Dallas Cowboys

When Texas businessman Clint Murchison Jr. was awarded the NFL's newest franchise in 1960, few could have predicted the dynasty that would follow. The Cowboys' first season was a brutal introduction to professional football—the team went 0-11-1, failing to win a single game. Head coach Tom Landry, a former New York Giants defensive coordinator known for his innovative 4-3 defense, was given the unenviable task of building a team from scratch in a city that already had its heart set on the rival AFL's Dallas Texans.

But Landry was a patient architect. Working alongside general manager Tex Schramm and the revolutionary scouting director Gil Brandt, the Cowboys began assembling talent through unconventional means. Brandt pioneered the use of computer analysis in player evaluation, scouring small colleges and free agent pools that other teams ignored. The investment began paying dividends as quarterback Don Meredith emerged as the face of the franchise and defensive tackle Bob Lilly became the team's first draft pick and first true star.

By 1965, the Cowboys had clawed their way to a 7-7 record, signaling that the growing pains were finally subsiding. The pieces were falling into place for what would become one of the most dominant runs in NFL history.

The Cowboys burst onto the national stage in 1966 with their first playoff appearance and never looked back. Over the next thirteen seasons, Dallas became the model franchise in professional football, making the postseason every year but one and establishing a level of consistency that few teams in any sport have matched. The fearsome "Doomsday Defense," anchored by Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, and later Harvey Martin and Randy White, became the most feared unit in football.

The Cowboys reached their first Super Bowl following the 1970 season, falling to the Baltimore Colts in the infamous Super Bowl V—a game marred by turnovers that earned Dallas the painful "Next Year's Champions" label. But Landry's team responded with a vengeance, steamrolling through the 1971 season and demolishing the Miami Dolphins 24-3 in Super Bowl VI. Roger Staubach, the Heisman Trophy winner who had served four years in the Navy before joining the Cowboys, took over as the full-time quarterback and became one of the most clutch players in NFL history, engineering comeback after comeback that earned him the nickname "Captain Comeback."

The 1975 season introduced the world to the "Dirty Dozen"—twelve rookies who made the roster and helped carry the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl, where they fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers. That game also marked the debut of the Cowboys' iconic uniforms and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, who would become cultural icons in their own right. A second Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh followed the 1978 season, but between those heartbreaks came the glorious 1977 campaign, when the Cowboys dominated the Denver Broncos 27-10 in Super Bowl XII, with Harvey Martin and Randy White sharing MVP honors.

The late 1970s and 1980s tested the Cowboys in ways the franchise had never experienced. While Dallas remained competitive for much of this period—making three NFC Championship Games between 1980 and 1982—the dominance of the Doomsday years began to fade. Danny White succeeded Roger Staubach at quarterback and proved capable, but three consecutive conference championship losses (1980-82) cemented a narrative of falling just short.

The mid-1980s brought a steeper decline. The Cowboys' vaunted scouting department lost some of its edge, and the roster aged without adequate replacement. Tony Dorsett, the dynamic running back who had been the team's offensive centerpiece, was traded to Denver in 1988. The 1986 season brought a 7-9 record—Dallas's first losing season since 1964—and by 1988, the Cowboys had bottomed out at 3-13, the worst record in franchise history.

The losing coincided with a seismic ownership change. In February 1989, Arkansas oil magnate Jerry Jones purchased the Cowboys from the Bum Bright group for $140 million and immediately fired Tom Landry, the only head coach the franchise had ever known. Landry's dismissal after 29 seasons sent shockwaves through the football world. It was the end of an era, but Jones had a plan—and his name was Jimmy Johnson.

Jerry Jones's hiring of his University of Arkansas teammate Jimmy Johnson as head coach was initially met with skepticism, but the duo orchestrated one of the greatest rebuilding jobs in sports history. The cornerstone move was the October 1989 trade of Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings—a lopsided deal that netted Dallas a treasure trove of draft picks and players that would fuel the dynasty to come.

Johnson used those assets to assemble a juggernaut. Quarterback Troy Aikman, the first overall pick in 1989, became the franchise's steadying force. Running back Emmitt Smith, drafted in 1990, would become the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Wide receiver Michael Irvin, drafted in 1988, was the explosive playmaker. Together, "The Triplets" formed the most potent offensive trio of their generation, supported by a dominant offensive line anchored by Larry Allen and a suffocating defense led by Charles Haley.

The Cowboys won Super Bowl XXVII following the 1992 season, demolishing Buffalo 52-17 in the most dominant Super Bowl performance in years. They repeated as champions the following season with a 30-13 victory over Buffalo in Super Bowl XXVIII. After a shocking split between Jones and Johnson following the second title, Barry Switzer was brought in as head coach and guided the Cowboys to a third championship in four years, defeating Pittsburgh 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX after the 1995 season. It was a run of dominance that cemented the Cowboys' place among the greatest dynasties in NFL history.

The post-dynasty years were defined by a franchise struggling to recapture past glory. Barry Switzer was let go after the 1997 season, and the Cowboys cycled through Chan Gailey (1998-99) and Dave Campo (2000-02) without finding the right formula. The salary cap era had fundamentally changed the NFL landscape, and Dallas's aggressive spending during the dynasty years left the roster depleted.

The early 2000s were particularly bleak. Campo's teams went 15-33 over three seasons, the worst sustained stretch in franchise history. The once-proud defense became a liability, and the quarterback position—so stable during the Staubach and Aikman eras—became a revolving door featuring Quincy Carter, Chad Hutchinson, and others who couldn't fill the void.

Bill Parcells arrived in 2003 and restored respectability, going 10-6 in his first season and narrowing the Cowboys' focus. He drafted promising players like DeMarcus Ware and Marcus Spears, but couldn't break through in the postseason. Parcells retired after the 2006 season with a 34-30 record, having stabilized the franchise but unable to end the growing championship drought.

Tony Romo's emergence as the starting quarterback ushered in one of the most exciting and heartbreaking chapters in Cowboys history. The undrafted free agent from Eastern Illinois possessed elite arm talent and improvisational ability that made him one of the most entertaining players in the league. Under new head coach Wade Phillips (2007-10) and then Jason Garrett, Romo-led teams were consistently competitive but maddeningly inconsistent in the biggest moments.

The 2007 season saw the Cowboys go 13-3, earning the top seed in the NFC, only to suffer a stunning home playoff loss to the New York Giants. The 2009 season brought a playoff win—the franchise's first in thirteen years—before a loss to the Vikings. The 2014 campaign was perhaps the most complete Cowboys team of the era, going 12-4 behind a dominant rushing attack led by DeMarco Murray and an offensive line considered the best in football. The controversial "Dez Caught It" non-call in the divisional round loss to Green Bay became one of the most debated plays in NFL history.

Jerry Jones opened the spectacular AT&T Stadium (originally Cowboys Stadium) in 2009, a $1.2 billion palace that became the NFL's crown jewel and reinforced the Cowboys' brand as the league's most valuable franchise. But as Romo's body broke down—a series of back injuries and broken collarbones limited his final seasons—the franchise needed to find its next franchise quarterback.