The Dallas Cowboys began playing in the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. The original owner, Clint Murchison Jr. hired Tex Schramm to be his General Manager and then hired a young defensive coordinator from the New York Giants, Tom Landry, to be the head coach.  The Dallas Cowboys played their home games in the Cotton Bowl and struggled to win games during their first 5 seasons in the league.  In 1965, despite struggling through the first 5 seasons, Tom Landry was awarded a new contract.  That same season, the Cowboys began a string of unprecedented 20 straight seasons with a winning record.

By  the end of the Cowboys first decade of existence they became one of the most dominant teams in the NFL.  After back to back losses in the NFL Championship game to the Green Bay Packers, the Cowboys finally reached the pinnacle of the NFL by winning the Super Bowl in 1971.  That same season the Cowboys began playing in their new home, Texas Stadium.  Texas Stadium was a state of the art facility with 65,000 seats and 4 rows of corporate suites located in Irving, Texas.  The stadium stood out for its unique design.  The roof covers only the seats in the stands and not the field itself. It has been said that the hole in the roof of Texas Stadium is there so that God can watch his favorite team play football on Sunday.

The Dallas Cowboys appeared in 5 Super Bowls during the decade of the 1970’s, winning two and became affectionately known as ‘America’s Team’.  The Cowboys lost on a last second field goal to the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V 16-13 but returned the next season to win Super Bowl VI 24-3 over the Miami Dolphins. The Dallas Cowboys suffered close defeats to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl X and Super Bowl XIII but in between defeated the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII 27-10.  

The Dallas Cowboys began the 1980s by appearing in 3 straight NFC Championship games but each time they failed to advance to the Super Bowl.  They ended the decade as the worst team in the NFL by going 1-15 in 1989.  In between they changed ownership twice.  Bum Bright bought the Dallas Cowboys from the Murchison family in 1984 and then sold the team to Oil Millionaire Jerry Jones in 1989.  Jones quickly fired Tom Landry, the only coach the Dallas Cowboy had ever had in their 28 seasons and hired his old college teammate at the University of Arkansas and current head coach at the University of Miami, Jimmy Johnson.  It took Jimmy Johnson only 4 seasons to turn the Dallas Cowboys back into contenders and in 1992 the Cowboys won the first of 3 Super Bowls in 4 years by beating the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII 52-17.   The Dallas Cowboys won the Super Bowl again in 1993, Super Bowl XXVIII, again beating the Buffalo Bills by a score of 30-13. 

Jerry Jones unexpectedly fired Jimmy Johnson after the Dallas Cowboys had won back to back Super Bowl titles and hired former University of Oklahoma head coach, Barry Switzer.  Switzer had the Dallas Cowboys back on top with a Super Bowl win in 1995 by beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX.  Since that time, the Dallas Cowboys have gone through 3 different head coaches and only won 1 playoff game.  In 2002, an exasperated Jones hired ex New York Giants head coach, Bill Parcells.  With a resume that included two Super Bowl wins, Parcells had the Dallas Cowboys back in the playoffs his first season as head coach but failed to earn a post-season birth the next two seasons.  

The 2000′s decade was the poorest for the Dallas Cowboys ince the 1960s with only 4 playoff appearances in each decade. At least in the 1960s they had an excuse and by the end of the decade they had strung 4 straight playoff appearances together in a row. The 2000′s was sparotic as the Cowboys reached the playoffs in back to back seasons only once.  Wade Phillips was hired in 2007 and led the Cowboys to a franchise best 13 wins his first season but a quick ouster from the playoffs spoiled that season. The Cowboys won the division again in 2009 and won their first playoff game since 1998 and hopes were high the Cowboys would be a force in the 2010 season but a 1-7 start got Wade Phillips fired and the Cowboys ended the season with a disappointing 6-10 record.

2011 begins a new ERA for the Dallas Cowboys. They will begin the season with the 8th coach in team history and first ex-Cowboy player. Jason Garrett took the head coaching reigns on an interim basis in 2010 after Wade Phillips was fired and he lead the Cowboys to a 5-3 record in the second half of the season. Enough to earn him the job on a full time basis. Cowboys fans have their fingers crossed that Jason Garrett will become the next Tom Landry and lead the Cowboys back to elite status among NFL teams.