Gil Brandt, architect of America’s Team, dead at 91

It could easily be said that the Dallas Cowboys had five fathers bring them into the NFL world back in 1960.

Clint Murchison Jr. and Bedford Wynne – by hook and by crook – managed to land an NFL franchise in Dallas. Murchison carried on as owner until the 1980s.

His best move, after getting the franchise off the ground and eventually building Texas Stadium, was to get out of the way of the other three men who knew football best.

(From left to right) Tex Schramm, Tom Landry, and Gil Brandt.

Tex Schramm served as the team’s general manager and Tom Landry as its head coach. The other man seldom showed up on television or in the newspapers.

Gil Brandt was named vice-president of player personnel in 1960. Brandt passed away on Thursday at the age of 91.

Brandt’s Innovations Changed The NFL

Like Schramm and Landry, Brandt would depart the team after Jerry Jones bought it in 1989. Both Schramm and Brandt had been with the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950s prior to joining the Cowboys.

But for those 28 years, Brandt’s innovations not only built “America’s Team”, they also changed the entire NFL and how it approached the draft.

Both Brandt and Schramm are credited with creating what we know as the NFL Scouting Combine today. The pair proposed a centralized location for the scouting process.

The National Invitational Camp was created and held in Tampa, FL. Eventually, two other camps would be held at other locations in the United States. In 1985, all three camps were merged into the Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, IN.

Brandt is acknowledged as the first in the NFL to use computers to grade and evaluate players. He also used psychological testing as a way to measure a player under pressure.

Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame defensive tackle Bob Lilly (74) wraps up St. Louis Cardinals running back Terry Metcalf (21) during a 31-28 Cardinals victory on October 13, 1974, at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Tony Tomsic/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

His system worked. Nine players his system drafted, or signed, onto the rosters went on to become Hall of Fame inductees:

Defensive lineman Bob Lilly, Brandt’s first-ever draft pick in 1961

Defensive back Mel Renfro (1964)

Wide receiver Bob Hayes (1965)

Quarterback Roger Staubach (1964)

Offensive tackle Rayfield Wright (1967)

Defensive back Cliff Harris (undrafted free agent, 1970)

Defensive tackle Randy White (1975)

Running back Tony Dorsett (1977)

Wide receiver Michael Irvin (1988)

Brandt aided the Cowboys in picking another Hall of Famer in 1989, quarterback Troy Aikman.

While Jones fired Brandt after the draft, the two remained on friendly terms. Brandt had Cowboys owner Jerry Jones present him at his 2019 Hall of Fame induction.

Brandt’s Record Speaks For Itself

The teams Brandt helped build would run off 20 consecutive winning seasons from 1966 through 1985. The Cowboys would appear in five Super Bowls, winning two of them.

Unlike Landry and Schramm, Brandt remained with the Cowboys through the 1989 draft, to assist both Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson, before leaving the team in May of 1989.

The last surviving member of the brain trust that built the iconic NFL franchise, Brandt joined Landry (1993) and Schramm (2003) on the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor in 2018.

He finally joined Landry (1990) and Schramm (1991) in being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.

“We are so deeply saddened by the passing of Gil Brandt — a true icon and pioneer of our sport. Gil was at the very core of the early success of the Dallas Cowboys and continued to serve as a great ambassador for the organization for decades beyond that. His contributions cemented his spot in the Ring of Honor,” Jones said in a statement.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has lowered the Hall of Fame flag in Canton, Ohio, to half-staff in Brandt’s honor.