Defense Wins Championships — And Hate Is Winning Something Else | Just Wondering with Norm Hitzges

In this episode of Just Wondering with Norm Hitzges, Norm and Mary Hitzges tackle two heavy but necessary topics: what the Dallas Cowboys should have learned from the Super Bowl — and what America should be learning from the rise of hate in sports.

Norm begins with the numbers.

The Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots built Super Bowl teams around defense and balanced salary cap management. Seattle allowed just 17 points per game. New England allowed 18. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys allowed over 30.

The bigger story? Cap construction.

Dallas’ nine highest-paid players account for $239 million of a $300 million cap, leaving little room for what Norm calls the “middlemen” — the $8–15 million players who build roster depth and championship resilience. By contrast, Seattle and New England distribute money far more evenly, creating flexibility and defensive depth that wins in January.

Norm then shifts to a broader issue: the rise of hate in American sports. From racial chants and religious slurs to recent incidents involving BYU athletes and Oklahoma State fans, Norm questions whether fines and soft punishments are enough — and whether sports can remain a unifying force when hostility keeps escalating.

It’s an episode about accountability — financial accountability in the NFL, and moral accountability in sports culture.

Defense wins championships.

But something else seems to be winning off the field.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Did the Cowboys notice what won the Super Bowl?

02:26 – The stat that won’t go away: 49 of 60 Super Bowls

03:04 – Dallas allowing 30+ points per game

03:49 – $239M for nine players: the Cowboys’ cap problem

05:19 – How Seattle structures its salary cap

06:50 – New England’s middle-tier roster advantage

07:44 – Jerry Jones and the love of star power

08:35 – Former Cowboys thriving elsewhere

09:24 – Sponsor: Bob’s Steak & Chop House

10:18 – Full Moon Healing Balm

11:38 – The rise of hate in America

13:35 – Hate moving into sports arenas

14:18 – BYU chants and Oklahoma State’s response

14:58 – Is $50,000 enough?

15:46 – “On the love-hate scoreboard, hate seems to be winning.”

16:08 – Closing thoughts

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Just Wondering is a long-form sports commentary podcast hosted by longtime broadcaster Norm Hitzges, offering thoughtful, numbers-driven analysis of the NFL, college sports, the NBA, and the business and culture surrounding them. Each episode blends experience, history, and curiosity to explore why things happen — not just what happened.

New episodes feature clear-eyed perspective, context you don’t hear elsewhere, and questions worth sitting with a little longer.

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