60 Fun Facts About Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in which year?

There had been no NFL team south of Washington since the Dallas Texans folded after one season in 1952.

Before settling on 'Cowboys', the new Dallas franchise was first known by which two names?

The final name was announced on March 19, 1960 to avoid confusion with the Dallas Rangers baseball team.

Clint Murchison Jr. secured George Preston Marshall's expansion vote by buying the rights to what?

Bandleader Barnee Breeskin sold him 'Hail to the Redskins'; Murchison sold it back in exchange for the lone holdout vote.

Who was the Cowboys' first head coach, holding the job for 29 seasons?

His 29 straight years with one team is an NFL record, and he pioneered the 4-3 and 'flex' defenses.

The Cowboys are the only NFL team to record how many consecutive winning seasons, from 1966 to 1985?

In that stretch they missed the playoffs only twice, in 1974 and 1984.

Which item of clothing was the first head coach's trademark on the sideline?

Homer Simpson buys the hat in an episode of The Simpsons to improve his leadership skills.

Chuck Howley is the only Super Bowl MVP from a losing team. Which opponent beat Dallas 16-13 that day?

The Colts won 16-13 on Jim O'Brien's field goal with five seconds left.

The Cowboys won their first championship in Super Bowl VI, beating Miami by what score?

It was the first major pro sports title for any Dallas team, and Roger Staubach was named MVP.

Roger Staubach won the 1963 Heisman Trophy playing for which school?

He served a tour in Vietnam before joining the Cowboys in 1969, and later built a real estate firm he sold for $613 million.

Staubach's game-winning 1975 playoff pass to Drew Pearson gave football which lasting phrase?

The devout Catholic said afterward, 'I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary'; the Vikings lost 17-14.

Which of these was NOT one of Roger Staubach's nicknames?

He retired in 1980 with the highest career passer rating in NFL history at the time, 83.4.

Which NFL Films editor coined the nickname 'America's Team' after the loss in Super Bowl XIII?

Rival fans have mocked the label ever since, but it stuck through good times and bad.

Texas Stadium's famous opening overhead was the result of what?

Linebacker D. D. Lewis said the hole was there 'so God can watch His favorite team play'.

Texas Stadium was located in which Dallas suburb?

It opened in 1971, hosted the team for 38 seasons and was imploded on April 11, 2010.

The Cowboys' home in Arlington, opened in 2009, is widely nicknamed what?

It seats 80,000 but can hold over 100,000 with standing room; a 2009 crowd of 105,121 set the NFL regular-season record.

In which season did the Cowboys first host an NFL Thanksgiving Day game, starting a tradition?

GM Tex Schramm agreed to a second holiday game alongside Detroit's, and later secured a guaranteed slot; since 1997 the halftime show has kicked off the Salvation Army's Red Kettle campaign.

Which defensive tackle, 'Mr. Cowboy', was the franchise's first draft pick and first Ring of Honor name?

Dallas traded for Cleveland's 13th overall pick in 1961 to take the TCU star; his name went up on Bob Lilly Day in 1975.

What was the nickname of the Cowboys' dominant defensive units of the late 1960s and 1970s?

Randy 'The Manster' White and Ed 'Too Tall' Jones anchored the second version.

Super Bowl XII is the only Super Bowl to name two co-MVPs. Which two Cowboys defenders shared it?

Voters wanted to honour the entire eleven-man defence after the 27-10 win over Denver, but the league said no.

Which 1976 Heisman winner did the Cowboys draft second overall in 1977?

The Pittsburgh star was NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and played 11 seasons in Dallas.

Dwight Clark's 'The Catch' ended the Cowboys' 1981 season with a 28-27 win for which team?

Joe Montana's 14-play, 89-yard drive is seen as the end of Dallas's era of dominance and the start of San Francisco's.

Jerry Jones bought the Cowboys from Bum Bright on February 25, 1989, for roughly how much?

Forbes now values the team at about $13 billion, the most valuable sports franchise in the world.

Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson were college teammates on which national championship team?

Jones co-captained the Razorbacks as an offensive lineman under Frank Broyles.

Jimmy Johnson came to Dallas in 1989 from the head coaching job at which university?

He became the first coach to win both a college national title and a Super Bowl, and later coached the Miami Dolphins.

The 1989 Herschel Walker trade, the largest in NFL history, sent him to which team?

Once expanded to include San Diego, 18 players and picks changed hands; Dallas turned the haul into Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland and Darren Woodson.

What was the Cowboys' record in Jimmy Johnson's first season, 1989?

Three years later they went 13-3 and won Super Bowl XXVII.

Troy Aikman was drafted first overall in 1989 out of which school?

He had transferred from Oklahoma; he later spent two decades as Fox's lead analyst alongside Joe Buck.

Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin were collectively known as what?

They led Dallas to three Super Bowl wins in four seasons and entered the Ring of Honor together in 2005.

Emmitt Smith retired as the NFL's all-time leading rusher with how many yards?

He passed Walter Payton in 2002 and also holds the career record with 164 rushing touchdowns.

In which season did Emmitt Smith uniquely win the Super Bowl, league MVP, rushing title and Super Bowl MVP?

Dallas started that year 0-2 and became the first team to win a Super Bowl after such a start.

Which reality competition did Emmitt Smith win in 2006 with partner Cheryl Burke?

Judges praised him for 'making dancing look manly'.

Michael Irvin's career ended with a 1999 neck injury against which team?

Doctors found he had been born with cervical spinal stenosis; he was the last Landry-coached player to retire.

Which Cowboys lineman had a Super Bowl XXVII touchdown stripped by Don Beebe while celebrating early?

The Bills committed nine turnovers; Michael Jackson's halftime show that day started the trend of booking megastars.

Which 12th-round pick was the first cornerback named Super Bowl MVP, with two picks in Super Bowl XXX?

He was still grieving the death of his infant son two and a half months earlier.

Which former Oklahoma coach replaced Jimmy Johnson in 1994 and won Super Bowl XXX?

He was later fined after a handgun was found in his bag at the airport, and resigned in January 1998.

Deion Sanders is the only athlete to have played in both a Super Bowl and what?

He reached the 1992 World Series with the Braves and won Super Bowls with San Francisco and Dallas.

Which Hall of Fame coach did Jerry Jones lure out of retirement to run the team from 2003 to 2006?

The 2003 team started 7-2 and made the playoffs at 10-6; backup Tony Romo emerged as starter in his final season.

Dak Prescott was drafted in 2016 in which round?

The Mississippi State product took over when Tony Romo was hurt in preseason and never gave the job back; he won the 2022 Walter Payton Man of the Year award.

Rookie Ezekiel Elliott's 2016 Thanksgiving touchdown celebration saw him jump into what?

The kettle campaign has launched at the Cowboys' Thanksgiving halftime show since 1997; that season he broke Tony Dorsett's rookie rushing record.

Micah Parsons, the 2021 Defensive Rookie of the Year, was drafted 12th overall out of which school?

Dallas moved him back to his high school position after DeMarcus Lawrence broke his foot; he was later traded to Green Bay.

Jason Witten ranks second among NFL tight ends in career catches behind whom?

The Tennessee product was a third-round pick in 2003 and briefly retired to call Monday Night Football before returning.

Which Cowboys number is unofficially retired for both Bob Hayes and Emmitt Smith?

Aikman's 8, Staubach's 12, Lilly's 74 and Witten's 82 are also kept out of circulation.

Which quarterback, who also handled punting duties, succeeded Staubach as the starter in 1980?

He went 62-30 as a starter over 13 seasons in Dallas.

Drew Pearson, the receiver on the end of Staubach's famous 1975 playoff pass, arrived in Dallas how?

He made the 1973 team as a third-string receiver on the strength of his special-teams play.

The Cowboys' star logo was a solid shape until which detail was added in 1964?

The logo has not changed since.

Which team's 1967 title win over the Cowboys, sealed by Bart Starr's late sneak, became known as the Ice Bowl?

Dallas had also lost the 1966 title game to the same opponent.

In which year did the Cowboys become the first sports team valued at $4 billion by Forbes?

They were also the first franchise to reach $10 billion, and generated a record $620 million in revenue in 2014.

Which stadium did the Cowboys call home from 1960 until moving to Texas Stadium in 1971?

Clint Murchison wanted out because he felt the Fair Park area had grown unsafe for season-ticket holders.

Which two men joined Jimmy Johnson and Tex Schramm as the Ring of Honor's only non-players when Johnson entered in 2023?

That made Johnson the 24th member: 20 players, two executives and two head coaches.

Whose Cowboys rookie rushing record did Ezekiel Elliott break in 2016?

Dallas won nine straight that year, breaking the 1977 team's record of eight.

Which offensive coordinator was promoted to head coach on January 24, 2025, after Mike McCarthy departed?

McCarthy left over a contract dispute after the 2024 season.

Which coach was the first in Cowboys history not to take the team to a Super Bowl?

He was fired after an 8-8 season in 1999 that ended with a wild-card loss to the Vikings.

Which opponent was Dallas playing on October 28, 2002, when Emmitt Smith broke the NFL rushing record?

He passed Walter Payton at home; that Week 17 loss to Washington later that season was his last game as a Cowboy.

Whose Week 1 concussion in 2000 against the Eagles effectively ended his Cowboys career?

Randall Cunningham filled in for the rest of the season, and Aikman was released and retired before 2001.

What happened to the Cowboys' practice facility on May 2, 2009?

Twelve players and coaches were hurt; scouting assistant Rich Behm was left permanently paralysed from the waist down.

Which receiver had 250 yards and two touchdowns in his first start of 2009, an overtime win over Kansas City?

That season Dallas also posted back-to-back shutouts for the first time in franchise history to close the regular season.

The 2023 Cowboys were the first team to lose a playoff game to a No. 7 seed. Who beat them 48-32?

It was the first time a team won 12-plus games in three straight seasons without reaching a conference title game.

In 2025 the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to Green Bay for two first-round picks and which defensive tackle?

The trade came amid a contract holdout, in a season when the Dallas defence set franchise worsts for points and touchdowns allowed.

Where did the Cowboys hold training camp for 27 straight summers from 1963 to 1989?

California Lutheran College hosted them; since 2016 camp has been at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

Along with Dallas, which two NFL teams do not officially retire jersey numbers?

Six Cowboys numbers are 'unofficially inactive', including Aikman's 8, Staubach's 12 and Witten's 82.