The Dallas Cowboys season was the inaugural season for the franchise in the National Football League (NFL).
The Cowboys finished their first season with zero wins, 11 losses, and one tie, finishing last in the Western Conference and in the NFL for that season. Due to ties not counting as a half-win/half-loss at the time, the Cowboys became the first post-World War II team in NFL history to have a .000 winning percentage, being equaled since by the 1976 Buccaneers, 2008 Lions, and 2017 Browns.
Their record was also worse than Dallas' previous entry into the NFL, the original Dallas Texans, who finished 1–11 in their only season in Dallas in 1952 and folded after that season.
Offseason The NFL had no interest in expanding, but after Lamar Hunt started an American Football League franchise (the Dallas Texans), the NFL granted a franchise to Clint Murchison, Jr., and Bedford Wynne on January 28, 1960. As a footnote to this decision, when the NFL began considering expansion to Texas, the Washington Redskins founder and owner George Preston Marshall strongly opposed the move, as he had enjoyed a monopoly in the South for three decades (apart from the one-year appearance of the original Dallas Texans in 1952). Murchison bought the rights to their fight song Hail to the Redskins from a disgruntled Barnee Breeskin (the Redskins' team band leader) and threatened to prevent Marshall from playing it at games. Marshall eventually agreed to back Murchison's bid, receiving back the rights to the song.
The franchise hired former Los Angeles Rams executive Tex Schramm as their general manager. Tom Landry, an assistant coach with the New York Giants, was named head coach. Landry was offered the coaching job before the 1959 NFL Championship Game, with a five-year contract. The same day that Landry accepted the offer, it was reported by UPI that Landry would become coach of the AFL's Houston Oilers.Giants Among Men, Jack Cavanaugh, p.211, 2008, Random House, Gil Brandt, who had served as a part-time scout for the Rams under Schramm, was named player personnel director. The day after the title game, Landry was announced as head coach of the proposed NFL team in Texas, a franchise that had yet to be awarded.
According to Schramm, the team's name was originally the "Dallas Steers", but then was changed to the "Dallas Rangers," which was the name of the minor league baseball team that was supposed to be disbanded. The franchise was admitted to the league too late to participate in the 1960 NFL college draft. However, majority owner Murchison signed two college players, quarterback Don Meredith from SMU, and running back Don Perkins from New Mexico, to personal services contracts before the draft (and before the franchise was voted into the league). The NFL honored these contracts after the franchise was voted in, although the Baltimore Colts drafted Perkins in the ninth round, and Meredith was also selected by the Chicago Bears in the third round after owner George Halas made the pick to help ensure that the expansion Cowboys got off to a solid start. The franchise was allowed to retain both players, but had to give their third-round and ninth-round choices in the 1962 NFL draft to the Bears and Colts, respectively.
On March 13, , the franchise selected 36 players in an expansion draft. Each of the other 12 NFL teams were allowed to protect 25 players from their 36-man roster. The franchise was then given 24 hours to select three players from those unprotected by each other team.
The franchise was placed in the league's Western Conference. However, since they were the league's thirteenth franchise in addition to being an expansion franchise, it was decided that they would play every team in the league once, instead of playing each team in their conference twice, as the other teams did.
The Cowboys' final pre-season game on September 4 was played in rural northeastern Oregon; they lost to the at Pendleton's
Expansion draft
Transactions Other notable transactions prior to the season included acquiring quarterback Eddie LeBaron from the Washington Redskins, offensive end Billy Howton from the Cleveland Browns, and signing former San Francisco 49ers fullback Gene Babb. During training camp the team signed quite a few players who were released by other teams. Notable signings included center Mike Connelly, a rookie who was released by the Los Angeles Rams, and veteran Don Bishop, a defensive back who was released by the Chicago Bears.
Undrafted free agents
+ 1960 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeByron BradfuteTackleSouthern MissJim MootySafetyArkansasGary WisenerSafetyBaylor
Name change The franchise used the nickname "Rangers" during its draft. But on March 19, after the baseball team owners reversed course, Murchison volunteered to rename his team to the Cowboys to avoid confusion with the American Association Dallas Rangers baseball team.
Roster
Dallas Cowboys 1960 roster Quarterbacks Don Heinrich Eddie LeBaron P Don Meredith
Running backs Gene Babb Mike Dowdle L. G. Dupre Walt Kowalczyk Don McIlhenny
Wide receivers Frank Clarke Fred Dugan Billy Howton Woodley Lewis Ray Mathews
Tight ends Dick Bielski Jim Doran Offensive linemen Byron Bradfute T Mike Connelly C/G Paul Dickson T Mike Falls G Bob Fry T Buzz Guy G John Houser C Dick Klein T Duane Putnam G
Defensive linemen Nate Borden DE John Gonzaga DE Don Healy DT Bill Herchman DT Ed Husmann DT/DELinebackers Tom Braatz OLB Gene Cronin OLB Wayne Hansen OLB Jerry Tubbs MLB
Defensive backs Bob Bercich SS Don Bishop CB Bill Butler FS Tom Franckhauser CB Jim Mooty FS/CB Gary Wisener SS
Special teams Fred Cone K Dave Sherer PReserve lists Ray Fisher DT (IR) Jack Patera LB (IR) Don Perkins RB (IR)
Rookies in italics 41 active, 3 inactive
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance Recap 1 Pittsburgh Steelers L 28–35 0–1 Cotton Bowl 30,000 Recap 2 Philadelphia Eagles L 25–27 0–2 Cotton Bowl 18,500 Recap 3 October 9 at Washington Redskins L 14–26 0–3 Griffith Stadium 21,142 Recap 4 October 16 Cleveland Browns L 7–48 0–4 Cotton Bowl 28,500 Recap 5 October 23 at St. Louis Cardinals L 10–12 0–5 Busch Stadium 23,128 Recap 6 October 30 Baltimore Colts L 7–45 0–6 Cotton Bowl 25,500 Recap 7 November 6 Los Angeles Rams L 13–38 0–7 Cotton Bowl 16,000 Recap 8 November 13 at Green Bay Packers L 7–41 0–8 City Stadium 32,294 Recap 9 November 20 San Francisco 49ers L 14–26 0–9 Cotton Bowl 10,000 Recap 10 November 27 at Chicago Bears L 7–17 0–10 Wrigley Field 39,951 Recap 11 December 4 at New York Giants T 31–31 0–10–1 Yankee Stadium 55,033 Recap 12 December 11 at Detroit Lions L 14–23 0–11–1 Briggs Stadium 43,272 Recap 13 Bye Conference opponents are in bold text
Saturday night (September 24), Friday night (September 30) A bye week was necessary in , as the league had an odd-number (13) of teams; one team was idle each week. The fourteenth team (Minnesota) joined the league in and the NFL initiated a 14-game regular season.
Game summaries Week 1: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 2: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 3: at Washington Redskins
Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns
Week 5: at St. Louis Cardinals
Week 6: vs. Baltimore Colts
Week 7: vs. Los Angeles Rams
Week 8: at Green Bay Packers
Week 9: vs. San Francisco 49ers
Week 10: at Chicago Bears
Week 11: at New York Giants
Week 12: at Detroit Lions
Standings
See also 1960 NFL season 1960 NFL expansion draft
Publications The Football Encyclopedia Total Football Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes
References
External links 1960 Dallas Cowboys Pro Football Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys Official Site