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A Crash Course in Cowboy Greatness Dallas Cowboys
In 1960, the Dallas Cowboys became the NFL's first successful new team since
the collapse of the All-America Football Conference 10 years earlier. Clint
Murchison Jr. was the new team's majority owner and his first order of business
was to hire Tex Schramm as general manager, Tom Landry as head coach and Gil
Brandt as player personnel director.
This trio was destined for almost unprecedented success in the pro football
world but the "glory years" didn't come easily. Playing in the storied
Cotton Bowl, the 1960 Cowboys had to settle for one tie in 12 games and Dallas
didn't break even until its sixth season in 1965. But in 1966, the Cowboys began
an NFL-record streak of 20 consecutive winning seasons. That streak included 18
years in the playoffs, 13 divisional championships, five trips to the Super Bowl
and victories in Super Bowls VI and XII.
Dallas won its first two divisional championships in 1966 and 1967 but lost
to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL championship game each year. Similar playoff
losses the next seasons were followed by a 16-13 last-second loss to Baltimore
in Super Bowl V following the 1970 season. The Cowboys were typified as "a
good team that couldn't win the big games."
But they dispelled such thought for good the very next year with a 24-3 win
over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl VI. The Cowboys were Super Bowl-bound
three more times from 1975 to 1978. They lost to Pittsburgh in extremely
competitive games in Super Bowls X and XIII but defeated the Denver Broncos
27-10 in Super Bowl XII. During their big years of the 1970s, the Cowboys were
led by such future Pro Football Hall of Fame members as quarterback Roger
Staubach, defensive tackles Bob Lilly and Randy White, defensive back Mel Renfro
and running back Tony Dorsett.
In 1967, Murchison announced that the Cowboys would build their own stadium
in suburban Irving, Texas. A new Dallas pro football era began on October 24,
1971, when 65,024-seat Texas Stadium was opened.
The Cowboys of the 1970s and early 1980s were known as "America's
Team," an outfit that was just a step ahead of almost every other club when
it came to image-enhancing promotions such as The Dallas Cowboys Newsweekly with
a circulation of 100,000, sales of Cowboys souvenirs and wearing apparel and the
famous Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
The Cowboys suffered their first losing season in two decades in 1986 and
fell all the way to 3-13 in 1988. H. R. "Bum" Bright, who had
purchased the Cowboys from Murchison in 1984, sold the team to Jerry Jones in
1989. Jones named former University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson to replace
Landry, who finished his career with 270 victories, third most by any coach in
history.
Johnson's first team won only once in 16 games but some daring trades and
shrewd selections in the annual NFL draft quickly returned the Cowboys to
championship status in Super Bowl XXVII in the fourth season of the Jerry Jones
regime. They followed with a second straight world title in Super Bowl XXVIII.
In March 1994, college coach Barry Switzer replaced Johnson as the Cowboys third
head coach. The winning continued under Switzer, as the "Team of the
Nineties" won its third Super Bowl in four years with a 27-17 victory over
the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX. In 1998, Chan Gailey replaced Switzer
as the Cowboys' head coach. Two years later, Dave Campo became only the fifth
head coach in team history.
Cowboys Facts
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