The team was first known as the Dallas Steers, then the Dallas Rangers before settling on the nickname "Cowboys" for the 1960 season. The new Dallas owners, Murchison and Wynne, subsequently hired Tex Schramm as general manager, Tom Landry as head coach, and Gil Brandt as player personnel director.[7] The team acquired players from existing franchises though in 1960 NFL Expansion Draft. The Cowboys began play in the Cotton Bowl in 1960 and finished winless in their first season with a record of 0–11–1 (with a tie vs the New York Giants). They made their first regular NFL draft selection the following year, choosing Texas Christian University defensive tackle Bob Lilly with the 13th pick in the draft.
Watch live streaming tv During the early and mid 1960s, the Cowboys gradually built a contender. Quarterback Don Meredith was acquired in 1960, running back Don Perkins, linebacker Chuck Howley and Lilly were added in 1961, linebacker Lee Roy Jordan in 1963, cornerback Mel Renfro in 1964, and wide receiver Bob Hayes in 1965. In 1966 the Cowboys posted their first winning record and playoff appearance (10–3–1, beginning an NFL-record 20 consecutive winning seasons), and sent eight players to the Pro Bowl, including Hayes, Howley, Meredith, Perkins, Lilly and Renfro. The 1966 and 1967 seasons ended with dramatic losses of 34–27 and 21–17 respectively to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game, the latter loss referred to as the Ice Bowl game, the game played in the coldest weather in US professional sports history. The 1966 season would mark the start of an NFL-record-setting eight consecutive postseason appearances (The Cowboys later broke their own record with nine consecutive trips to the playoffs between 1975–1983).
The Cowboys attempted to establish themselves in the Dallas community while competing for the affections of Dallasites with Lamar Hunt's Dallas Texans of the American Football League (AFL). Although the AFL's Texans had a much better record than the NFL's Cowboys, in 1963 Hunt moved the Texans to Kansas City, Missouri, where they became the Chiefs. By 1969, ground was being broken on a new stadium for the Cowboys to replace the Cotton Bowl. Texas Stadium in Irving, a Dallas suburb, was completed during the 1971 season.
Watch live streaming tv Although Meredith and Perkins retired after the 1968 season, important new players joined the organization during the late 1960s and early 1970s, including offensive tackle Rayfield Wright in 1967, quarterback Roger Staubach, tight end Mike Ditka, and running back Calvin Hill in 1969, and cornerback Herb Adderly, and safeties Cliff Harris and Charlie Waters in 1970. Led by quarterback Craig Morton, the Cowboys made it to their first Super Bowl, a mistake-filled Super Bowl V, where they lost 16-13 to the Baltimore Colts on a field goal by Colts' kicker Jim O'Brien with five seconds remaining in the contest. The Cowboys moved from the Cotton Bowl to Texas Stadium in week six of the 1971 season, won their last seven regular season games, and advanced through the playoffs to defeat the upstart Miami Dolphins, 24-3, in Super Bowl VI, which remains the only Super Bowl in which a team held its opponent without a touchdown.
Watch live streaming tv During the rest of the 1970s, the Cowboys grew in popularity, not just in Dallas, but nationwide. The Cowboys also continued to add new talent to their roster, including defensive ends Harvey Martin and Ed "Too Tall" Jones, wide receiver Drew Pearson, and defensive tackle Randy White and running back Tony Dorsett. The fresh influx of talent helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XII and make appearances in Super Bowls X and XIII. Dallas ended the 1970s as the winningest NFL team of the decade.
Watch live streaming tv [edit] 1980s and 1990s
Danny White became the Cowboys' starting quarterback in 1980 after quarterback Roger Staubach retired. White led the Cowboys to the playoffs five times and won two Division Championships. However, despite playing in the NFC Championship Game three consecutive years (1980-1982), the Cowboys did not reach the Super Bowl during the 1980s. In 1984, H.R. "Bum" Bright purchased the Dallas Cowboys from Murchison. As the Cowboys suffered through progressively poorer seasons (from 10-6 in 1985 to 7-9 in 1986, 7-8 in 1987, and 3-13 in 1988), Bright became disenchanted with the team. During an embarrassing home loss to Atlanta in 1987, Bright told the media that he was "horrified" at Landry's play calling. Bright sold the Cowboys to Jerry Jones on February 25, 1989.
Watch live streaming tv Jones immediately fired Tom Landry, the only head coach in franchise history, replacing him with University of Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson. With the first pick in the draft, the Cowboys selected UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman. Later that same year, they would trade veteran running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and eight draft choices. Although the Cowboys finished the 1989 season with a 1-15 record, their worst in almost 30 years, "The Trade" later allowed Dallas to draft a number of impact players to rebuild the team.
Watch live streaming tv Johnson quickly returned the Cowboys to the NFL's elite. Skillful drafts added fullback Daryl Johnston and center Mark Stepnoski in 1989, running back Emmitt Smith in 1990, defensive tackle Russell Maryland and offensive tackle Erik Williams in 1991, and safety Darren Woodson in 1992. The young talent joined holdovers from the Landry era such as wide receiver Michael Irvin, guard Nate Newton, linebacker Ken Norton Jr., and offensive lineman Mark Tuinei, and veteran pickups such as tight end Jay Novacek and defensive end Charles Haley. In 1992 Dallas set a team record for regular season wins with a 13-3 mark. In January 1993, only three years after their 1-15 season, the Cowboys earned their first Super Bowl trip in 14 seasons. Dallas defeated the Buffalo Bills 52-17 in Super Bowl XXVII, during which they forced a record nine turnovers. Johnson became the first coach to claim a National Championship in college football and a Super Bowl victory in professional football. The following season, they again defeated the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII, 30-13. The Cowboys sent a then-NFL record 11 players to the Pro Bowl in 1993: Aikman, safety Thomas Everett, Irvin, Johnston, Maryland, Newton, Norton, Novacek, Smith, Stepnoski and Williams.
Only weeks after Super Bowl XXVIII, however, friction between Johnson and Jones culminated in Johnson stunning the football world by announcing his resignation. Jones then hired former University of Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer to replace Johnson. The Cowboys finished 12-4 in 1994, but missed the Super Bowl by losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, 38-28. In 1995, Jones lured All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders away from San Francisco, and Dallas once again posted a 12-4 regular season record. The Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 at Sun Devil Stadium in Super Bowl XXX for their fifth world championship. Switzer joined Johnson as the only coaches to win a college football National Championship and a Super Bowl.
Watch live streaming tv Yet the glory days of the Cowboys were again beginning to dim as free agency, age and injuries began taking their toll. The Cowboys went 6-10 in 1997, with discipline and off-field problems becoming major distractions. As a result, Switzer resigned as head coach in January 1998 and former Steelers offensive coordinator Chan Gailey was hired to take his place. Gailey led the team to two playoff appearances with a 10-6 record in 1998 and an NFC East Division championship, but was let go after an 8-8 playoff season in 1999, becoming the first Cowboys coach who did not win a Super Bowl. In 1998, the Cowboys suffered an embarrassing 20-7 home loss to the division rival Arizona Cardinals. In 1999, they suffered a 27-10 first round loss to the Minnesota Vikings. Oddly, the last Dallas playoff win was a 40-15 win against Minnesota following the 1996 season. Nonetheless, the Cowboys posted more wins in the 1990s than any other NFL team.
Watch live streaming tv Defensive coordinator Dave Campo was promoted to head coach, but he could only post three consecutive 5-11 seasons. Many fans and media were beginning to blame Jerry Jones for the team's ills, noting that he refused to hire a strong coach or general manager, preferring to hire coaches who did not want to be involved with personnel duties so that Jones himself, as GM, could manage them. Jones then lured Bill Parcells out of retirement to coach the Cowboys. The Cowboys became the surprise team of the 2003 season, posting a 10-6 record and a playoff berth by having the best overall defense in the NFL. However, during the next two seasons, the Parcells-led Cowboys missed the playoffs. The Cowboys then finished an up-and-down 2006 season with a 9-7 record and a playoff appearance, but after a last second loss in the Wild Card Game against the Seattle Seahawks, Parcells retired and was succeeded by Wade Phillips.[8] In his first season as head coach, Phillips and his coaching staff led the franchise to its best seasonal start ever, a conference-best 13-3 record, and the franchise's 16th NFC East championship title, the most of any team in that division. (Washington, New York and Philadelphia are tied for second with seven championships each.)[9] The Cowboys were eliminated by the (eventual Super Bowl Champion) Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs, the first NFC #1 seed to so falter since the 1990 playoff re-alignment.
In the 2008 season the Cowboys failed to make the playoffs, losing at Philadelphia in the final regular season game which saw the Eagles reach the playoffs instead. The Cowboys were defeated 44-6 by the Eagles and finished 3rd in the NFC East with a 9-7 record.
On May 2, 2009, the Dallas Cowboys practice facility collapsed during a wind storm. The collapse left 12 Cowboys players and coaches injured. The most serious injuries were special teams coach Joe DeCamillis, who suffered fractured cervical vertebrae and had surgery to stabilize fractured vertebrae in his neck, and Rich Behm, the team's 33-year-old scouting assistant, who was permanently paralyzed from the waist down after his spine was severed.
Watch live streaming tv Although the Dallas Cowboys have always been a part of the NFL since their inception, the club will participate in two of the NFL's AFL Legacy Weekend games during the 2009 season. The Cowboys will wear their 1960 alternate uniform for a match against the Kansas City Chiefs playing as the Dallas Texans. Ironically this game will be played in Kansas City instead of Dallas. The Cowboys' annual Thanksgiving Day game is also being billed as an AFL Legacy game as they are playing the Oakland Raiders who will be wearing their AFL throwbacks. Traditionally teams playing on Thanksgiving have donned throwback uniforms, although teams had begun to move away from this practice in recent years with the Cowboys choosing their regular home uniforms and the Detroit Lions selecting their black alternate jersey as opposed to throwbacks and their opponents opting to wear their normal road attire.
Watch live streaming tv [edit] Logos and uniforms
