The Dallas Cowboys had a disastrous home game at AT&T Stadium on Thursday, losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by an eight-point margin. The 24-16 loss had fans booing the team from the stands, and players weren’t the only ones catching flak. Their partners weren’t exempt from the criticism either.
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Cowboys tight end Jake Ferguson’s wife, social media influencer and former college basketball player Haley Cavinder, was one such personality who was called out by fans, especially for her outfit choice.
Cavinder attended the Cowboys game dressed in the team’s colors on Thursday. She wore a navy blue long-sleeve V-neck crop top with a front-twist detail, paired with a denim bag and wide denim jeans with fur down the seams on either side. But what made the outfit stand out was the message on the back of the jeans.
“Kiss my Dallas,” the detailing on the back of Cavinder’s jeans said, according to a video posted on her Instagram account.
The video showed her standing at the sidelines as Ferguson jogged up to her, helmet in hand. The tight end gave her a kiss and a hug before jogging away again.
But in the wake of the Cowboys’ abysmal performance, fans did not react well to Cavinder’s outfit, believing it to be too distracting, especially for Ferguson, who recorded just 3 receptions on 6 targets for 19 yards against Tampa Bay.
The otherwise reliable tight end became a talking point after a crucial drop that led to an interception. The Cowboys were already in Tampa Bay’s territory. But Ferguson couldn’t grasp a pass fired at him by QB Dak Prescott, which caused the ball to bounce off him and land in the hands of linebacker Alex Anzalone.
The turnover was so disappointing and infuriating that even team owner Jerry Jones couldn’t hide his frustration. He was seen slamming the ledge in his VIP suite after the play.
The comments under Cavinder’s post had nothing but criticism directed at Ferguson, particularly for those costly drops.
“Hey, next time he runs up to you like that tell him to catch the damn ball,” one irate fan posted on Cavinder’s post.
“Work with our boy cause those drops cost us 🤦🏻♂️”
“Caught you but can’t catch a pass 🤣🤣”
“You and him get off my field.”
“Better divorce now when he still has money cause this was his last game.”
Be it her outfit, her social media videos, or even Ferguson’s romantic gesture, disappointed fans found something to be mad about.
Prescott, though disappointed after the terrible loss, still stood by Ferguson despite his troubling performance.
“To Jake, it’s just unfortunate,” he said after the game, via Dallas Morning News’ Joseph Hoyt. “He makes those plays and for him not to, and then that turned into a turnover in such a critical moment. I know he’s beating himself up. So for me, it’s just support him, make sure he knows how much I believe in him and love him and can only imagine… I know how I feel, so I can only imagine how he feels.”