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According to the Encarta English Dictionary, a bye is "the right to proceed to the next round of a competition without contesting the present round."
As far as the NFL regular-season definition, which has been part of league life for 20 seasons, a bye is basically a week off. During the 1993 campaign, there were actually two of them.
For players and coaches alike, the timing of the bye week goes a long way in determining whether you love it or hate it. Should your team be on a roll, you might actually hate that you have a bye week. However, if the troops are banged up or things haven't gone so well, the bye week can serve as a respite from all that ails you.
No matter how teams are faring heading into the bye, football players tend to be creatures of habit. Any disruption in the regular schedule can often cause havoc. As far as the Cowboys are concerned, history has shown that the bye week has not really been too much of a problem.
The Cowboys' success coming out of their bye week does not bode well for the Atlanta Falcons. Since 1990, Dallas has a 15-5 record following regular-season bye weeks. The Cowboys host the Falcons on Oct. 25 following their Week Six break.
Coming into this year, the Cowboys have only lost the week before the bye four times. The 2002 season is the only time Dallas has lost both the week before and after the bye.
According to safety Pat Watkins, the timing of the bye isn't as important as how the season is going.
"Whether the timing is good or bad really depends on how the weeks go before you go into the bye," Watkins says. "It might be a great time."
The Cowboys' bye week has fallen anywhere from Week Three to Week 13. This is the third time Dallas has had a Week Six bye. Last season the bye was Week 10, in between two rugged NFC East games. Dallas lost to the New York Giants going into the bye then beat Washington after the rest. The earliest the Cowboys have had a bye during the regular season has been Week Three.
Of the NFC East teams, Philadelphia had its bye in Week Four, Washington is off in Week Eight and the Giants take the weekend off in Week 10. As fate would have it, the Redskins and Giants, like Dallas, will return to action against Atlanta following their byes.
"I'd rather have the bye week after Week Five than earlier," says Cowboys long-snapper L.P. Ladouceur. "My second year (2006) we had the bye in Week Three and that was too early. When the bye is that early, you have to turn around and play 14 straight weeks without a break."
Each coach handles the bye week schedule differently. Some of them give the players most of the bye week off. Others like to keep the schedule as close to normal as possible. Under Wade Phillips the Cowboys generally just have the bye weekend off. Players are scheduled to practice two days during the bye week, then they'll have Friday, Saturday and Sunday off before resuming the regular-season schedule.
For some players, though, the bye week is just another week.
"We take it one week at a time no matter what," says kicker Nick Folk. "(Bye week) comes around whenever it comes around."
With a Week Six bye, the Cowboys season is practically split into thirds. Dallas plays five games, then has a bye. After six more games, including the traditional Thanksgiving Day game, there's a 10-day layoff before the final five games.
"We're pretty lucky because we always play on Thanksgiving, so we always have 10 days between games in late November, early December," says Ladouceur. "This year is probably the best for us because we only have five or six games in a row. If a team is playing good football, they don't want to break the momentum. I guess it's the luck of the draw."
The coaching staff lets the Cowboys players know their bye week schedule after Week Two to give them time to make any plans. Some players have families visit, others plan a trip, some just rest. Football may or may not be part of the off weekend.
"If the weather's nice, I'll probably play some golf," says Mat McBriar, who plans on punting very little during the time off. "I'll take the time to recharge. Kickers recover pretty quickly. I'll definitely watch football. If I'm not playing it I love to watch it."
Lineman Cory Procter is keeping his time-off plans pretty simple: "My brother is coming to town, so I'll just hang out with him."
Folk's plans include a sibling as well. He'll be traveling to Arizona to see his younger brother Erik play college football. The younger Folk is the kicker for the University of Washington. The Huskies play Arizona State the week the Cowboys are off. Earlier this season, Erik's 22-yard field goal provided the winning margin in the Huskies' 16-13 upset victory over heavily favored USC.
"Most of the time I try to get away to keep my mind fresh. I won't go far, I'm from (Montreal) Canada but I won't go home," says Ladouceur. "I might watch my college (University of California) team play but other than that I probably won't watch football. I try to get away."
On the other hand, football will be a big part of Watkins' time off. "I'll definitely watch football because I love it. I watch it religiously."
Of course, if things work out the way the Cowboys would like them to, the end of the regular season will be followed by another bye week heading into the divisional playoffs. That bye week goes to the top two seeds in each conference. Dallas has had the postseason bye five times since 1990. The Cowboys won the Super Bowl in 1992, '93 and '95, lost the NFC Championship game in 1994 and lost to the eventual champion New York Giants following the 2007 season.
There are those that may argue the bye weeks have little to do with football and everything to do with offering the league another week of games to enhance the television network coverage. Less than two weeks after former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue first announced the plan to add regular-season bye weeks in February 1990, the league agreed to a new four-year television agreement for $3.6 billion, which was the most lucrative in league history at the time.
Nineteen years later, current NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is pushing for an 18-game regular season, which could mean two less preseason games. It could also mean teams will have two regular-season byes.
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