to the increases. Every franchise except the Cincinnati Bengals increased in value; the Bengals stayed the same at $871 million, which ranks 26th overall.
With new stadiums in the works for the Vikings and 49ers, their values skyrocketed. Minnesota had a 22 percent increase to $975 million, while San Francisco moved up 19 percent to $1.175 billion.
Jimmy Haslam III bought the Cleveland Browns this summer for $1 billion, $13 million more than the value Forbes placed on the team, which ranks 21st.
Shahid Khan purchased the Jacksonville Jaguars for $770 million in January. Forbes values them at exactly that — the least valuable franchise in the league, $10 million less than the St. Louis Rams.
Rounding out the top five are New England ($1.635 billion), Washington ($1.6 billion), the New York Giants ($1.468 billion) and Houston ($1.305 billion).
HOUSTON (AP) — Andre Johnson is not a talker.
So when Houston's star receiver stood up and addressed his team on the importance of this season in their meeting Saturday night, the Texans took notice.
And on Sunday with Johnson's words fresh in their minds, Houston took advantage of four turnovers to get a 30-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins in rookie quarterback Ryan Tannehill's NFL debut.
Of course, Houston's most veteran player contributed more than just his motivational speech, finishing with 119 yards receiving and a touchdown for his 39th career 100-yard game.
Arian Foster added two scores to help the Texans get off to a solid start in a season they hope will end in the Super Bowl.
"(He) talked to his teammates about his career and what he wants to get out of his career and what this team means to him," coach Gary Kubiak said of Johnson's message. "I didn't have to say a darn thing after that."
The 31-year-old Johnson is the longest tenured player on the team and began his 10th season with Houston on Sunday. He's coming off an injury-plagued year during which he played a season-low seven games and finished with just 492 yards receiving — the fewest of his career.
"I just told the guys that you never know when it's going to be your last time when you're out on the field," Johnson said. "I told them that I don't know what's going to happen and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to play this game. I was just basically trying to tell them that we have a great opportunity and we have to take advantage of it."
Matt Schaub threw for 266 yards in his first action since fracturing his right foot in Week 10 last year, and announced after the game that he had signed a four-year contract extension that will keep him here through the 2016 season.
Tannehill, the eighth overall pick in this year's draft, threw three interceptions in less than six minutes in the second quarter and the Texans made him pay for each of them.
The Dolphins were up 3-0 before Tannehill's first miscue. Johnathan Joseph made a nifty, juggling interception and returned it 36 yards. An unnecessary roughness penalty on Mike Pouncey gave the ball to the Texans at the 7. But they couldn't get anything going on offense and lost 10 yards before tying it at 3 with a 35-yard field goal by Shayne Graham.
Then J.J. Watt got to work, proving that missing most of camp with a dislocated left elbow didn't slow him one bit. He deflected a pass that Brian Cushing grabbed for another interception on Miami's next drive.
"It's something we work on; we work on it every day in practice," Watt said of knocking down passes at the line. "We do that ball drill. It's something I've been working on since college. I know I have long arms, and you can't get a sack every play so you might as well try to knock the ball around."
Houston's offense finally got rolling after that and the Texans used a 24-yard reception by Johnson on third down to keep the drive going. Foster gave Houston a 10-3 lead on a 14-yard touchdown run.
Watt did it again on Miami's next series, batting another pass by Tannehill, and this one was intercepted by Kareem Jackson. Houston threw to Kevin Walter into the end zone on the next play and Richard Marshall was called for pass interference. That gave the Texans the ball at the 1 and Foster finished it off two plays later with his second score to push the lead to 17-3.
"Anytime you turn the ball over, you can't be happy with yourself, regardless of how they happened," Tannehill said. "It's not good. You can't turn the ball over. You put your defense in a bad situation and ultimately it led to a lot of points for them."
Miami's fourth straight turnover came on the first play of its next drive when Glover Quin forced a fumble by Daniel Thomas that Danieal Manning recovered. Schaub found Johnson in the corner of the end zone three plays later on a 14-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-3 just before halftime.
Reggie Bush had 69 yards rushing and caught six passes for 46 yards for Miami.
Tannehill finished 20 of 36 for 219 yards. He made his professional debut on the same field where he played his last college game, leading Texas A&M to a 33-22 win over Northwestern in the Meineke Car Care Bowl last December.
Marcus Thigpen returned a punt 72 yards for Miami's only touchdown. The Dolphins gained only 275 total yards.
The Dolphins took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter with a 39-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter.
Houston added two field goals in the second half to secure the win.
NOTES: Thomas left the game after his fumble. The team said he had a head injury and Miami coach Joe Philbin said after the game that he didn't have an update on his condition. ... Texans LB Tim Dobbins left with a neck injury. ... The announced attendance was 71,566, the second-largest crowd for a Texans home game. The record crowd is 71,585, set against Pittsburgh last Oct. 2.
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — Ryan Cook was playing against the Dallas Cowboys in the preseason finale only a couple of weeks ago.
Now Cook is a center of attention for the Cowboys, preparing to start in the middle of a restructured offensive front in the second game of the season this Sunday at Seattle. He was already snapping to Tony Romo and making line calls only two series into the season opener.
"He's really proven that he can learn things quickly," coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday. "He did a really good job in the Giants game. We hope he just continues to grow in our system."
After starting all 16 games at center for the Cowboys last season, Phil Costa dealt with back issues in training camp while Bill Nagy and Kevin Kowalski, two other candidates for the job, both sustained ankle injuries. Costa's only preseason action was 12 snaps in the preseason finale against Miami, the same game Cook was playing guard for the Dolphins only two days before being traded to Dallas.
Costa, who won't play against the Seahawks, got through only the first series in the season-opening win at the New York Giants before being sidelined again by his back. In went Cook, who had previously only gotten about 10 snaps with Romo in practice before some quick warmups on the sideline.
"I've been around for a while. I always prepare that way because you never know. You're always one play away," Cook said. "In that instance in the game against the Giants, I was three plays away."
Despite a 24-17 victory in the opener, the Cowboys were far from perfect. Of their 13 penalties, five were false starts and two were for delay of game.
There were plenty of reasons for all the pre-snap miscues. A new center was suddenly thrown into the mix with two new guards, and it was the first game for Dallas since the starting tackles switched sides. It was also at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey against the defending Super Bowl champions and their standout defensive front.
"There are a lot of different reasons you can say this was a factor, that was a factor," Garrett said. "Obviously, when guys have more experience playing next to each other or playing with each other, your chances of success are certainly greater. But we've just got to get it right."
Their next chance comes against Seattle, 11 days after the opener.
"I was fairly comfortable. I still have a long way to go, a lot to learn. That's my sole focus here at this point, is continue to get better and improve every day," Cook said. "Personally, I have to get better and improve. I have to do better at communication and getting everybody on the same page."
Though the Cowboys like Cook's flexibility to play different positions, only one of his 40 starts his first six NFL seasons came at center. That was for Minnesota in 2010, when his other six starts were at right guard. His other 33 starts were at right tackle, including all 16 games in 2007.
Garrett said the team has long had an eye on Cook, a second-round draft pick by Minnesota in 2006 who signed with Miami last year after being released by the Vikings at the end of training camp. The Cowboys' interest became even more urgent with their line situation before this season started.
With the 6-foot-6, 325-pound Cook at center, the Cowboys are bigger in the middle. Costa is listed three inches shorter and 12 pounds lighter.
"A lot of times you target guys around the league, and you just don't have access to him," Garrett said. "We've been talking about him for a couple of years, and a couple of transactions, he went somewhere else or he re-signed with his team, whatever the case has been. We saw an opportunity to get him, to add to the depth of our offensive line with a veteran player who could go in and play at a couple of different spots."
Within 24 hours after getting back to Miami following the preseason finale, Cook was back in Dallas preparing for a season opener.
Now he's right in the middle of everything for the Cowboys offense.
NOTES: CB Mike Jenkins said he definitely will play against the Seahawks, though he didn't know how much or how he would be used. Jenkins didn't play in the opener after missing the entire offseason and all of training camp recovering from shoulder surgery. Garrett said Jenkins has "had some good days and we feel good about it." The coach said playing will depend on how Jenkins responds to practice. ... CB LeQuan Lewis was signed a day after being released from the New York Jets practice squad. The Cowboys expected Lewis to be a special teams contributor.
___
Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
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