GLENDALE, Ariz.—Toward the end of the night, one of the biggest cheers from a paid attendance of 62,674 at State Farm Stadium was for Cowboys guard Shiyazh Pete.
He played six snaps in the Cowboys’ 34-13 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday night. On the road in Arizona, which has a large Native American population, Pete had the largest cheering section.
Pete is the first NFL player from the Navajo Nation.
A large base from the Navajo Nation Reservation took up the lower bowl from behind the Cowboys bench toward their tunnel to support Pete.
Before the game, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones took pictures and spoke with Buu Van Nygren, the president of Navajo Nation.
“The people who showed up to support me, celebrate my name and wear my jersey, I lost count of how many Navajo Nation flags I saw,” Pete said. “I saw a Salish Nation flag as well, which was awesome.”
At first, Pete didn’t know what was happening around him after the game. But after seeing fans wearing his jersey and carrying signs with his name the emotions of the moment took over. Pete high-fived and signed autographs as he did a sort of victory tour from behind the Cowboys bench to the tunnel.
“I had a feeling,” he said. “Phoenix is home to a lot of Native American tribes, obviously we got to see that. It was incredible.”
Coach Brian Schottenehimer asked Pete to break the team down in the locker room after the game.
Pete standing with a group of smiling players made a brief speech to his teammates that was released through the Cowboys social media accounts.
“Well, that was an incredible win,” Pete said to his teammates. “I am very fortunate to be amongst you and to play on the same field wear the same star holding on our chest. I’m proud of us and proud of how far we’ve come. This game, fate, brought us here as strangers but this game, this star, this game, will make us brothers.”
The players gave a loud cheer to Pete after his speech.
The Cowboys signed Pete as an undrafted free agent after he spent four seasons at New Mexico State (45 games). He played 12 games in 2025 at Kentucky.
At 6-9, 320 pounds, Pete has played guard and tackle for the Cowboys in training camp.
“I’ll say this, maybe one of the hardest workers I’ve been around,” Schottenheimer said. “Maximized all his opportunities. Everyone loves him because he’s like the way he is today. And like I said, when he broke it down, I mean the room went crazy just because he spoke from the heart and he talked about how this family has brought us all together and now we’re bonded for life.”