The Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium, which originally cost $1.3 billion to build, remains one of the very best amphitheaters for fans in the NFL even 14 years after its construction. 

But for all its prestige and its state-of-the-art features that still hold up to the likes of SoFi Stadium, Allegiant Stadium, and many other newer stadiums, there's still one big issue: Pretty much every NFL punter can hit the gigantic scoreboard hanging from the roof.

"As soon as we walked in, me and Craig (Hentrich) looked up and I was like 'That is in play,'" former Titans punter A.J. Trapasso told the A to Z Sports' Titan Up Podcast earlier this week. 

Back in 2009, Trapasso was on every sports fan's TV screen as the NFL highlights of the week rolled. In the first-ever Cowboys game at Jerry World, he went and hit the scoreboard in a preseason game. 

How could the Cowboys' investment, which went well above one billion dollars, result in such a basic flaw?* Well, Trapasso has an explanation and it involves a two-time Second-Team All-Pro punter.

*(And don't get me started on the stubborn lack of curtains or this will become a five-thousand-word article). 

"They used a kid named Mat McBriar to set the height of the bottom edge of that of that screen," Trapasso said. "Mat McBriar – I believe he's Australian – line Drive punter, not really known for his hang time, but he could kick the ball 60 to 70 yards."

Trapasso recalled Jerry Jones being on the football field with Mitsubishi representatives, awing at the same screen everyone still can't help but stare at when they visit the stadium. 

"Coach (Jeff) Fisher was like 'let's see how many times we can hit this in warmups,'" revealed Trapasso, who calculated that including the Mitsubishi sign, the screen was at a height of about 80 feet. "I hit it a couple of times and I look over at Jerry and he's just like 'Damn it.'" 

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Once the game kicked off, Fisher wasn't quite done experimenting. After all, he was in the rules committee and as Trapasso recalls, he knew the league didn't have a concrete plan if the scoreboard was to be hit. So naturally, he instructed his punter to hit it. 

Trapasso did and the refs determined it would be re-kicked. That led to Fisher considering having Trapasso hit it as many consecutive times as he possibly could following a safety.

"He literally looked at his watch, looked at the scoreboard, and he was like 'Nah, screw it, don't hit it,'" the former Titans punter said. It's up to us to imagine how funny that would've been. 

"(Jerry Jones) went on Letterman and was talking shit about me […] but I heard through the grapevine, whether this is true or not I'm not 100% sure, that the way that the screen was designed, they had to helicopter up two winches on two separate parts of that, they clearly got rid of the Mitsbushi signs that hung down the side of that but I heard it was $50,000 a foot to move it and he moved it 10 feet up."

That's the story of how Fisher and Trapasso cost Jerry around half a million dollars. That's not too much for the owner of the most valuable franchise in the world. Half a million and problem fixed? Not quite. Ten feet will only get you so far. Just last season, the scoreboard was still being hit by punters.

So next time you're watching a game and it happens, let all your friends know how it all began.

Cowboys offense suffers big blow ahead of preseason opener vs. Jaguars

The injury happened during the last practice before the Dallas Cowboys kick off their preseason at AT&T Stadium on Saturday, August, 12th.

Featured image via Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports