Hostile
The Duke
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Tex Schramm resigned as General Manager of the Dallas Cowboys to become the President and Chief Operating Officer of the World League of American Football.
In my not so humble opinion only one man in NFL History has ever carried more weight on the game than Tex Schramm. That would be NFL Co-founder and Chicago Bears legend George "Papa Bear" Halas.
In the Pro Football Hall of Fame there are 19 men who are enshrined who were not players or coaches. 13 were owners, many of the them team founders. 1 was the founder of NFL Films. 1 was the first organizer of game officials and rules. 2 were NFL Commissioners.
There are only 2 General Managers or Team Administrators in those hallowed halls. Jim Finks and Texas Earnest Schramm.
It was Tex Schramm who was able to hire Tom Landry away from the New York Giants. It was his suggestion that Clint Murchison go after him. They were bidding against Bud Adams and the Houston Oilers of the brand new AFL.
He watched NFL games from the press boxes with the reporters who were describing the games for the fans. From those press box seats he watched the games and he didn't just see them, he saw visions of how to make the game better, more exciting, and entertaining.
Tex was the person chosen by the NFL to negotiate the merger with the AFL. He was the power broker of the Cowboys for 29 years, with 20 straight winning seasons, 13 Division Championships, 5 Conference Championships, and 2 Super Bowl Championships.
But those things are only the tip of the iceberg. Tex Schramm was the architect of so many thing in pro football that many people may not be aware of.
It was his idea to move the goal posts from the goal line to the end line. His idea to have a single curved stanchion holding the goal posts erect rather than 2 posts all the way into the ground. This created safety for the players and eliminated teams using the goal posts to pick off defenders. It was his idea to paint the goal posts yellow so that they stood out more. It was his idea to extend the uprights higher to make it easier for officials to see a kick go through or go wide. It was his idea to put the nets up behind the goal posts so that fans didn't fight over footballs kicked into the stands.
Have you ever noticed the flags at the top of the goal posts for outdoor stadiums? These are used to give Kickers an idea about the direction and power of the wind. That was an idea Tex had when he observed a wind sock at an airport.
Tex created the 1 yard wide white sidelines area that separated the field of play from the bench. This may not seem like a lot to some people, but in some of the early days players and coaches on the bench were right up against the field of play and the integrity of games did get threatened at times as some zealous persons interfered with the play of the game.
On the field of play there are two 40 yard lines, two 30's etc. If you look at a football field you'll see arrows at the field marker pointing towards the closest goal line. This was a device Tex came up with so that people watching on TV if they saw a player cross say the 40 yard line they knew which side of the 50 it was on.
It was Tex Schramm who suggested the hash marks be aligned with the width of the goal posts. It was Tex Schramm who suggested the sidelines area extend from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line and that media be allowed to have primary access to the redzone and goal line areas so that TV coverage could be better.
We've all seen the first down markers that the officials use to measure whether a first down has been obtained. Take a close look at them sometime. You will noticed that the flag marker for the original line of scrimmage and the flag marker for the first down are different. This was also an idea of Tex's so that people watching on TV if they saw the play go past a marker they knew if it was past the Line of Scrimmage or past the first down.
It was Tex Schramm who initiated the White jersey as a home jersey and the dark jersey as an away jersey. His theory was that people attending a football game always see essentially the same colors if the home team always wears blue and the away team always wears white. So unlike the majority of other NFL teams, Cowboys fans get to see the other team in blue, burgundy, green, red, black, purple, aquamarine, orange, and all of the other NFL colors. Other teams fans always see their dark color and white. There is no variety for their games.
It was Tex Schramm who suggested and implemented the first NFL Competition Committee. The purpose of this committee was to discus rules and the evolution of the game. He was the first Chairman of that Committee.
It was Tex Schramm who suggested six divisions after the merger. It was also his suggestion to add a wildcard team to the 3 division winners from each conference leading up to a Championship, and then later it was his idea of adding a second wildcard team and having first round byes in the playoffs.
It was Tex Schramm who was the original advocate and visionary of the Instant Replay system used to aid officials in getting the calls right.
There's an old saying that we've all heard. "Everything's big in Texas." Well, the ideas that came from Texas Schramm that influenced the game we all love certainly were.
Perhaps his biggest idea was the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Other teams have them. Many of them are every bit as pretty and talented as ours. They'll never match the prestige or spectacle of the Cowboys cheerleaders though. They are the upper echelon. In 2003 when Tex Schramm was posthumously inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor on hand that day for the ceremony was over 200 of the then current and former cheerleaders. Tex was their advocate and they came from all over to be there as he was honored.
In truth it is we who are fans of this team who were honored to have as our advocate the man who probably did more to shape the modern game of football than any other single man who ever drew breath.
23 years ago today, he ended that magical run as an architect of the game.
In my not so humble opinion only one man in NFL History has ever carried more weight on the game than Tex Schramm. That would be NFL Co-founder and Chicago Bears legend George "Papa Bear" Halas.
In the Pro Football Hall of Fame there are 19 men who are enshrined who were not players or coaches. 13 were owners, many of the them team founders. 1 was the founder of NFL Films. 1 was the first organizer of game officials and rules. 2 were NFL Commissioners.
There are only 2 General Managers or Team Administrators in those hallowed halls. Jim Finks and Texas Earnest Schramm.
It was Tex Schramm who was able to hire Tom Landry away from the New York Giants. It was his suggestion that Clint Murchison go after him. They were bidding against Bud Adams and the Houston Oilers of the brand new AFL.
He watched NFL games from the press boxes with the reporters who were describing the games for the fans. From those press box seats he watched the games and he didn't just see them, he saw visions of how to make the game better, more exciting, and entertaining.
Tex was the person chosen by the NFL to negotiate the merger with the AFL. He was the power broker of the Cowboys for 29 years, with 20 straight winning seasons, 13 Division Championships, 5 Conference Championships, and 2 Super Bowl Championships.
But those things are only the tip of the iceberg. Tex Schramm was the architect of so many thing in pro football that many people may not be aware of.
It was his idea to move the goal posts from the goal line to the end line. His idea to have a single curved stanchion holding the goal posts erect rather than 2 posts all the way into the ground. This created safety for the players and eliminated teams using the goal posts to pick off defenders. It was his idea to paint the goal posts yellow so that they stood out more. It was his idea to extend the uprights higher to make it easier for officials to see a kick go through or go wide. It was his idea to put the nets up behind the goal posts so that fans didn't fight over footballs kicked into the stands.
Have you ever noticed the flags at the top of the goal posts for outdoor stadiums? These are used to give Kickers an idea about the direction and power of the wind. That was an idea Tex had when he observed a wind sock at an airport.
Tex created the 1 yard wide white sidelines area that separated the field of play from the bench. This may not seem like a lot to some people, but in some of the early days players and coaches on the bench were right up against the field of play and the integrity of games did get threatened at times as some zealous persons interfered with the play of the game.
On the field of play there are two 40 yard lines, two 30's etc. If you look at a football field you'll see arrows at the field marker pointing towards the closest goal line. This was a device Tex came up with so that people watching on TV if they saw a player cross say the 40 yard line they knew which side of the 50 it was on.
It was Tex Schramm who suggested the hash marks be aligned with the width of the goal posts. It was Tex Schramm who suggested the sidelines area extend from the 20 yard line to the 20 yard line and that media be allowed to have primary access to the redzone and goal line areas so that TV coverage could be better.
We've all seen the first down markers that the officials use to measure whether a first down has been obtained. Take a close look at them sometime. You will noticed that the flag marker for the original line of scrimmage and the flag marker for the first down are different. This was also an idea of Tex's so that people watching on TV if they saw the play go past a marker they knew if it was past the Line of Scrimmage or past the first down.
It was Tex Schramm who initiated the White jersey as a home jersey and the dark jersey as an away jersey. His theory was that people attending a football game always see essentially the same colors if the home team always wears blue and the away team always wears white. So unlike the majority of other NFL teams, Cowboys fans get to see the other team in blue, burgundy, green, red, black, purple, aquamarine, orange, and all of the other NFL colors. Other teams fans always see their dark color and white. There is no variety for their games.
It was Tex Schramm who suggested and implemented the first NFL Competition Committee. The purpose of this committee was to discus rules and the evolution of the game. He was the first Chairman of that Committee.
It was Tex Schramm who suggested six divisions after the merger. It was also his suggestion to add a wildcard team to the 3 division winners from each conference leading up to a Championship, and then later it was his idea of adding a second wildcard team and having first round byes in the playoffs.
It was Tex Schramm who was the original advocate and visionary of the Instant Replay system used to aid officials in getting the calls right.
There's an old saying that we've all heard. "Everything's big in Texas." Well, the ideas that came from Texas Schramm that influenced the game we all love certainly were.
Perhaps his biggest idea was the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders. Other teams have them. Many of them are every bit as pretty and talented as ours. They'll never match the prestige or spectacle of the Cowboys cheerleaders though. They are the upper echelon. In 2003 when Tex Schramm was posthumously inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor on hand that day for the ceremony was over 200 of the then current and former cheerleaders. Tex was their advocate and they came from all over to be there as he was honored.
In truth it is we who are fans of this team who were honored to have as our advocate the man who probably did more to shape the modern game of football than any other single man who ever drew breath.
23 years ago today, he ended that magical run as an architect of the game.
:bravo: :thankyou: :toast: :gent:
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