Tribute to the Gate 6 Tailgaters

TRIBUTE to the GATE 6 TAILGATERS

It’s 6:30 am on a cool winter morning in Dallas. Steve Naylor pulls into the empty Texas Stadium parking lot where not even one employee can be found as that day’s game isn’t until 7:15pm. He gets out of his truck and lines up cones around 14 parking spots directly in front of Gate 6 before getting back in his truck to leave. He and his wife Janie return around noon to begin setting up. It is bittersweet, the last game in Texas Stadium and thus the last time they will tailgate in the parking lot. Steve and Janie unofficially founded the best tailgating group at Texas Stadium in 1995. They along with another couple just began tailgating and never stopped.

The Gate 6 Tailgaters draw one of the largest crowds during pre-game festivities as they eat, drink, play games and watch TV while waiting for their Cowboys to take the field. The atmosphere is always fun and exciting at Gate 6. “You never know what’s going to happen…the excitement alone keeps you coming back,” says Steve. He definitely knows all about excitement. Steve can be found tailgating at divisional opponent games wearing homemade t-shirts that aren’t very kind to the opposing team to say the least. He adds injury to insult by engaging in friendly taunting sessions with fans from the opposing team as they pass his small PA system setup. You can seldom find Janie sitting down as she’s back and forth between their Brinkman Smoker/Fish Fryer combo grill, coolers of beer and meat from the back of their SUV. Steve and Janie only cook a small portion of the food served at Gate 6. Roger & Kitty Ballinger are the resident food gurus of the crew. Their 6 foot outdoor custom built Bakers & Chef smoker on a tandem axel trailer is a sight to see. Roger isn’t hard to find as he’s always glued to the grill wearing a Rodeo King cowboy hat and boots, earning him the nickname “Roger Cowboy.” His wife Kitty is known for her textbook southern hospitality as she’ll never let your plate get too empty before urging you to get seconds. The food at Gate 6 is not always your normal tailgating burgers and brats. During the 2008 season Roger and Kitty served Fried Catfish and hushpuppies, fajitas, steak, pork chops and a crowd favorite, traditional turkey and dressing for the Thanksgiving day game (over 200 people lined up for the Gate 6 family meal). No tailgate party at Gate 6 is complete without the resident rebel rouser. Stan “Tiger” Shultz gives new meaning to the word fanatic. Destined to be a Cowboys fan, Tiger was born the same year the Cowboys were founded in 1960. Also, an early member of the Gate 6 Tailgaters, Tiger remembers meeting Steve and Janie at one of their tailgates in the 1990s and the rest is history as they’ve been tailgating together ever since. Tiger is most known for the pep talk and Cowboys cheer he leads 30 minutes before each home game. You would never imagine such a big voice from this mild mannered guy. Standing in the bed of Roger’s pickup, Tiger yells a fiery pre game motivational speech always optimistic for a Cowboys win. Newcomers often get nervous as a large vein bulges from the side of Tiger’s head while his face turns beet red as the crowd surrounding him screams. His wife Barrie jokes that if one day his head does explode that he would die doing what he loves most, cheering on the Cowboys. Such a fan is Tiger that his youngest child was named after his two favorite Cowboys. Meredith Landry Shultz can often be found standing in front of her father as he rallies the troops!!

Stay tuned …as a new era begins for the Gate 6 Tailgaters at the New Cowboys Stadium.