The Dallas Cowboys brought plenty of history with them during their move from Irving to Arlington.

Hole in the roof. Check. Ring of Honor. Check. Tom Landry statue. Check. Rowdy. Nope.

The Cowboys' boisterous and appropriately named mascot has been missing in action on game days this season, and the man who played that character for nearly a dozen years said he was fired. Ted Ovletrea, 39, said he spent the first two Cowboys home games sitting in the stands rather than acting rowdy on the sidelines as he did at Texas Stadium.

"I could see the area down there where I should be," he said. "I felt like I could run all over that place."

Ovletrea said he was notified in August that the team was letting him go. The cartoon-like Cowboy with giant hat, chubby foam rubber face, gapping mouth and water pistols was introduced in 1996 and makes about 300 appearances each year. The character has been named one of the National Football League's top mascots, but he also had passionate detractors who described him as obnoxious and even worse when they weren't trying to be polite. The Web site removerowdy.com announced gleefully this week that "ROWDY HAS BEEN REMOVED!!!"

Ovletrea, who now is focusing on his online Intern Magazine, said his understanding was that Rowdy – with a different person inside the costume – would still perform at events but not at games. The outside appearance fees for Rowdy start at $500 per hour.

Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels said the character of Rowdy is still part of the team, but officials are evaluating his role on game days.

"By not having Rowdy's name and his face on television and at the games in front of 100,000 fans, that's just hurting the character," Ovletrea said.

He said his only appearance as Rowdy at the new $1.15 billion Cowboys Stadium was for a Papa John's Pizza commercial. Ovletrea was gone from the Cowboys before the team's record-setting home opener last month against the New York Giants.

Rowdy's wild behavior sometimes got his "hand slapped" by team officials, Ovletrea said. Once, he was in trouble for chest-bumping wide receiver Terrell Owens after a touchdown. He was also kicked off the sidelines during a game and was booted from training camp by previous coach Bill Parcells.

Ovletrea, who was also the defunct Dallas Desperados mascot Kid Coyote, said he tried to live up to his character's name but at the same time walk a fine line. He said he was never fined by the NFL though.

"I'm still a fan," he said. "I enjoyed it. I have no regrets. ... It's upsetting that I'm not the main guy any more, but it's been a great run."

Daniels said he could not talk about personnel matters, such as the reason Ovletrea is no longer with the Cowboys.

Besides his Web site, Ovletrea, a father of two and a Lewisville resident, is also writing a book about his experience as a mascot. He said he's looking for a publisher for the part memoir, part how-to guide he plans to call "Split Personalities."

At Cowboys Stadium, changes are in the works to help some in the stands who need help following what's happening on the field. Team officials have been researching ways to improve the gameday experience for fans who are deaf or hard of hearing. Daniels said they are researching different options that include handheld devices and closed captions on the television screens.

Daniels said he wasn't sure when an announcement would be made about what kind of technology would be used.

"We'd like that up as soon as possible, but we want to make sure we make the right choices," he said.