Tom Landry, or known by many as “the man in the hat”, patrolled the sidelines for the Cowboys from their inception in 1960 for 29 seasons until 1988, which was the second longest tenure for a coach with one team behind George Halas who coached the Chicago Bears for 40 years.  During his tenure the Cowboys had many successes and some disappointments, but Coach Landry was always the face of the organization and the stabilizing force to their success. 

At the start of his coaching career it did not go so well.  It took him until 1966 for the team to have their first winning season and they won the NFL’s Eastern Conference Championship.  The remarkable stat about Landry and his coaching was that the team did not have a below .500 record again until 1986, and during that stretch Landry had 20 straight winning seasons (a record that still stands and is a standard and in all sports), 13 Divisional Championships, 5 NFC titles and winner of Super Bowls VI and XII, and lost in Super Bowls V, X and XIII.  During his career he posted a total record of 270-178-6 and his total for wins was only surpassed by George Halas and Don Shula, although his 20 post-season victories were the most in NFL history and that was before the Wild Card game. 

Landry was an innovator in the NFL and introduced the 4-3 defense, “flex defense”, situational substitution and restructured the shotgun and implied a spread offense in the 1980’s.  When Landry introduced the 4-3 defense his innovation was the introduction of the middle linebacker.  When Landry was coaching the defense for the Giants he used to defense to huge success thanks to having the legendary Sam Huff as his middle linebacker.

Sam Huff said this about Landry and his 4-3 defense; “Landry built the 4-3 defense around me.  It revolutionized defense and opened the door for all the variations of zones and man-to-man coverage, which are used in conjunction with it today.”

Then when Landry became the head coach of the Cowboys he refined the 4-3 into the “Flex Defense” which helped create his “Doomsday Defense”.  The reason for the refinement was that he was concerned with Vince Lombardi and his “Run to Daylight” scheme where the running back went to an open space instead of a designated gap.  Landry believed that the best counter attack to that offense was a defense that flowed to daylight and blotted it out.  So Landry moved 2 of his 4 linemen off the line of scrimmage one yard, and would change which linemen would flex based on which way the defense anticipated the offense would run.  There were thus 3 different types of Flex Defense: Strong, Weak and Tackle (in this formation both defensive tackles were off the line of scrimmage).  The base of the defense then had gaps that each defender needed to fill, even before they knew where the play was going. 

Landry the innovator was not done as now that he created a monster or “Doomsday Defense” he needed to create an offense that could score on it.  Landry went to a man-in-motion offense and also implied the shotgun formation, but the biggest offensive contribution was in the use of “pre-shifting”, where the offense would shift from one formation to another before the snap of the ball.  Landry took this from Coach Amos Alonzo Stagg who invented this around the turn of the 20^th century, but Landry was the first one to use this on a regular basis.  Landry would then have his offensive linemen stand up and then resume their hands down stance, all the while the backs were in the process of shifting their positions.  The purpose of the offensive linemen standing and getting back into their stances was done to make it more difficult for the defense to see where the backs were shifting and gave the offense an advantage.  While shifting was done by many teams few of them employed the “up and down” technique as much as Landry. 

The end of Landry’s coaching career came after the 1988 season in which the Cowboys finished 3-13, and it was the 4^th time in 5 years that they missed the playoffs and their 3^rd straight losing season.  Landry was determined to turn the team around and coach into the 1990’s as he said “unless I get fired”, all the while he was letting his coaching staff go.  Landry had one year remaining on his contract which him $1 Million a season.  Then H.R. “Bum” Bright sold the team to Jerry Jones due to his major loses he suffered during the Savings and Loan scandal.  With the team now under the control of Jerry Jones, for less than 2 weeks, decided it was best to move on and dismissed Landry as head coach on February 26^th, 1989.  Jones then hired his former teammate at the University of Arkansas, Jimmie Johnson, who was coaching at the University of Miami.  Tex Schramm, a long time friend of Landry and GM for the Cowboys, was in tears at the press conference which announced the coaching change and shortly afterwards he was also forced out.  The two had been together for 29 years since the inception of the Cowboys in 1960.  When Landry met with his players 2 days later to tell them how much he would miss them, he began to cry, and the players responded with a standing ovation for the “Man in the Hat”.

By Houdini      

Ed Lee “Too Tall” Jones is one of only 3 players who played 15 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.  Jones was 6 feet, 9 inches tall which made people call him “too tall”.  He was a member of the famed “Doomsday Defense” of the 70’s and bridged the gap playing for both Tom Landry and Jimmie Johnson.  By the end of his career he finished with 106 career sacks, with a season high of 13 sacks in 1985.  Unfortunately, he is remembered as the improbable tall lineman who Joe Montana threw over to complete “The Catch” to Dwight Clark.

Jones was named All-Pro in 1981 and 1982 and played in 16 playoff games, including 3 Super Bowls, when he officially retired in 1989.  Jones also made a special appearance in WrestleMania 2 as a referee outside the ring for the 20-man Battle Royale, which included William “The Refrigerator” Perry.  Jones recently starred in a Geico commercial where the commentator asks “Is Ed Too Tall Jones really too tall?” to which we flash to Jones in a doctor’s office trying to be measured with the scale rod coming detached from the scale trying to reach his head.  The nurse then says “I’m just going to guesstimate.”

By Houdini

Dan Reeves will always be connected to Cowboys, and more specifically Tom Landry who was his mentor.  Reeves signed with the Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 1965 to play safety, but due to many injuries during training camp he was moved to halfback.  He did not play much except on special teams in his rookie year. 

The next year Landry wanted more speed at running back and moved All-Pro safety Mel Renfro to offense.  Renfro was hurt in the opening game against the Giants and Reeves stepped into his role.  Reeves broke out that year leading the team in rushing and with 757 yards and came in second on the team in receiving with another 757 yards.  He set a Cowboys record, at the time, with 16 touchdowns (8 rushing, 8 receiving) and finished the season with the most touchdowns in the NFL.  He was named All-Pro that year and helped the Cowboys reach their first championship game. 

The following year totaled over 1000 total yards and had two milestone games.  In a game against the Philadelphia Eagles he scored a touchdown rushing, receiving and also threw a touchdown pass.  The other was a game against the Atlanta Falcons where he set a team record scoring 4 touchdowns.   Reeves was a very talented player who was off to a very promising start, until the 4^th week of the 1968 season where he tore his right knee and missed the rest of the season.  That knee injury never truly healed, modern medicine could have had him back near 100%, and his abilities took a sharp turn downward.   

Tom Landry was such a fan of Reeves he refused to cut him.  Instead he played him in spots and made him a player coach.  Reeves remained in that position for 3 years through 1972 when he finally retired and became a full time assistant coach.  During his playing career the Cowboys made the every year and reached the Super Bowl twice (V, VI) winning Super Bowl VI.  That made up for his missed catch, in Super Bowl V, in the last two minutes of a tie game that was intercepted and set the Colts up in Dallas territory where a 32 yard field goal ended the game in 16-13 defeat.

After his playing career was over he spent time with the Cowboys as their backfield coach before becoming the team’s offensive coordinator in 1977.  He remained in that role until his opportunity came in 1981 to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos.  At the time, the Landry protégé was the youngest head coach in the NFL.  Reeves then went on to coach for the NY Giants and Atlanta Falcons.  Reeves holds the record for the most Super Bowl appearances as a player and or coach with 9 (5 with the Cowboys, 3 with Denver and 1 with Atlanta).  He was named Coach of the Year in 1998. 

In 2010, Reeves was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

By Houdini

The Cowboys have been known as “America’s Team” for as long as some people can remember and while the Cowboys embrace the name, there are many fans around the country who hate that the Cowboys are “America’s Team”.  So where did this come from and how did it stick? 

In 1978 NFL films was doing a highlight film for the Cowboys and when the film opens the narrator opens with the following:  “They appear on television so often that their faces are as familiar to the public as presidents and movie stars.  They are the Dallas Cowboys, America’s Team”.  The coining of the phrase goes to Bob Ryan, who is now the Vice President and editor in chief of NFL Films.  Ryan was quoted as saying; “I wanted to come up with a different twist on their team highlight film.  I noticed then, and had noticed earlier, that wherever the Cowboys played, you saw people in the stands with Cowboys jerseys, hats and pennants.  Plus they were always the national game on television.”   That is all fine and good but that did not make the term stick.

In 1979, during the Cowboys’ first game, which was a nationally televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the announcer for CBS introduced the Cowboys as “America’s Team” and the name stuck from there on out.  Tom Landry was originally opposed to his team being called “America’s team” as he feared it would give opposing teams an extra incentive to play harder against them.  Eventually even he changed his mind and came to like the name.

By Houdini

There is a strong hatred between the Cowboys and Redskins that even had Tom Landry sing “Momma, don’t let your babies grow up to be Redskins”.  The history of the rivalry goes back to the inception of the Dallas Cowboys.  When the NFL began considering Texas as the state to host a proposed expansion team the move was strongly opposed by George Preston Marshall, the Redskins owner, who had enjoyed a monopoly in the South for 3 decades.  Clint Murchison who was trying to bring the NFL to Dallas made a bold move and a move that made the Cowboys possible.  Murchison bought the rights to “Hail to the Redskins” and threatened to prevent Marshall from playing it at Redskins games.  Marshall then agreed to back Murchison’s bid and Murchison gave him back the rights to the song, and the Dallas Cowboys were born.

The Dallas Cowboys were not always the Dallas Cowboys.  Upon their inception the team was known as the Dallas Steers and then it was changed to the Dallas Rangers.  All of these names came out and were changed before the team made their debut.  They were not happy with the initial selections and really like the name Cowboys and that was the one that stuck.  I think I prefer the Cowboys to the Steers, good choice Dallas.

There are two stories that revolve around why the Cowboys wear white uniforms at home.  The story that I find to be the most fun is that they are known as the “Bad Luck Blues”.  The curse of the blue jerseys dates back to 1968 when the 12-2 Cowboys were upset in the playoffs by the Cleveland Browns 31-20.  Then 2 years later in Super Bowl V they were forced to wear their blue jerseys because they were designated as the home team and lost to the Baltimore Colts 16-13.  This is because it was an unofficial rule back then that home teams needed to wear their colored jerseys in the Super Bowl.  Since then fans have considered the blue uniforms to be the Bad Luck Blues and the Cowboys have not played as well in the blue uniforms.  The Cowboys wear their white jerseys at home, and knowing how they feel about the blues, there are some teams like the Giants, Redskins, Rams and Eagles who would force the Cowboys to wear their blue jerseys while on the road in hopes of playing into the curse.  

Then there is the story that combined with what happened in Super Bowl V makes the most sense.  Tex Schramm has said that going into the inaugural season of 1960 that the Cowboys had no traditions.  The main reason he said for doing this was so that the home fans could see the home colors of all the other teams in the league.  You combine that with the fact that the fans thought they were bad luck and you have the tradition of wearing the white jerseys at home. 

In 1966 the Dallas Cowboys played in their first Thanksgiving Day game, and on playing in the game the Cowboys sought a guarantee that they would regularly host the Thanksgiving day going forward.  The Cowboys and Lions have been the hosts to the games since 1966 and due to TV contracts that networks had to showcase either the NFC or the AFC forced one of the games to be between two NFC opponents and one vs. an AFC opponent.  That rotates between the two teams.  The Cowboys and their fans are very proud of their tradition on Thanksgiving.  

Tex Schramm is a legendary figure of the Dallas Cowboys.  He was the team’s General Manager from their inception in 1960-1988.  It became apparent in 1959 that the NFL was intent on expanding to Dallas and Schramm told all his friends in football of his desire to run the team.  Schramm got the help he needed in form of the founder of the NFL, George Halas, who introduced Schramm to Clint Murchison Jr., who was the eventual owner of the new franchise in Dallas, and Murchison let Schramm do what Schramm did best. 

In 1960, Schramm hired Tom Landry to be his head coach and Gil Brandt to be his chief scout.  The three men built the expansion Cowboys into an elite team within 5 years.  Under the tenure of Schramm the Cowboys had 20 consecutive winning seasons and were with the team with the most wins in the 1970’s (more than the Steelers who won 4 Super Bowls in that decade).  The Cowboys appeared in 5 Super Bowls (V, VI, X, XII and XIII) during the 70’s winning Super Bowls VI and XII.  Their 3 Super Bowl losses came by a combined total of 11 points. 

Schramm was known as the most powerful General Manager in the NFL.  Schramm even held the Cowboys’ voting right at league meetings, a right normally reserved for team owners.  Schramm showed his power back in 1966 when he met secretly with Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League (AFL), and began negotiations that led to the first Super Bowl in 1967 as well as the NFL and AFL merger of 1970.  Schramm also impacted the game in other ways.  

The way we watch and enjoy football today can be attributed to the changes that Tex Schramm made to the game for the good.  He was the driving force for using Instant Replay in football, which is something we can’t do without these days.  He also was the first to use computer technology, think Moneyball, in his scouting of players.  Schramm is the reason that we have multi-color striping on the 20’s and 50 yard lines.  He is also the reason they initially went to a 30 second clock, now 25 seconds, between plays to speed up the game.  Schramm is also responsible for having extra-wide sideline boarders and the person who thought that the goal posts needed flags on them to help tell the wind direction for QB’s and kickers.  Have you ever been thrilled to hear the long winded explanations of the “BUFF” official Ed Hochuli?  Well that would not be possible if Tex Schramm had not come up with the idea for a microphone on the referee.  Then we all need to give thanks to Schramm for his greatest innovation of all time…the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. 

Schramm lead the league’s Competition Committee and oversaw rule changes such as overtime in the regular season, putting the official time on the scoreboard, moving the goalposts from the front of the endzone to back, and he oversaw the in the grasp rule to protect quarterbacks.  Guess what else Schramm helped develop?  Due to his using computers in scouting and wanting a more comprehensive scouting process led him to help create the all popular NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. 

Tex Schramm may truly be the biggest innovator and reason for the success of the NFL as a brand through his vision and foresight.  I can blather on and on about him, but I think one of the greatest coaches of all time, Don Shula, said it best when speaking of Schramm, “I truly believe he has as much, or more, to do with the success of professional football as anyone who has ever been connected with the league.”

Randy White was a BEAST!!!  I remember as a child watching the Cowboys and you had to be aware of where Randy White was.  He was drafted by the Cowboys in 1975, but did not make his impact on the team and the NFL until his 3^rd season in 1977 when White was moved to right defensive tackle. 

1977 was a breakout year for White.  He was named to his first Pro-Bowl and that year was named co-MVP of Super Bowl XII with teammate Harvey Martin, which makes White one of only 7 defensive players ever to win the honor.  White followed that season up by being named to 9 consecutive Pro-Bowl teams.

During his 14 year career, White racked up 1104 tackles (701 solo) along with 111 sacks.  In 1978, White, who had 16 sacks, was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Year.  In his 14 years of professional football White played in 209 games and missed all of 1 game during his career.  When you think about the era he played in and the amount of injuries that took players out, that is a remarkable feat.  He finished his career at the same time as Tom Landry’s unwanted departure from the team.  His teammates said what set Randy White apart from the other Cowboys was not his ability to make big plays, but rather his consistency and his willingness to work hard.  At practice, his teammates would suffer just trying to keep up with him.  He had the desire of a champion and in 1994 he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

His parents may have named him Roger, but in truth, Bob and Betty Staubach may have been the only two people in history to call him by that name.

Some people knew him as “Roger the Dodger” for his tremendous scrambling ability; others dubbed him “Captain Comeback” for his effectiveness in executing come-from-behind victories; and still others saw him as “Captain America” for being the quarterback/leader of America’s Team. However, no matter the nickname, he will always be known as to most every fan around as “The Greatest Cowboy” ever.

Staubach’s brilliant career began as a sophomore QB for the United States Naval Academy in 1962, but it wasn’t until his junior year that he would gain national notoriety. That historic 1963 season would see Staubach win both the Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award (best college football player in the U.S.) for leading the 9-1 Navy Midshipmen to the national championship game against Texas in the Cotton Bowl (which they lost, 28-7). It was the last time the Heisman Trophy was won by a player from a military academy.

Roger might have been drafted much earlier if it weren’t for his impeding four years of naval service, but due to his military commitments, he wasn’t selected until the 10^th round (129^th overall) of the 1964 NFL Draft. In 1965, Staubach graduated from the Naval Academy with an engineering degree and began his active duty. Three of those years were spent in the States while the other was spent on a tour of duty overseas in Vietnam as a supply officer. In 1969, his four years of active duty were completed upon which time he joined the team that drafted him, the Dallas Cowboys.

Most of his first two seasons (1969-70) with the Cowboys were spent gathering butt-splinters as then-starting quarterback, Craig Morton, was busy leading the team to back-to-back playoff appearances. In the middle of the 1971 season, however, coach Tom Landry decided that Morton had lost his mojo enough for Staubach to get his chance…and Roger would not disappoint. After beginning the season at 4-3, Staubach was called upon as the full-time starter and did his part to see America’s Team go undefeated the rest of the way…including the playoffs. At 29-years-old, Roger Staubach led the Cowboys to their first ever Super Bowl title and a legend was born.

Captain America’s Cowboys had a winning record during each of his 11 years as Roger put up an astounding 85-29 regular season record as a starter. He also led the ‘Boys to four Super Bowl appearances in all (1971, 1975, 1977, 1978), winning two of them (1971, 1977), while missing the playoffs just once (1974, though the team was 8-6). His career accolades were endless, highlighted by six Pro Bowl selections, five All-NFC selections, being named the Super Bowl VI MVP, induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985 (his first-year eligible), being named to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, and an induction into the Cowboys Ring of Honor. He was also inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

Another little-known fact is that the “Hail Mary” pass was named after, or at least became famous because of a game-winning touchdown pass by Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson in the 1975 NFC Divisional Playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. With 24 seconds left on the clock and the Cowboys down 14-10, Staubach heaved a desperation pass down the right sideline that ended up barely being caught by Pearson for a game-winning touchdown. After the game, when Staubach was asked about the play, he said “It was just a Hail Mary pass; a very, very lucky play. I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary”.

As a Naval Officer in his youth, a Hall of Fame quarterback in his prime and a real estate business mogul in his later years, fans of America’s Team can be proud to say that Roger Staubach—a legendary, one-of-a-kind individual—played his entire career for their team, the Dallas Cowboys.

When you think of the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990’s, if you’re like most people, the names Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin immediately come to mind. Or maybe you’re the type of fan who loves a good defense and find yourself thinking of guys like safety Darren Woodson and the infamous Deion Sanders. Or maybe, just maybe, you’re a persnickety old multi-gazillionaire or just plain cuckoo and recall the likes of either Jerry Jones or Jimmy Johnson. Whatever the case, my guess is you’re probably not one of the 0.01% who first remembers the Cowboys athletic tight end, Jay Novacek…but there are plenty of reasons why you should.

First of all, the Cowboys run of three Super Bowl victories in four years during the mid-90’s was in no small part due to the play of Mr. Novacek. In those three games, the Cowboys tight end combined to put up 17 catches for 148 yards and two touchdowns while leading or tying for the team lead in receptions during all three games. Pretty impressive when you consider all the other options Aikman had at his disposal (Michael Irvin, Alvin Harper, Emmitt Smith, Daryl Johnston, Kevin Williams).

Novacek also came to be known as Troy Aikman’s “Right-Hand Man” during the early part of his career. On more than a just few occasions, Jay bailed Aikman and the ‘Boys out of trouble as it seemed the two had some sort of sixth sense about one another. Click on the link below to hear Aikman and Michael Irvin talk about the impact Novacek had on their offense during those years:

http://www.nfl.com/videos/auto/09000d5d8008fbd9/America-s-Game-1992-Cowboys

As far as personal achievements go, Novacek, a College Football Hall of Famer, stands pretty darn close to some of the best tight ends to ever play the game. He was selected to five Pro Bowls (each year from 1991-1995) during his 11-year career, or as many as Pro Football Hall of Famers Dave Casper, Mike Ditka, John Mackey, Jackie Smith and Kellen Winslow. He also had the most receptions for a tight end and third-most yards in the NFL during his duration as a Dallas Cowboy from 1990-1995 while leading the league in both 1990 and 1992.

As of the beginning of the 2012 season, Novacek’s career statistical rankings within the Dallas Cowboys organization is pretty high up there as well as he ranks 8th in receptions (339), 9th in receiving yards (3,576) and 13th in receiving TDs (22).

Sadly, in February of 2010, Jay Novacek’s wife, LeAnne, was found dead at her mother’s home of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. She was 45-years old.

Besides my mother and father, there were a few things I remember loving as a child back in the mid-to-late 70’s. I loved the tree house my Dad built in the backyard. I loved playing board games like Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. I loved family trips to Maine and bubblegum ice cream. But what I loved most, what I loved the absolute most of all the things in the entire world…was football.

Being from Chicago, I remember trouncing around the yard pretending I was Walter Payton, trying to run through my Dad like he was “Mean” Joe Greene keeping me from winning the Super Bowl. Of course I loved the Chicago Bears, but when you’re a kid, all you really tend to love is the sport itself. I loved Walter Payton because he was the most fun player to watch. I loved Otis Sistrunk because he looked like an alien. I loved Reggie Rucker because of the face he made on his 1979 Topps chewing gum card. I loved Earl Campbell, John Riggins, Lee Roy Selmon, Billy Sims, Kellen Winslow, Garo Yepremian, the San Diego Chargers and yes, I loved the Dallas Cowboys.

There were so many great players to love! Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Tony Hill, Randy White (and who I thought must be his younger brother, Danny), Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Charlie Waters and of course, the man in the hat, Tom Landry. What wasn’t to love?

What got me so curious about them, though, was that big blue star on their helmets. Stars are what I would get on my assignments when I did a good job in school, so naturally, I took it to mean that the Dallas Cowboys must be a really really really good football team. I remember asking my father one day if the star meant that they were the best team in the league. I don’t specifically recall if he chuckled at that or not, but I wouldn’t blame him now if he did. He told me, “That’s good thinking, son. But actually, the Cowboys wear the star on their helmet because Dallas is located in Texas, and Texas is known as ‘The Lone Star State’”.

Obviously I was enthralled by this information and proceeded to ask what every state I could think of was known as, but it all came back to that big blue star and what it meant to me. I then told my Dad that I loved the Cowboys and what did he do? He went out and bought me a plain white football helmet and painted the big blue stars on it himself.

To tidy up this little story a bit, I feel I must add that my father was actually a touch wrong as to why the Cowboys wear the star on their helmet. It’s not simply because Texas is “The Lone Star State”, but also has to do with what the star itself actually represents. The star, in and of itself, symbolizes Texas’ independence from Mexico and stands for the entire state’s solidarity for God, State and Country. The Dallas Cowboys adopted this philosophy as their own and proudly show what their team stands for within their logo; the Big Blue Star.

There are plenty of words you could use to describe the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders:  Sexy; Gorgeous; Spicy; Erotic; Provocative; Hot; Voluptuous; Risqué; Salacious; Yowzers!; or just plain Hubba Hubba.

Actually, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders didn’t quite get their start in the way you might have dreamt. In fact, the original cheerleading squad, which was put together in 1960, was made up of both women AND men that were taken from local high schools and called themselves the CowBelles & Beaux.

However, in 1969, male cheerleaders were dropped from the squad and then in 1972, an idea hit the Cowboys general manager, Tex Schramm, that cheerleaders could actually be part of the overall entertainment of football instead of merely a group of rah-rah local students. So he pitched his idea to the manager of the squad, Dee Brock, and the decision was made to make the change.

Dee went out and hired a top-of-the-line dancer, Texie Waterman, to hold auditions for the redesigned squad and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as we know them today was born. Dancing routines were infused with beauty and sexiness; pom-poms and pimples were replaced by short-shorts and glamour. When the 1972 season began, the seven most beautiful and talented women of the sixty who auditioned took to the sidelines and the NFL was set ablaze.

In 1978, two network television specials—the NBC Rock-n-Roll Sports Classic and ABC’s The Osmond Brothers Special—featured “America’s Sweethearts”, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders…and things only grew from there. Commercials were shot, made-for-TV movies were created, television appearances were made, and on and on and on. Tours across America and regular USO tour appearances overseas became the norm for the DCC phenomenon. Yearly calendars are published, charity work, you name it.

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are truly as heavenly a body of performers in the sporting world as you’ll find anywhere around the globe.

http://www.dallascowboyscheerleaders.com/home.cfm

Question:  So how big is this monstrous Mitsubishi JumboTron thing at Cowboys Stadium anyway?

Answer:  Since we have the exact specifications of the JumboTron, which is actually the largest High-Definition Video Display in the world, we might as well give them to you:

(http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/12000/largest-scoreboard)

Two Center-Hung Sideline Displays

Width: 159' 7-1/16"

Height: 71' 4-3/4"

Total LEDs: 10,584,064

Pixel-Pitch: 20mm

Screen Area: 11,393 square feet

Power Consumption: 635 Kilowatts

Screen Weight: Approx. 170,000 lbs

Video Source: 1080p HDTV

Resolution: 2,176 x 4,864

Two Center-Hung End Zone Displays

Width: 50' 4-3/4"

Height: 28' 6-3/4"

Total LEDs: 2,088,960

Pixel-Pitch: 16mm

Screen Area: 1,439 square feet

Power Consumption: 80 Kilowatts

Screen Weight: Approx. 25,000 lbs

Video Source: 1080p HDTV

Resolution: 1,080 x 1,920

Installation Start Date: October, 2008

Installation Completion Date: June 1, 2009

Question:  So how much did this bad-daddy cost?

Answer:  The entire Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision™ JumboTron ended up setting Jerry Jones and the Cowboys back approximately $40 million.

Other Assorted Facts and Figures:

-       It would take 4,920 52-inch flat panel TVs lined up side-by-side to equal the size of the JumboTron

-       The whole thing weighs about 600 tons and is suspended 90 feet in the air directly over the center of the big blue star in the middle of the playing field

-       It stretches from approximately one 20-yard line to the other 20-yard line

-       The video board itself uses 30 million light bulbs

-       The only access to the video board is by one of two motorized platforms that can only move at a rate of 30 feet per minute

Troy Aikman grew up in the middle class suburb of West Covina, which is located about 20 miles east of Los Angeles, California. The town is somewhat known for the plethora of baseball players that come from the area, most notably the Giambi brothers, Jason and Jeremy. Troy could have easily taken up a career in baseball himself, as he was offered a contract by the New York Mets straight out of high school, but instead he chose to become a quarterback in his the sport he loved just a little bit more—football.

However, Troy still carries a torch for baseball as he jumped back into the sport in 2009 when he became part-owner of the San Diego Padres. He might have been this close to signing with the Mets as either a catcher or outfielder back in 1984, but you can bet Cowboys fans are pretty darn happy he didn’t accept their offer.

Leading up to his pro career, Aikman would play two years in college for UCLA after transferring from Oklahoma. In the first of those two seasons, Aikman led the Bruins to a 10-2 record and was named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year. In his final season, Aikman again led his team to a 10-2 record yet this time, he would go on to win the Davey O’Brien Award (the nation’s top QB), was a consensus All-American and finished third in the 1988 Heisman Trophy voting. He would eventually be voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008, but what grabbed him the most fame that final season was that the Dallas Cowboys coach at the time, Tom Landry, came to watch Troy at practice at Texas Stadium while the Bruins prepared for their Cotton Bowl showdown with the Arkansas Razorbacks (which UCLA won, 17-3). Because “The Man in the Hat” (Landry) came awatchin’, America was sure that Troy Aikman would become the #1 overall selection for the Dallas Cowboys in the 1989 NFL Draft.

America was right.

The Cowboys made Aikman the first overall pick in the 1989 draft and even though Tom Landry wasn’t there to see that it happened (he was fired and replaced by Jimmy Johnson two months earlier), there was no doubt whatsoever it was the correct call for the ‘Boys to make. Dallas was in desperate need of a signal-caller at the time and as it turned out, Aikman would be one of only three QBs drafted over the next three years to ever make a Pro Bowl team (Neil O’Donnell, 3rd-round, 1990; Brett Favre, 2nd-round, 1991) and is currently the only one in the Hall of Fame (Favre will be a first-ballot inductee in 2016). When you’re looking to rebuild your team, what better place to start than with the quarterback position?

Unlike his predecessors—Cowboy greats Roger Staubach and Danny White—Aikman was handed the keys to the car and thrown directly into the fire upon arrival. Though he would go on to have one of the worst rookie seasons a quarterback could possibly have, the decision would ultimately turn out to be the best possible thing for both the Dallas Cowboys franchise and for Troy himself. Aikman went on to start 11 of the Cowboys 16 games during his rookie season in 1989 and ended up with a dreadful 0-11 record. He averaged a mere 159 yards/game while throwing just nine touchdowns compared to 18 interceptions. His passer rating of 55.7 was the seventh-worst of any rookie QB since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger (based on 250+ pass attempts) though it must be said, it was slightly better than John Elway’s 54.9 rookie passer rating.

The fact of the matter is that the Cowboys were rebuilding their franchise from the top down. They had nobody to throw the ball to; nobody to run the ball; nobody at all! This is why starting Troy Aikman from Day One was exactly the right thing for the team to do. Their starting QB of the future could now walk into his second season with a little bit of experience under his belt while owner Jerry Jones and coach Jimmy Johnson assembled a few more pieces for him to work with… and boy oh boy would they ever.

The Cowboys already had Michael Irvin locked in at wide receiver after drafting him with the 11th pick in the first round in 1988, but maybe the most important piece to Troy Aikman’s eventual success came in 1990 when the 17th pick of the first round rolled around and the Cowboys decided to give Aikman a guy to hand the ball off too; RB Emmitt Smith.

Dallas spent the next few seasons building their offensive line and revamping their entire defense through the draft, trades and free agency and by 1992, they had themselves a winner. In just his fourth season in the league, Troy Aikman led the Dallas Cowboys to their first of three Super Bowl victories in four years between 1992 and 1995. No team and no quarterback had ever accomplished such a feat before and none have since.

Over the course of his Hall of Fame career, Troy Aikman may not have assembled the finest statistical resume in the history of quarterbacks, but he sure knew what it took to win. His triumphs, such as the 90 wins he accumulated in a single decade (the 1990s) or his three Super Bowl rings in four years, are records most any QB would rather have than any statistical accolade. He was a high-profile, yet modest leader who held together a team full of egos better than most anyone could have ever imagined.

Whether he was the most talented player in Cowboys history or not, Troy Aikman epitomizes what it means to be a Hall of Fame quarterback.

Awards

-       Three-Time Super Bowl Winner

-       Super Bowl XXVII MVP

-       Three-Time All-Pro (1993, 1994, 1995)

-       Six-Time Pro Bowl Selection (1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996)

-       Walter Payton Man of the Year (1997)

Where Aikman Stands in Cowboys History

-       94 Wins (First All-Time, 94-71 overall record)

-       4,715 Pass Attempts (First All-Time)

-       2,898 Pass Completions (First All-Time)

-       32,942 Pass Yards (First All-Time)

-       165 Touchdown Passes (First All-Time)

-       141 Interception (First All-Time)

-       61.5 Completion % (Third All-Time)

-       199.6 Pass Yards/Game (Fourth All-Time)

-       81.6 Passer Rating (Fourth All-Time)