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 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 followed two years later by Dave Campo.
In 2003, Bill Parcells became only the sixth head coach in team history.
Franchise Granted:
January 28, 1960 First Season:
1960
Stadium:
Texas Stadium
Owner:
Jerry Jones Head
Coach: Bill Parcells
Super Bowl Championships:
VI, XII, XXVII, XXVIII, XXX NFC
Championships:
1970, 1971, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1992, 1993, 1995
NFL
Eastern Conference Championships:
1966, 1967 NFL
Capitol Division Championships:
1967, 1968, 1969
NFC
Eastern Division Championships:
1970, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1985, 1992, 1993,
1994, 1995, 1996, 1998
All-Time Record:
409-297-6
Retired Uniform Numbers:
None
