NFL news: Cowboys’ Brian Schottenheimer says owl invaded his living room

Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer had an unexpected visitor at his house on Thursday. 

Schottenheimer, 52, found an owl flying around his living room. 

“I’m in game-plan meetings last night doing some red zone stuff, and I leave the meeting about 10 o’clock. Amd I go back to my phone, and I literally had 72 text messages on my phone. Seventy-two. I’m a popular guy, so that’s nothing abnormal,” Schottenheimer told reporters on Friday. 

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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer before a game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, Colo., Oct. 26, 2025. (Ron Chenoy/Imagn Images)

“But it literally started with a text from my son to his mother saying, ‘Umm, there’s a big hawk-sized bird in here,’ and I began to look down, and there was an owl.”

The Cowboys head coach called his niece and soon-to-be nephew for assistance with the owl, but they got nowhere. 

“We’re not very outdoorsy people, and so he wasn’t really quite sure what to do. So, he called my soon-to-be nephew, who’s marrying my niece, and the two of them together, Frick and Frack, tried to figure it out. They couldn’t do it. All they did was piss it off. And, so, in typical coaching fashion, I called my wife, and I said, ‘Honey, I’m going to stay at the condo tonight, you got this,'” Schottenheimer said. 

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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer before game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Oct. 19, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)

Eventually, animal control was called, and the owl was removed. 

“The owl has been returned to its safe domain. … They called animal control. A gentleman came with a net, like a pool net. I might have to look at that as another job. Just kinda become an animal control guy. I’m so experienced now with wildlife in and around Dallas,” Schottenheimer said. 

The owl was not the first encounter Schottenheimer has had with wildlife this season. Prior to the team’s first win of the season over the New York Giants in Week 2, he ran into an issue with snakes. 

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Dallas Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer during the third quarter of a game against the Washington Commanders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Oct. 19, 2025. (Kevin Jairaj/Imagn Images)

Two of his dogs were bitten by snakes earlier that week, but it turned into a Cowboys win. Schottenheimer called the owl a “good omen” and said he would be willing to keep an elephant in his garage if it meant a win for the Cowboys. 

The Cowboys are 3-4-1 and take on the Arizona Cardinals (2-5) Monday at 8:15 p.m. ET. 

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