ARLINGTON, Texas — Some call them "America's Team," and others call them the 'Boys, but we all know Dallas' NFL team as the Cowboys.
However, when the team was founded, they went by another name. In fact, they went by two.
The founding of a franchise
The team first came into being in 1960 during the first modern-era expansion of the NFL. The two majority founders of the franchise were Clint Murchison Jr. and John D. Murchison, brothers and heirs to the Murchison Oil company.
It wasn't easy getting an NFL franchise to Dallas. Then-Washington Redskins owner, George Preston Marshall, had a monopoly on professional football in the American South. Despite being in Washington D.C., the Redskins were the closest thing to a southern NFL franchise, and Marshall was not eager to invite a Dallas team into the fold.
Clint Murchison Jr. and minority owner Bedford Wynne found a work-around to their problem in the nation's capital. The pair bought the rights to the Redskins' fight song, "Hail the Redskins". In turn, they told Marshall if they didn't get a team, he couldn't play the song at games.
How's that for a birth of a rivalry?
On Jan. 28, 1960, a Dallas NFL franchise was born. But, they needed a name. So, the team came up with the perfect one.
The Dallas Steers
Okay, so they didn't get it right the first time.
For a brief moment, the team was known as the Dallas Steers. Evoking castrated cattle was probably not the most marketable move, so they went a different direction.
The Dallas Rangers
Turns out, the second time was not the charm either. The Dallas Rangers is a great name for a franchise, but it was taken!
At the time, the Dallas Rangers were a Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics. In 1959, they even merged with the Fort Worth Cats.
So, to avoid confusion, they had to go through yet another name change.
The Dallas Cowboys
In March of 1960, the owners all agreed on a single name: the Dallas Cowboys.
The name immediately stuck.
Five years later, however, Murchison floated the idea to change the name back to the Rangers. The minor league team had packed up and moved to Canada, so there would be no more confusion.
According to the book America's Team: The Official History of the Dallas Cowboys, fans were not onboard going back to the Rangers. 1,148 fans called Murchison's office. 1,138 of them told him they wanted to keep the Dallas Cowboys name, two of them told him to change the name back to the Rangers and eight of them said he was stupid.
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