The Secret Condition H.R. Bum Bright Had For Selling The Dallas Cowboys

[T-RO]

Ole Tom had lost a step or two by then. If anybody thinks Jason is polarizing...ole Tom was a real polarizing character. He gets a lot of respect now and rightfully so....but it wasn't that way back then.

I wasn't a fan during the Landry era, but I thought he was extremely well respected. ?

 

[T-RO]

Surprised something as controversial and as heated as that didn't get leaked the TMZ back in the day and Landry not finding out on his tablet.

Nothing like TMZ existed back then. No social media. Almost no sports talk radio. Most team business and player business stayed private.

 

[DallasCowboys2080]

Nothing like TMZ existed back then. No social media. Almost no sports talk radio. Most team business and player business stayed private.

LOL I thought it was obvious I was joking. Unless ur joking with me too.

 

[big dog cowboy]

I think Bum was the worst thing to happen to the Cowboys

Interesting. Maybe it was the best because it eventually brought us Jimmy Johnson.

 

[T-RO]

LOL I thought it was obvious I was joking. Unless ur joking with me too.

I assumed you were a younger fan. My bad.

 

[fredp22]

I wasn't a fan during the Landry era, but I thought he was extremely well respected. ?

extremely well respected and iconic.
It was just that he had back to back poor seasons, was getting up there in age, and people we're starting to wonder if it was time for him to retire

 

[haleyrules]

I wasn't a fan during the Landry era, but I thought he was extremely well respected. ?

Well, toward the end of his tenure...say the last 5 yrs or so...Landry had failed to keep up with advances in stategy and techniques. Basically, he was not a great coach any longer. He kept a lot of his old players around for far too long.He still had a great reputation but not the skills. Many, maybe most, wanted to see him retire. This is not discussed now but at the time it was a hot topic. I am certainly not disrespecting Tom Landry. But, it was a different situation back then...toward the end of his time in Dallas.

 

[DallasCowboys2080]

I assumed you were a younger fan. My bad.

Haha no prob. It happens around here a lot I'm gathering. Started as a fan with the team since late 70s. It's cool.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Ole Tom had lost a step or two by then. If anybody thinks Jason is polarizing...ole Tom was a real polarizing character. He gets a lot of respect now and rightfully so....but it wasn't that way back then.

Yup.

I have a lot of respect for Coach Landry. But, at the time the press absolutely skewered him. Even though I lived in NY at the time, my dad would take me to the big newspaper stands and I would get copies of the DMN and the press would constantly refer to Landry as 'an embarrassment.' Then once he was fired by Jerry, they immediately changed their tune and made Landry a pariah.

That's when I knew the Dallas sports media, by and large, doesn't have 1 ounce of integrity.




YR

 

[haleyrules]

Yup.

I have a lot of respect for Coach Landry. But, at the time the press absolutely skewered him. Even though I lived in NY at the time, my dad would take me to the big newspaper stands and I would get copies of the DMN and the press would constantly refer to Landry as 'an embarrassment.' Then once he was fired by Jerry, they immediately changed their tune and made Landry a pariah.

That's when I knew the Dallas sports media, by and large, doesn't have 1 ounce of integrity.




YR

Yes Sir. Thats the way it really was. I remember it well. He is a hero now and he should be. Thats not the way it was then. Strange old world.

 

[fredp22]

Interesting. Maybe it was the best because it eventually brought us Jimmy Johnson.

He owned the team from '84 to '89 and if you remember thats when we starting declining and when Toms streak of winning seasons ended. He put nothing into the team, fought with Landry, and then sold it in a fire sale also making sure Landry was fired in an embarrassing way. If we had a stronger owner maybe we wouldnt have gone through the 84-89 stretch.
Dont want to get into Jerry- there's good with the SB wins (but I think thats Jimmy). but bad -20 plus years after that with nothing and his constant meddling

 

[Stryker44]

Fun fact of trivia showing how much useless information is in my head: When he owned the Cowboys, H.R. 'Bum' Bright made it condition that he would only sell the team to somebody who would fire Tom Landry. That condition caused all prospective buyers to back off and shut down negotiations except for ONE: Jerry Jones.

Every other prospective buyer freaked out at hearing Bright's condition. "Fire God's Coach? Are you freaking kidding me? I'd instantly become the most hated person in the state of Texas. I'd be more hated in Dallas than Lee Harvey Oswald!"

Far from backing off or balking at firing Landry, Jones actually responded enthusiastically to this condition for buying the team. He excitedly told Bright that he'd already planned to bring in his good friend Jimmy Johnson to coach the team if he became the owner. This is why despite the fact several other prospective buyers offered more money, Bright sold the team to Jerry Jones. Because Jones was the only one who promised Bright that he'd fire Tom Landry.

When he first bought the team in 1984, Bright was a huge fan of Landry. Over the next 5 years though, Bright found Landry and GM Tex Schramm to be incredibly arrogant. As the team's fortunes plunged in the late 1980's, Bright wanted to make some changes. He was told in no uncertain terms to mind his own business, keep his mouth shut and just keep signing the checks.

Landry was so big in Dallas, even when he began to fail, nobody could apply any pressure to get him to change how he was doing things. And Landry resented even having to deal with Bright or hear any criticism from him. Cowboy's owners were neither seen nor heard from, as far as Landry was concerned.

Landry fully expected to be the Cowboy's coach until he was good and ready to hang it up and retire on his own.

Landry let Bright know this, of course. Shut up, keep signing the checks, mind your own business, and when I'm ready to ride off into the sunset in my own sweet time, I'll let you know.

Bright came up with a way to fire Landry without his fingerprints every being involved where the public could see it.

Jerry Jones took all the heat at the time. Not until years later was it revealed that Bright had made firing Landry a condition of selling the team.

1 reason I respect Jerry: he could have shifted a LOT of the heat he took for firing Landry by telling the truth: Bright made it a condition of selling me the team. I had to do it or he wouldn't sell it to me. Instead Jerry kept his mouth shut and took all the heat.

For years it was just assumed to be an amazing coincidence that Bright sold the team to the 1 guy who had no problem firing Tom Landry and replacing him with an old college buddy.

Whoa. Honor? Loyalty? Sacrifice?

 

[Plankton]

Addendum: Read this from Texas Monthly:

http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/turnover/

It brings up something I left out: that Bright had actually TOLD Tex Schramm to fire Tom Landry and....Tex just ignored him.

This actually led to the incredible epic moment in which Bright sold the team and....Tex Schramm didn't know about it.

Yes.

That really happened.

Yes, Bright had a hard on for Landry after he felt like Landry gave him a cold shoulder at a team Christmas party. After the 1985 season, Landry's contract was winding down. Bright ordered Schramm to extend Landry with three one year contracts, with an out after each year. Schramm ignored him, and extended Landry three years. After the 1987 season, Bright wanted to fire Landry, and sat with Schramm to review the out in the contract. It was at that point that he found out that Schramm didn't do what Bright had asked, and it would cost Bright nearly $2 million to fire his coach.

With the S&L banking crisis hitting hard in the 1987-1988 timeframe, Bright's fortune was reduced by $300 million. He sold the team to get out of the crisis. He was able to keep a lot of it quiet by hiring Salomon Brothers to run the search for prospective owners, and the conditions were kept confidential. People such as Don Carter (the owner of the Mavericks at the time), Marvin Davis and Dr. Jerry Buss made offers on the team. All of them wanted to retain Landry. A Japanese contingent put an offer out, and were price indifferent. Bright, having fought in World War II, wanted no part of selling the team to the Japanese.

That left Jones. Who only found out about the team being for sale when he was hungover in Cabo San Lucas while on a marlin fishing trip with Stephen and some business friends. Jones skipped a fishing trip, and saw an article about the team being for sale. Ironic note: Tex Schramm's favorite passion was marlin fishing.

When Jones and Bright were near the end of negotiations, they were haggling over closing costs. They agreed to flip a coin to settle it. Jones called tails. He lost. After the sale was completed, Bright gave Jones a gift. It was the quarter that they flipped, affixed to a block of petrified wood. It had an inscription that read, "You'll never know if this coin was two-headed or not."

Bright offered to fire Landry before the sale was official, but Jones waved him off, because he wanted to handle all business in this case. Schramm led Jones into the PR trap at the golf course, where Landry was officially martyred.

 

[65fastback2plus2]

awesome story!

 

[T-RO]

Well, toward the end of his tenure...say the last 5 yrs or so...Landry had failed to keep up with advances in stategy and techniques. Basically, he was not a great coach any longer. He kept a lot of his old players around for far too long.He still had a great reputation but not the skills. Many, maybe most, wanted to see him retire. This is not discussed now but at the time it was a hot topic. I am certainly not disrespecting Tom Landry. But, it was a different situation back then...toward the end of his time in Dallas.

Ah. That makes sense.

I moved to Dallas during he final year of the old regime. I came after graduation from UCLA...and then Troy was drafted. That cemented my fandom. I was grateful for the new ownership/coach but had respect for Landry's accomplishments.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Fun fact of trivia showing how much useless information is in my head: When he owned the Cowboys, H.R. 'Bum' Bright made it condition that he would only sell the team to somebody who would fire Tom Landry. That condition caused all prospective buyers to back off and shut down negotiations except for ONE: Jerry Jones.

Every other prospective buyer freaked out at hearing Bright's condition. "Fire God's Coach? Are you freaking kidding me? I'd instantly become the most hated person in the state of Texas. I'd be more hated in Dallas than Lee Harvey Oswald!"

Far from backing off or balking at firing Landry, Jones actually responded enthusiastically to this condition for buying the team. He excitedly told Bright that he'd already planned to bring in his good friend Jimmy Johnson to coach the team if he became the owner. This is why despite the fact several other prospective buyers offered more money, Bright sold the team to Jerry Jones. Because Jones was the only one who promised Bright that he'd fire Tom Landry.

When he first bought the team in 1984, Bright was a huge fan of Landry. Over the next 5 years though, Bright found Landry and GM Tex Schramm to be incredibly arrogant. As the team's fortunes plunged in the late 1980's, Bright wanted to make some changes. He was told in no uncertain terms to mind his own business, keep his mouth shut and just keep signing the checks.

Landry was so big in Dallas, even when he began to fail, nobody could apply any pressure to get him to change how he was doing things. And Landry resented even having to deal with Bright or hear any criticism from him. Cowboy's owners were neither seen nor heard from, as far as Landry was concerned.

Landry fully expected to be the Cowboy's coach until he was good and ready to hang it up and retire on his own.

Landry let Bright know this, of course. Shut up, keep signing the checks, mind your own business, and when I'm ready to ride off into the sunset in my own sweet time, I'll let you know.

Bright came up with a way to fire Landry without his fingerprints every being involved where the public could see it.

Jerry Jones took all the heat at the time. Not until years later was it revealed that Bright had made firing Landry a condition of selling the team.

1 reason I respect Jerry: he could have shifted a LOT of the heat he took for firing Landry by telling the truth: Bright made it a condition of selling me the team. I had to do it or he wouldn't sell it to me. Instead Jerry kept his mouth shut and took all the heat.

For years it was just assumed to be an amazing coincidence that Bright sold the team to the 1 guy who had no problem firing Tom Landry and replacing him with an old college buddy.

Good post, stout lad!
Landry must have been such an arrogant, clueless coach by 1988. Certain he could coach as long as he wanted.
Dumb ash.

 

[yimyammer]

Well, toward the end of his tenure...say the last 5 yrs or so...Landry had failed to keep up with advances in stategy and techniques. Basically, he was not a great coach any longer. He kept a lot of his old players around for far too long.He still had a great reputation but not the skills. Many, maybe most, wanted to see him retire. This is not discussed now but at the time it was a hot topic. I am certainly not disrespecting Tom Landry. But, it was a different situation back then...toward the end of his time in Dallas.

All true, people were calling for Landry's head until they got it and then everyone lost their ****, it was hilariously hypocritical.

I remember busting peopls balls asking why they were so upset when just yesterday you wanted him gone?

I loved Landry but I was on cloud 9 when Jimmy was named head coach and just knew it was a matter of time before the Cowboys were on top again. I didn't have a problem with jeri back then either and had no problem with him firing Landry.

 

[haleyrules]

All true, people were calling for Landry's head until they got it and then everyone lost their ****, it was hilariously hypocritical.

I remember busting peopls balls asking why they were so upset when just yesterday you wanted him gone?

I loved Landry but I was on cloud 9 when Jimmy was named head coach and just knew it was a matter of time before the Cowboys were on top again. I didn't have a problem with jeri back then either and had no problem with him firing Landry.

I really didn't know much about Jones or Jimmy...but understood the simple truth that ole Tom had to go.

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

Fun fact of trivia showing how much useless information is in my head: When he owned the Cowboys, H.R. 'Bum' Bright made it condition that he would only sell the team to somebody who would fire Tom Landry. That condition caused all prospective buyers to back off and shut down negotiations except for ONE: Jerry Jones.

Every other prospective buyer freaked out at hearing Bright's condition. "Fire God's Coach? Are you freaking kidding me? I'd instantly become the most hated person in the state of Texas. I'd be more hated in Dallas than Lee Harvey Oswald!"

Far from backing off or balking at firing Landry, Jones actually responded enthusiastically to this condition for buying the team. He excitedly told Bright that he'd already planned to bring in his good friend Jimmy Johnson to coach the team if he became the owner. This is why despite the fact several other prospective buyers offered more money, Bright sold the team to Jerry Jones. Because Jones was the only one who promised Bright that he'd fire Tom Landry.

When he first bought the team in 1984, Bright was a huge fan of Landry. Over the next 5 years though, Bright found Landry and GM Tex Schramm to be incredibly arrogant. As the team's fortunes plunged in the late 1980's, Bright wanted to make some changes. He was told in no uncertain terms to mind his own business, keep his mouth shut and just keep signing the checks.

Landry was so big in Dallas, even when he began to fail, nobody could apply any pressure to get him to change how he was doing things. And Landry resented even having to deal with Bright or hear any criticism from him. Cowboy's owners were neither seen nor heard from, as far as Landry was concerned.

Landry fully expected to be the Cowboy's coach until he was good and ready to hang it up and retire on his own.

Landry let Bright know this, of course. Shut up, keep signing the checks, mind your own business, and when I'm ready to ride off into the sunset in my own sweet time, I'll let you know.

Bright came up with a way to fire Landry without his fingerprints every being involved where the public could see it.

Jerry Jones took all the heat at the time. Not until years later was it revealed that Bright had made firing Landry a condition of selling the team.

1 reason I respect Jerry: he could have shifted a LOT of the heat he took for firing Landry by telling the truth: Bright made it a condition of selling me the team. I had to do it or he wouldn't sell it to me. Instead Jerry kept his mouth shut and took all the heat.

For years it was just assumed to be an amazing coincidence that Bright sold the team to the 1 guy who had no problem firing Tom Landry and replacing him with an old college buddy.

Fascinating stuff, man. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

 

[mrmojo]

Bum Bright was a coward. The Cowboys were only an investment to him, it wasn't a coincidence they started to go south once he acquired them from Murchison. He wasn't fond of Coach Landry at all.