January 1952 - The New York Yanks move to Dallas and become the Dallas Texans. The team was bought by a sixteen member syndicate headed by Giles Miller. |
November 12, 1952 - Loss after loss and no interest in the team the Dallas Texans are in serious financial trouble. Giles Miller calls the NFL and lets them know the Texans couldn't continue. The Franchise folded and the NFL was forced to operate the team as a road team for the remaining five games. |
Last week in December 1952 - NFL commissioner Bert Bell gives Clint Murchison Jr. the chance to take over the troubled Dallas Texans. Murchison wanted 24 hours so his men could study the books. Bell told Murchison that he had to take them now or they would leave Dallas. |
January 1953 - The Dallas Texans move to Baltimore and are renamed the Colts. |
| 1954 - Clint Murchison Jr. tries to buy the San Francisco 49ers but this deal goes bad in the final arrangements. |
| 1956 - Clint Murchison Jr. tries several times to negotiate to purchase to Chicago Cardinals. |
Sometime in 1958 - Clint Murchison Jr. tries to buy Washington Redskins but before deal was announced, owner George Preston Marshall demands a change in terms. The deal was cancelled and the rivalry between them starts. |
Later in 1958 - Washington D.C. attorney Tom Webb acquires rights to the music of "Hail to the Redskins" from band director and song writer Barnee Breskin. |
August 14, 1959 - The city of Chicago held the first known meeting of what would become the AFL. Six teams were named with principal owners: Lamar Hunt (Dallas), Bob Howsam (Denver), K.S Bud Adams (Houston), Barron Hilton (Los Angeles), Max Winter and William Boyer (Minneapolis), and Harry Wilsmer New York). Lamar Hunt announced that a new pro football league was forming. |
August 22, 1959 - The second meeting of now the Official American Football League (AFL) took place in Dallas, TX with all six principal owners attending. |
September 12, 1959 - All of the AFL principal owners meet in Los Angeles. |
October 28, 1959 - AFL principal owners meet in Buffalo, NY and name Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. the seventh principal owner of Detroit. |
November 3, 1959 - Rumors circulate that the NFL would be selecting a new franchise team for the 1960 season. |
November 1959 - Clint Murchison Jr. meets with Tex Schramm in New York and signs him as general manager and vice president of the club for $36,500 per year and the chance to purchase 20 percent of the stock of the team. |
November 22, 1959 - Boston was the eighth team admitted to the AFL in a meeting held in Minneapolis and William H. Sullivan, Jr. lead the 10-man ownership syndicate. This meeting would also include the first draft of AFL players. First round draft selections were announced alphabetically by team: Boston - Gerhand Schedes HB, Syracuse; Buffalo - Richie Lucas QB, Penn State; Dallas - Don Meredith QB, SMU; Denver - Roger LeClerc C, Trinity; Houston - Billy Cannon HB, LSU; Los Angeles - Monty Stickles E, Notre Dame; Minneapolis - Dale Hackbart QB, Wisconsin; New York - George Izo QB, Notre Dame. |
December 2, 1959 - The AFL completes a secondary draft of 20 rounds. First year draft for the 8 teams of the AFL was 53 rounds in total. |
December 1959 - After returning home from the 19-0 loss to TCU in Fort Worth, Don Meredith signs a personal services contract for $150,000 with Clint Murchison Jr. The contract is guarantee even if the team doesn't form. |
December 27, 1959 - Tom Landry signed a five year personal services contract with Clint Murchison Jr. and Bedford Wynne for $34,500 annually. A total of 28 players were said to of signed similar contracts, including Don Perkins. Keep in mind these contracts only really protect the players from going to the AFL for the moment. IF the players are drafted by an NFL team, they will have to be trade draft picks to obtain the true rights of the player. |
January 26, 1960 - AFL owners meet for the first time of the year in Dallas and name Lamar Hunt AFL President. |
January 27, 1960 - AFL announces that the application of Minneapolis is withdrawn because of stadium problems. After 8pm in Miami Fl, Clint Murchison Jr. goes to meet with Redskins owner George Preston Marshall in Marshall's suite of the Kenilworth Hotel. Arrangements was made for Marshall to receive rights to "Hail to the Redskins" after he votes for Dallas to receive a new NFL team. |
January 28, 1960 - In the morning NFL meeting votes are final and NFL grants a new Franchise to Clint Murchison and Bedford Wynne. Murchison and Wynn said to of paid $600,000 for the NFL Franchise. Clint Murchison Jr. gives $2,500 to Tom Webb to give to Barnee Breeskin and Preston Marshall gets the rights to the Redskins Fight song and in turn votes in favor for Dallas and Murchison. The best resource about the events of the song and the meeting between Murchison and Marshall can be found in the book "Classic Clint" by Dick Hitt. |
January 30, 1960 - Atlanta looses a close bid against Oakland for the newest team AFL Franchise. AFL award Y. C. Cheat Soda and his eight man syndicate the new Oakland Franchise and the players from the Minneapolis draft to Oakland. |
February 9, 1960 - A verbal pact between the AFL and the NFL was announced and promised "No Tampering" as to players contracts. |
February 11, 1960 - AFL Commissioner Joe Floss announces a similar verbal pact with CFL as to player contracts. |
March 5, 1960 - AFL sets penalty for any club defecting from the AFL to join another league to $1.4 million. |
March 9, 1960 - AFL Commissioner Joe Floss announces contents of a deposition he made with the Department of Justice asking for Federal Anti-trust action against the NFL for placing a club in Dallas after the AFL and other actions. |
March 13, 1960 - The Dallas Cowboys select 3 players from the each of the 12 NFL teams rosters. 36 players in total. |
June 9, 1960 - AFL signs a five year contract with ABC for network television rights to air games. ABC pays $1.785 million for the first year and agree to increase payments per season. |
June 17, 1960 - AFL files a $10 million private Anti-Trust lawsuit against the NFL. |
June 20, 1960 - The first AFL vs NFL player disputes are heard in a Los Angeles court. The Los Angeles court rules that the NFL's Los Angeles Rams contract with Billy Cannon invalid and Cannon is free to play for Houston. This case set a precedent for other cases which eventually gave the AFL rights to Johnny Robinson (Dallas) and Charley Flowers (Los Angeles). |
July 8, 1960 - AFL teams start training camp. |
July 19, 1960 - The Dallas Cowboys start training camp at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. |
| August 6, 1960 - The Dallas Cowboys lost the first exhibition game 10-16 against the San Francisco 49ers in Seattle. |
| September 13, 1960 - The Dallas Cowboys return to Dallas to stay and began practicing at Burnett Field, an old baseball park which was the best available at the time. |
