As we discovered in Sunday’s post about the 1960 season, the Dallas Cowboys almost never existed. An NFL without America’s Team?
If both Washington and Pittsburgh had gotten their way back in 1960 that’s exactly what would have happened. If not for a move that would make my Mafioso great-grandfather proud Dallas doesn’t get a franchise in 1960.
Buying the rights to the Redskins’ team song, Clint Murchison Jr. basically told the Redskins: “Nice team song y’all got there. Be a shame if something happened to it.”
In exchange for letting the Redskins play their own song at their home games in D.C., Dallas got an NFL franchise.
In An Alternate Universe
The science fiction writer in me thinks a time-traveler went back and warned both franchises against letting the Cowboys torment them over the years.
But I also like to play the “What If” game in my writing. So let’s do that here.
What if Pittsburgh and Washington had gotten their way prior to the 1960 season and blocked the Cowboys from joining the NFL as an expansion team?
A lot of the NFL’s history would never have been made for one. No Ice Bowl in 1967. No Hail Mary in 1975.
No 90s dynasty team. No Triplets. No “How ‘Bout Them Cowboys!”
No Jerry Jones buying the team and building Jerry World in Arlington after blowing up Texas Stadium.
Hmmm. Wait a sec. I think I just found a pro to the alternate universe…
The NFL Without The Cowboys
In truth, who knows where just about all of the names up on the Ring of Honor would have ended up if the Cowboys didn’t exist.
Mr. Cowboy, Bob Lilly, would likely have ended up in Dallas as he was picked by the Dallas Texans in the 1961 Draft. He probably falls out of the first round of the NFL draft that year and might have gone with his hometown team.
But Bob Hayes, Roger Staubach, Chuck Howley, Don Meredith, Tony Dorsett, Randy White and all the others? Who knows where they would have landed.
Where would Tom Landry have gone for his first NFL head coaching job? Would he have been as successful somewhere else?
Gone would be the eight Super Bowl appearances and the five Lombardi Trophies and all of the other moments — good and bad — that have made the franchise what it is.
We Could Have Been Texans
With no NFL expansion team granted, the AFL’s Dallas Texans would have been kings in Dallas. The roster probably wouldn’t have changed much over the years.
Instead of packing up and moving to Kansas City after winning the 1962 title, they’d likely still be in Dallas. Especially after the two leagues merged in 1970.
The Texans would have three AFL Championships in the 1960s and Dallas would have its first Super Bowl appearance four seasons earlier.
Dallas would be celebrating its first Super Bowl two years earlier as the Texans would have beaten the Vikings.
The Texans would have three fewer Super Bowl appearances, and two fewer Lombardis however.
Instead of The Man In The Fedora, we’d have Hank Stram matriculating the ball downfield. Len Dawson would be our Roger Staubach.
And having Patrick Mahomes at quarterback in Dallas? He’d be the second coming of Staubach (assuming somehow that Staubach managed to play for the Texans).
The Cotton Bowl would have remained home to the NFL well beyond the 1971 season. At some point a new stadium would have been built.
It might not have been a Texas Stadium. But at least it wouldn’t have been JerryWorld.
And Dallas would have an ownership in the Hunt family that is serious about winning, not just making money.
I love the Blue Star as much as the next guy. But, sometimes I wonder if that cowboy in with the gold star on his boots might not have been the better alternative.