History of the Dallas Cowboys

1952 Dallas Texans
A precursor to the Cowboys, the Dallas Texans competed in 1952 and finished 1-11. The team folded in the off-season.

1960 - 1966 Early struggles
In 1960, Clint Murchinson Jr was awarded an NFL franchise in Dallas,Texas. He named his team the Cowboys and named Tom Landry Head Coach. On September 24 1960, Dallas played its first ever game, a 35-24 loss to Pittsburgh. The Cowboys finished 0-11-1 in 1960. In 1961, they joined the Eastern Conference and won their first game 27-24 over Minnesota. However, Dallas went 4-9-1 in 1961. In 1962 they went 5-8-1. 1963 saw them finish 4-10 and 1964 went 5-8-1. The Cowboys went 7-7 in 1965. In 1966 Don Meredith led the team to a 10-3-1 record and they played Green Bay in the 1966 NFL Championship.

1966 NFL Championship
Bart Starr and the Pack got a 14-0 lead but Dallas fought back and it was 21-13 Green Bay at the half. Meredith threw a touchdown to cut the lead to 21-20. Bart Starr threw his 3rd touchdown to Boyd Dowler to take a 28-20 lead but Cowboy cornerback Mike Geghter leveled Dowler in the end zone and injured Dowler. After a Cowboy punt, Starr threw a touchdown to Max McGee to take a 34-20 lead. Meredith with 3:12 to go in the game threw a 68 yard touchdown pass to Frank Clarke to make it 34-27. Green Bay punted and Dallas drove to the Packer 2 yard line. On 1st down, Dallas lost 4 yards. On 2nd down and 3rd down they got back the 2. Then it was 4th down with 0:45 left. Meredith rolled out to his right and linebacker Dave Robinson wrapped him up but Meredith slung a wonky pass into the end zone that was intercepted by Tom Brown. Green Bay went on to win Super Bowl 1 35-10.