Richard Paolinelli
The last year of the 1960s marked the 10th season of NFL football in Dallas. For followers of the Cowboys it must have seemed like a full year of instant replay. As they had in 1968, the Cowboys came into the season with high expectations. They jumped out to a 6-0 start and finished with a …
As we wait for camp to finally open at the end of this month, we are left to scroll through Cowboys’ Twitter. And the Blue Star Twitteratti never fail to amuse. The two sub factions – the Dak Pack and the Romo-sexuals (that was actually a thing 10 years ago) – have been busy. For them …
The 1968 season was supposed to be the coronation of the Dallas Cowboys as the new kings of the NFL. The Packers were old and Vince Lombardi had retired. There was no one standing in the way of the Cowboys and that elusive first NFL Championship. A date with the AFL Champion in Miami that January …
The 1967 season brought a new team to the NFL – the New Orleans Saints. With 16 teams now in the NFL, two divisions became four. Gone was the West and East divisions. They were replaced the four C’s. The Central, Coastal, Century, and Capitol divisions. The Saints found themselves in the Capitol along with the …
The Cowboys added three more pieces to their long-term success in the 1966 NFL Draft. Offensive guard John Niland was taken in the first round and started four games as a rookie. Defensive tackle Willie Townes was taken in the second round, and moved to defensive end as a starter midway through his rookie season. Though …
After a half-decade of frustration, the Dallas Cowboys were looking to finally turn the corner in 1965. Armed with a 10-year contract extension, Tom Landry was looking for better days. The 1965 NFL Draft would only yield two players who would make an impact on the team. Dallas selected Cal quarterback Craig Morton in the first …
There are 35 quarterbacks enshrined in Canton. None of them are named Tony Romo. Romo retired after the 2017 season and became eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022. There have been two classes inducted since then. Romo hasn’t even made it as a semi-finalist in his first two years. Jerry …
With the dismal 1963 season behind them, the Dallas Cowboys started 1964 off with a bang. The year started off with a good omen, but enough about the year I arrived on this world. Dallas had a monster draft in 1964. The Cowboys drafted Mel Renfro (2nd round), Bob Hayes (7th), and Roger Staubach (10th) that …
The fourth season in the Cowboys’ young history began like none of its three previous seasons had. They were all alone in Dallas. Despite winning the 1962 AFL Championship, the Dallas Texans packed up and moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs. The Cowboys had the town all to themselves and momentum from the 1962 …
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 …
After finishing sixth in the NFL’s East Division the year before, the Cowboys set out to make themselves better in 1962. They succeeded. By one victory and one position. But it was still progress. And the improvement was fueled by Dallas bringing in a load of veterans to help shore up their weakest areas. But the …
With the first season of football in Dallas in the rearview mirror, the Dallas Cowboys had a normal approach to the 1961 season. Unlike the previous year, they actually participated in the NFL Draft. Despite having the worst record in 1960, Dallas would draft second in every round behind the expansion Minnesota Vikings. They’d traded their …
The Dallas Cowboys are 63 days away from kicking off their 64th NFL season. Beginning with today, we’ll countdown to opening day by recapping the previous seasons. The Cowboys arrived in the National Football League in 1960. Dallas’ fans have one man to thank for their team’s existence: Lamar Hunt. Hunt had tried to get into …
Yes, we’re still three weeks away from training camp opening in Oxnard. The Cowboys still need to add at least one more kicker. And who knows whom the injury bug will bite. But, based on the draft and some free agent signings, it’s time to make our second round of predictions on how the NFC East …
With the final gun of Saturday’s USFL Championship game came the first year of two competing spring football leagues finishing a full season. In 2020, neither the XFL nor the AAF managed to make it to their playoffs, much less their championship games. While mostly due to COVID and financial issues, it seemed spring professional football …
In a June 1977 issue of Sport magazine, writer Robert Ward’s story quotes Reggie Jackson saying, “(Thurman) Munson thinks he can be the straw that stirs the drink, but he can only stir it bad.” Jackson denies he said it, Ward stands by his story. The truth? No one will ever know. But when it comes …
Several former Dallas Cowboys players have made the move off the field and onto the sidelines. Several have served as position coaches and coordinators over the years. But a select few have made it all the way up to the head coach’s office at various levels of college and pro football. Here’s how they have fared. …
As reported earlier, the Dallas Cowboys’ training camp opens in Oxnard, CA on July 24th. It will be the 17th time camp has been held in Oxnard. The first three years of the franchise’s existence saw the team wandering all over the country for training camp with stops in Oregon, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan between 1960-62. …
It’s been nearly three decades since the Dallas Cowboys last played for a championship, but one former player is just one win away from capturing one. Former defensive back Ray Horton was on the team when the Cowboys trounced Buffalo to win Super Bowl XXVII in 1992. He was also a coach on the Steelers staff …
In about a month the Dallas Cowboys will gather in Oxnard, California. At stake? Who will comprise the final 53-man roster that opens the season in New York. While that outcome won’t be settled for two months, what better time to come up with an all-time Ultimate 53-man Cowboys roster to field in a single game? …
Lost among the pre-camp hype of the Cowboys’ receiving trio of CeeDee Lamb, Brandin Cooks, and Michael Gallup is one of the great truisms in NFL football. Keep an eye out for a wide receiver entering his third season of pro football. Having played fantasy football since 1989, I can tell you that it applies to …