Dallas Cowboys
In late 1959, when it became apparent that the NFL was intent on expanding to Dallas, Schramm told his friends in football that he was interested in running the team. Chicago Bears owner George Halas introduced Schramm to Clint Murchison, Jr., who had tried to bring the NFL to Dallas several times in the past. Murchison hired Schramm as the general manager for a potential Dallas team, which became a reality when the league awarded a team to the city on January 28, 1960.
In 1960, Schramm hired head coach Tom Landry and chief scout Gil Brandt. By the mid 1960s, the three men had built the Cowboys into an elite team. The Cowboys had 20 consecutive winning seasons, and were the winningest NFL team of the 1970s. They appeared in five Super Bowls that decade, winning Super Bowls VI and XII, and losing Super Bowls V, X, and XIII by a combined 11 points. The Cowboys became a marquee NFL franchise, their popularity inspiring the nickname "America's Team".
Schramm was known as the most powerful general manager in the NFL. The Cowboys' owners during his tenure, Murchison (1960–84) and H.R. "Bum" Bright (1984–1988), largely left day-to-day operations in his hands. Schramm held the Cowboys' voting right at league meetings, a right normally reserved for team owners.
In 1966, Schramm met secretly with American Football League (AFL) founder Lamar Hunt to begin the negotiations that led to the 1970 merger of the NFL and AFL, as well as the first Super Bowl in 1967.
Read more about this topic: Tex Schramm
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