Looking back on the Dallas Cowboys at 60, it was easier to win then than it is now
The Dallas Cowboys were supposed to be doing something special in 2020.
The organization was founded in 1960, so that make this the 60th anniversary of the franchise.
Team owner Jerry Jones commissioned a book chronicling the team’s history.
The organization unveiled a list of the top 60 players ever to wear a Cowboys uniform.
The icing on the cake was hoped to be a return prominence on the field with a new coach in Mike McCarthy.
Instead of the team making a run to a possible sixth title in franchise history, the 60th anniversary season has been tainted by disappointment, set up against the backdrop of COVID-19, easily the largest public-health emergency since the Cowboys joined the league.
Pandemic aside, the Cowboys have been met with a rash of injuries and inconsistent play. Taken together, the Cowboys (3-8) find themselves in last place in the worst division in the league. They are sporting the fourth-worst record in the NFL with five games to go, yet still find themselves within striking distance of a division title and the home playoff game that would come with it.
But don’t let the current state of affairs or the struggles of the team over the last 25 years — including just four playoff appearances since the last of it’s five Super Bowl titles since 1995 — detract from what has been, overall, a glorious 60 years of existence.
The Cowboys’ all-time winning percentage of .569 is the best in NFL history. With five Super Bowl titles, the Cowboys are tied for third with the San Francisco 49ers and just one behind those won by the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots.
And their list of Pro Football Hall of Famers included some of the great names in NFL history: namely, Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, Randy White, Bob Hayes, Mel Renfro, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.
And that doesn’t even cover the franchise’s status as one of the most iconic brands in all of sports and it’s America’s Team moniker being known the world over.
Former team scouting Director Gil Brandt says what the Cowboys have done and who they still are remains something to be celebrated 60 years later.
“We started it and had such phenomenal success,” said Brandt, who was part of the initial brain trust with coach Tom Landry and general manager Tex Schramm. “What everyone else does seems non-successful. I am proud of what we were able to do and do it the right way.”
Brandt, Landry and Schramm are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
And to hear Brandt tell it, what the Cowboys did from 1960 to 1985, which included 20 straight winning seasons and five trips to the Super Bowl, was the greatest run in NFL history and will never be duplicated — not just for the success on the field but the way they innovated and changed the game.
“We were the front runner,” Brandt said. “We set the tone and the pace and other teams followed because of our success. Our goal was to be creative and innovative. To do things other teams hadn’t done, weren’t capable of doing or couldn’t afford to do.”
The Cowboys set the tone in terms of the marketing of America’s team, laying the foundation of fan interaction that resulted in the creation of NFL properties, the creation of Cowboys cheerleaders and simply maximizing the earning potential of the franchise.
The latter is the prime reason Schramm used his influence with the NFL office to put the Cowboys in the NFC East with teams from New York, Philadelphia and Washington even though Dallas was nowhere near east.
He wanted that New York press and Madison Avenue sizzle as well as the money.
“Money was a factor,” Brandt said. “You can go play in Green Bay and play in front of 65,000 people and get a $850,000 check. Or you can go to New York and play in front of 50,000 people and get a $1.5 million check. Tex was smart. It was a money thing. It was an exposure thing. It created a following that last until this day.”
The innovations on the field led to distinct advantages for the Cowboys in terms of scouting and finding players. The Cowboys used to bring 75-80 rookie free agents to training camp to mine talent. They were one of the first franchises with a weight training program.
And they were first to use a computer in scouting and game planning.
“We were so far ahead because of the computer,” Brandt said. “They thought it was a joke at first. Instead of having your scouting game plan on Thursday you had it on Monday. As soon as you input the film or tape from the Sunday game, you had data for a game plan on Monday. Other teams were still waiting until Wednesday and Thursday to formulate game plans.”
Although the Cowboys had fallen on hard times on and off the field and were losing money when he bought the team in 1989, Jerry Jones said it’s the great players and rich history that Brandt, Schramm and Landry built that inspired him to add to it and make his mark on it.”
Brandt says Jones has done his part with three Super Bowl titles in his first seven years ownership to go along keeping the Cowboys relevant, innovative and iconic with building AT&T Stadium in Arlington and the headquarters at the Star in Frisco that made them the most valuable franchise in all of sports.
Jones has also been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his contributions to the Cowboys and the NFL in terms of marketing, television contracts and stadium deals.
And as far as the team’s struggles to get back to Super Bowl glory, Brandt gives Jones a pass on that as well in comparison to the franchise’s early success and even his in the 1990s.
He said Jones has done everything as far as putting the pieces in place. But so has everyone else across the league.
“I think it was a lot easier to win in 1960, 1970 and 1980 and than it is now,” Brandt said. “Everybody now has equal money. We used to have teams that went from hand to mouth, so to speak. I think all the teams are solid and on better footing. Owners are wealthy where we used to have guys that owned a grocery store or something like that. It was so much easier back when we did it because the competition wasn’t as good and as fierce as it is now when we had 20 straight winning seasons.”
And then there is one lesson learned in the last 60 years, which featured one coach from 1960-1988 — the iconic Tom Landry — and nine since Jones took over.
“Jerry does a good job,” Brandy said, “but it’s hard to follow God — and Tom was God.”
Dallas Cowboys’ all-time starting lineup
QB Roger Staubach
RB Emmitt Smith
RB Tony Dorsett
WR Michael Irvin
WR Bob Hayes
WR Drew Pearson
TE Jason Witten
T Rayfield Wright
T Tyron Smith
G Larry Allen
G Zack Martin
C Mark Stepnoski
DE DeMarcus Ware
DE Harvey Martin
DT Randy White
DT Bob Lilly
LB Leeroy Jordan
LB Chuck Howley
LB Thomas Henderson
CB Deion Sanders
CB Mel Renfro
S Cliff Harris
S Darren Woodson
K Rafiel Septien
P Mat McBriar
