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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. In 2007
Wade Phillips was hired to replace the retiring Bill Parcells.
Franchise Granted:
January 28, 1960 First Season:
1960 / Stadium:
Texas Stadium / Current Owner:
Jerry Jones
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, 2007
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