1960 Dallas Texans

The 1960 Dallas Texans season was the inaugural season of Lamar Hunt’s American Football League franchise from Dallas, Texas. Head coach Hank Stram led the team to an 8–6 record and second place in the AFL’s Western Conference.

For the Texans' inaugural season, team owner Lamar Hunt pursued both legendary University of Oklahoma coach Bud Wilkinson and New York Giants defensive assistant Tom Landry to lead his Texans franchise. Wilkinson opted to stay at Oklahoma, while Landry was destined to coach the NFL’s expansion franchise in Dallas. Hunt settled on a relatively unknown assistant coach from the University of Miami, Hank Stram. “One of the biggest reasons I hired Hank was that he really wanted the job,” Hunt explained. “It turned out to be a very lucky selection on my part.”

The Texans set up offices in the Mercantile National Bank Building, while Jerry Foss headquartered the AFL offices out of Dallas, as well. Reserved seats were $4, general admission $2 and high school students paid $.90 that initial season. Don Rossi served as the team’s General Manager until November when he was succeeded by Jack Steadman.

The Texans conducted their inaugural training camp at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico. The club embarked on a whirlwind pre-season barnstorming tour that featured road games in Oakland, Tulsa, Boston, Abilene, and Little Rock. An announced crowd of 51,000 at the Cotton Bowl witnessed a 24–3 victory against Houston on September 2 as the club concluded a perfect 6–0 preseason record.

The Texans had a strong home-state identity with quarterback Cotton Davidson from Baylor, linebacker Sherrill Headrick from TCU and running back Abner Haynes from North Texas. Haynes led the league with 875 rushing yards and nine TDs, as well as combined net yards (2,100) and punt return average (15.4).

The Texans also had a flashy, high-scoring club which finished the year at 8–6 as three close losses kept the squad from challenging for the division title. The Texans averaged 24,500 for their home games, the highest average in the league.

1960 AFL Draft
In the inaugural American Football League Draft, the Texans chose the following players to fill-up their squad:


 * Jack Atcheson, E, Western Illinois
 * George Boone, T, Kentucky
 * Chris Burford, E, Stanford
 * Earl Ray Butler, T, North Carolina
 * Gail Cogdill, E, Washington State
 * James Crotty, HB, Notre Dame
 * Gary Ferguson, T, SMU
 * Tom Glynn, C, Boston College
 * Gene Gossage, T, Northwestern
 * Jim Heineke, T, Wisconsin
 * William Jerry, G/T, South Carolina
 * John Kapele, T, BYU
 * Louis Kelley, FB, New Mexico State
 * Gilmer Lewis, T/G, Oklahoma
 * John Malmberg, T/G, Knox College
 * Arvle Martin, C, TCU
 * Don Meredith, QB, SMU
 * Tom Moore, HB, Vanderbilt
 * Ola Murchison, E, COP
 * Bob Nelson, C, Wisconsin
 * Jim Norton, E, Idaho
 * Warren Rabb, QB, LSU
 * Howard Ringwood, HB, BYU
 * Johnny Robinson, HB, LSU
 * John Saunders, FB, South Carolina
 * Glenn Shaw, FB, Kentucky
 * Gordon Speer, HB, Rice
 * Jack Stone, G, Oregon
 * Marvin Terrell, G, Mississippi
 * Emery Turner, G, Purdue
 * Joe Vader, E, Kansas State
 * Carroll Zaruba, HB, Nebraska


 * Grady Alderman, G/T, Detroit
 * Herman Alexander, T/G, Findlay (OH)
 * Taz Anderson, HB, Georgia Tech
 * Jim Beaver, T/G, Florida
 * Bill Beck, T/G, Gustavus Adolphus
 * Gary Campbell, HB, Whittier
 * Vernon Cole, QB, North Texas State
 * Toby Deese, T/G, Georgia Tech
 * Carl Dumbald, T/G, West Virginia
 * Charles Elizey, C, Mississippi State
 * Tom Gates, HB, San Bernardino
 * Austin (Goose) Gonsoulin, HB, Baylor
 * Clark Holden, HB, USC
 * Dewitt Hoopes, T/G, Northwestern
 * Don Leebern, T/G, Georgia
 * Bill Thompson, C, Georgia
 * Billy Tranum, E, Arkansas
 * Jim Vickers, E, Georgia
 * Larry Ward, E, Lamar Tech
 * Paul Winslow, HB, North Carolina College
 * Doug Pat Brown, T/G, Fresno State

Regular season
The Texans finished their inaugural season 8–6, with three wins coming by shut-out.

Postseason
The Texans did not participate in the AFL Championship by finishing the season in second place of the Western Conference.