Halfway True Fun Facts About The Dallas Cowboys
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In the early 80s, HR “Bum” Bright bought the Dallas Cowboys from a fellow named Clint Murchison, Junior. As soon as he purchased the team, their record dropped from 10 wins to seven wins to three wins in 1988. Mister Bright became disenchanted with the team and he was ultimately forced to sell them anyway so it all worked out.
The team was purchased by the current owner Jerry Jones in February of 1989. One of his first moves was to fire Tom Landry, the beloved coach who up to that point was the only head coach in the history of the team. He also had to fire Tom Landry’s hat because the hat had it’s own separate contract.
He named Jimmy Johnson the head coach mainly because they both have the same initials.
The Cowboys made good use of their first pick in the draft because they picked up Troy Aikman from UCLA. Unfortunately there record dropped to one win and 15 losses, but they used the situation to rebuild the team. Oh, the one team they beat in 1989? The Washington Redskins at home. Maybe it was a little sign back then that the Redskins should have changed the team name.
With some skillful drafting, some patience and a little luck the team returned to a seven game winning season in 1990 and 11 wins in 1991 including defeating the Bears for their first playoff win in a long time. Note that in 1989 they had advanced to the playoffs, but it was the Texas high school football playoffs, and they still lost.
The very next year, coach Johnson took them to a 13-game win and three-game loss season which was remarkable because only a few years before they only had one win all year. They went to the Super Bowl and beat the Buffalo Bills soundly 52-17.
Jimmie Johnson distinguished himself further by becoming the first coach that was able to say he had won a Super Bowl in the pro ranks and a national championship in the college ranks. A lot of people don’t know he also won the U.S. Open and the Masters in golf golf, the grand slam in tennis and he’s a 10 time champion of the US Bass fishing championships. One fish said, “I know he hooked me and I was proud to land in his boat.”
In 2008, quarterback Tony Romo broke his pinky in a game against the Arizona Cardinals, which made it impossible for him to make any pinky promises at all.
In 2006, Bill Parcells retired as head coach and Jerry Jones hired Wade Phillips to fill the position. The son of another famous coach, bum Phillips, Wade Phillips was a three year starter for the University of Houston from 1966 to 1968. For many years he had the school record for career assisted tackles. That streak ended in 2011 when the record was broken a guy named McGraw, yes it was Doctor Phil McGraw, who played for Houston after finishing tapings of his well-known talk show in Los Angeles.
The Cowboys are one of the few NFL teams that wear their white jerseys at home. Tex Schramm came up with the idea in 1964. Some people believe the Cowboys blue jersey is jinxed because they were forced to wear blue jerseys when they lost Super Bowl V. The Philadelphia Eagles tried to invoke this curse in the 1980 NFC championship game by forcing the Cowboys to wear their blue jerseys. To ensure the jinx took hold, they also spread bat wing, eye of new and garlic cloves all over the Dallas bench before their arrival.
It must’ve worked because the Eagles prevailed 20 to 7.
