Texas Earnest Schramm, Jr. (June 2, 1920 - July 15, 2003) was the original president and general manager of the U.S. National Football League's Dallas Cowboys franchise. Schramm became the head of the Dallas Cowboys when the former expansion team started operations in 1960. He was also an NFL visionary and innovator in many areas.
Contrary to what his name suggests, he was not born in Texas, but in San Gabriel, California. Texas was his father's name and where his parents met. Schramm graduated from The University of Texas in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in Journalism. At UT he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, as was his father. Schramm interrupted his education to serve as an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Before joining the Cowboys, Schramm was part of the Los Angeles Rams (now St. Louis Rams) from 1947 - 1956. During his tenure, Schramm hired Pete Rozelle as the Rams' public relations director; Rozelle later became one of the most important commissioners in the history of the NFL.
In 1966, Schramm helped start negotiations between the NFL and the American Football League, which led to the 1970 merger as well as the first Super Bowl in 1967. Schramm was also known for his innovations that helped redefine the modern NFL, such as forming the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, using computer technology in scouting, and instant replay.
He was president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys from 1960 through 1989. During his tenure, he hired legendary coach Tom Landry and oversaw the Cowboys rise as one of the NFL's elite franchises, nicknamed "America's Team." The Cowboys under coach Landry won the Super Bowl in the 1971 and 1977 Seasons (the only NFC team in that decade to do so) and appeared in five total during the 1970's. Schramm was known as the most powerful general manager in the NFL, since his owners kept a "low profile". Schramm ever held the Cowboys's voting right at league meetings (a right normally reserved for team owners). Schramm had once employed Pete Rozelle when they were both with the Rams. They remained close friends after Rozelle became NFL commissioner and Schramm became GM of the Cowboys (ironically each held those positions for the same 29 years).
Schramm stayed on only briefly with the Cowboys after Jerry Jones purchased the team and fired coach Tom Landry. He left to become the commissioner of the World League of American Football. Schramm was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1991. He was the first person ever to be inducted that was not an NFL "player, coach or owner." Schramm's entry into the Cowboys Ring of Honor took much longer, due to strained relations with owner Jerry Jones. Schramm had created the Ring of Honor and was a "one-man committee" on inductions. Jones became that "committee" when he took over. Finally, in 2003, Jones announced that Schramm would be inducted during the next football season. Schramm attended the announcement press conference and spoke, but he died before the induction and was thus inducted "posthumusly".
Schramm married his high school sweetheart, Martha Anne Snowden, in 1941. Mrs. Schramm died on December 8, 2002. They had three daughters.
Due to Schramm's many significant contributions to the development of the NFL, he was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1991, the first team executive to be so honored. In October 2003, he became the 12th person selected into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor, which he created.
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