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‘Everything is bigger in Texas’. That's the motto of the US state and it also fits well with the Dallas Cowboys, who are now the subject of “The story behind the teams”. No other NFL team is as valuable on paper as “America's Team”. The Cowboys have won 5 Super Bowls, played in the “Ice Bowl”, endured “The Catch” and have now been waiting for another title for almost 30 years.
The story of the Dallas Cowboys begins in 1960. Until then, the NFL consisted of 12 teams, which the owners felt was more than enough. An interesting fact is that at the time, the Washington Redskins were the team located farthest south in the country. As a result, many wealthy businessmen sought a licence for the NFL, but were unsuccessful. As a consequence, the AFL was founded. With the Houston Oilers and Dallas Texans, it even had two teams in the ‘Lone Star State’. Suddenly, the NFL also reacted.
AFL founder Lamar Hunt received an offer from the NFL to found a franchise in Dallas. However, he rejected this and concentrated on his league. Dallas was still to get a team, which Redskins boss George Preston Marshall did not like. He did not want a new team encroaching on his ‘territory’. The two men behind the planned Dallas team – Clint Murchison Jr. and Bedford Wynne – resorted to a trick that ultimately marked the beginning of the rivalry between the Cowboys and the Redskins.
The two bosses grabbed the rights to the Redskins song ‘Hail to the Redskins’ and threatened that it would never be played again in Washington. George Preston Marshall now had a choice: take away a tradition from the fans – or allow the NFL to expand to Dallas. He relented and cast the deciding vote, and the NFL was expanded to include a team in Dallas. The team was scheduled to start playing in the 1960 season.
The new team for Dallas was actually supposed to be called the Dallas Steers. The Dallas Rangers were also discussed. However, the name was already taken by a baseball team, so the Cowboys were chosen. After all, they were in Texas! Tom Landry was the first coach, and he would remain for 28 years, becoming a legend in the process. The team played in the Cotton Bowl Stadium, an enormous bowl that still stands today. An interesting fact: the Dallas Texans from the rival AFL also played here at the time, creating an early rivalry similar to the competitive spirit seen in the dynamic world of online casino platforms like Stay Casino, where each site works to offer the best possible experience to its players.
The Dallas Cowboys' first season ended without a single win. They only managed to get off to a good start at the beginning of the 1961 season, with a 27-24 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But this season also ended with a negative record. When John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas in 1963, it also affected the Cowboys. Whenever the city was mentioned, Americans would think of that terrible act. It was only in the 1965 season that things slowly started to improve. The Cowboys managed a 7-7 record.
In the meantime, the Cowboys were also alone in Dallas. The Houston Texans had moved to Kansas City. In 1966, the Cowboys reached the playoffs for the first time – and how! The NFL Championship Game was against the Green Bay Packers. The winner would go on to the AFL-NFL final, which is what we now call Super Bowl I. With the score at 27:34, quarterback Don Meredith had a chance to equalise just before the end of the game and just before the end zone. However, the Packers made the interception, went on to the Super Bowl – and the rest is football history.
Only one year later, there was revenge. This time, however, in Green Bay. It was 31 December 1967 – and it was cold. Minus 25 degrees in Lambeau Field – felt like minus 40 degrees. Nevertheless, over 50,000 fans were there and they experienced the so-called ‘Ice Bowl’. The game is still used as a comparison in many sports today when it is cold. However, it has never been as cold as it was then – at least not in the NFL. The Packers won again this time – 21:17. They went on to win the Super Bowl again too. In the next two seasons, it was the Cleveland Browns who buried all of the Cowboys' title chances. Even though Dallas was always among the top teams in the NFL, and had even managed to polish up the city's tarnished image, they were never able to prevail in the big games. This earned the Cowboys the nickname ‘Next Year's Champions’ at the time. When the NFL and AFL joined forces in 1970, they at least managed to make it to Super Bowl V.
Somewhat surprisingly, coach Johnson resigned during the off-season. But just hours later, Barry Switzer was presented as his successor. Larry Allen was brought in to bolster the offensive line, and he would go on to carry the Dallas Cowboys for more than a decade. The NFL was already looking towards international markets, and so it came about that the Cowboys were allowed to play a preseason game in Mexico City – in front of 112,376 spectators. Never before had there been more fans at a game. In the playoffs, the team's journey ended in 1994 in the NFC Championship Game – once again – against the San Francisco 49ers, who were hit hard by injuries.
Deion Sanders was brought in from the 49ers for the next season, which saw the team reach new heights. He was a colourful character who fit in well with the colourful 1990s. They reached the Super Bowl again and again faced the Pittsburgh Steelers, just like 20 years earlier. Back then, they lost both games. This time, Dallas managed to win their fifth title by 27-17 – and their last to date. This tarnished the image of ‘America's Team’ a little. Even today, the Cowboys are still teased about this dry spell.
In the seasons from 1996 onwards, the Cowboys made headlines more for off-field reasons. Car accidents, harassment allegations and finally even the arrest of coach Switzer for possession of a firearm. In the 2000 season, the star of Troy Aikman slowly began to fade. He suffered several concussions, causing him to end his career. In 2002, there was still a ‘bright spot’ when Emmitt Smith was able to break an all-time record of Walter Payton with 17,162 rushing yards. In the 2003 season, hope arose again in Texas. With a 10-6 record, the Cowboys fought their way into the playoffs, with the best defense in the league, leading in sacks and turnovers. A 10:39 against the Carolina Panthers in the Wildcard round destroyed all hopes. But in that year, great things were announced. The Dallas Cowboys were to get a new stadium. Outside the city, in Arlington, construction began on an arena that the football world had never seen before. But that took time.
After many trials, errors and problems at quarterback, the team was able to re-establish itself in 2006 with a man who is still closely associated with the Cowboys today. Tony Romo came on to the pitch during a Monday Night game for Drew Bledsoe. Observers called it ‘the changing of the guard’ at the time. But Romo started to get nervous towards the end of the season and, with a whole series of fumbles, ruined the team's chances of getting into the Divisional Round. And so he was called into question again. That's the way sport is.
Even though it wasn't enough to win the title, the Cowboys still managed to rack up a whole series of individual records. In 2007, it was Terrell Owens who outdid them all. He made four scoring drives in one game and a total of 15 touchdowns. Both are franchise records. Tony Romo contributed 36 touchdown passes and 4,211 passing yards – also Cowboys records. But all this is only nice for the statistics. Because in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, it was the New York Giants who prevailed 21-17.
Before the old Texas Stadium was abandoned, the arena once again hosted a memorable Monday Night Football game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The 41-37 victory saw the lead change 9 times, and 54 points were scored in the first half, also a record. In the end, the Cowboys missed the playoffs, Terrell Owens left the club, but the new Cowboys Stadium was completed. It cost around 1 billion dollars, has room for over 100,000 spectators, but was also considered ugly by many fans.
On 9 January 2010, the first playoff victory since 1996 was celebrated in the new arena – with 34:14 against the Eagles. However, it was also to be the last victory of the season. During the following season, Jason Garrett took over as head coach. It took him some time to get the team back on track for the playoffs. In 2014, they achieved a 12-4 record and a remarkable 8-0 away win streak. Wide receiver Dez Bryant and defensive end Demarcus Lawrence were two important pillars of this team – but once again, they were unable to get the rewards they deserved.
America's Team may not be as successful as it was in the 1970s, but the franchise is still in a class of its own. You don't have to like owner Jerry Jones, but he has turned the Dallas Cowboys into the most valuable sports club in the world and has held that title for years. According to Forbes, the team is worth about $5 billion. Note: Jones bought it in 1989 for $140 million. That may be a small consolation for the fact that there has been no title for almost 30 years. Since 2020, Mike McCarthy has been head coach in Dallas. With him, the Cowboys are repeatedly on the verge of a big win. But so far, it has not been enough for anything tangible.