When the Patriots were on their way to winning the Super Bowl in 2014, “Do Your Job” was a familiar refrain from coach Bill Belichick to keep players from focusing on things that fell outside their responsibilities on the field and to the team.
The Patriots took ownership of the phrase by registering three trademarks on it, something Darren Rovell of ESPN reminded his Twitter followers of while posting a picture of the phrase on the wall of the Cowboys’ locker room at their practice facility.
Cowboys new training camp locker room has "Do Your Job" on wall. Patriots have three trademarks to that phrase. pic.twitter.com/IsfDkrJO2t
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 21, 2016
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski or someone associated with the Gronk Nation website noticed Rovell’s post and penned a response to something they believe will have them “facing the wrath of Patriots fans.”
“While we all know that the Pats thrashed the Cowboys 30-6 last October and Dallas hasn’t been to the Super Bowl since the 1995 season, so they need all the motivation they can get -- but can’t America’s Team come up with their own slogan instead of stealing ours?”
While the phrase has become associated with Belichick, a quick search of the internet shows that it is used quite often in all walks of life and was in regular use long before 2014. From Dolphins defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to people upset with their elected officials to anyone who has ever been on the phone with an unhelpful customer service representative, it’s a phrase that’s often used without notice.
The trademarks protect the Patriots’ financial interests in that area, so the Cowboys won’t be selling “Do Your Job” shirts of their own. As for appropriating the slogan, you might as well borrow from teams that won if you’re going to borrow at all but we’d probably hold off on Jason Garrett saying the team is “on to ____” at any point this season.