The Dallas Cowboys are an American professional gridiron football team headquartered in Dallas, Texas that competes in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the NFC (NFL). The Cowboys have won five Super Bowls and eight conference championships, making them one of the most successful and well-liked teams in NFL history.
In 1960, with Tom Landry at the helm, the Cowboys became a part of the National Football League as an expansion franchise. The Cowboys had a losing record for their first five seasons in the NFL, but they turned things around and became one of the league’s best teams, making the playoffs 17 times in 18 years between 1966 and 1983. In 1966, the Cowboys followed the Detroit Lions’ lead and began regularly scheduling a home game on Thanksgiving Day. This significantly improved the Cowboys’ national profile.
In 1967, Dallas advanced to the NFL championship game, but they were defeated by the Green Bay Packers in a game that set a record for the coldest on-field temperature in NFL history (13 degrees Fahrenheit, or 25 degrees Celsius). This game became known as the “Ice Bowl.” Roger Staubach, a future Hall of Fame quarterback, joined the Cowboys in 1969, and immediately elevated the team to championship contention.
Jerry Jones
Jerry Jones, a businessman, bought the Cowboys in 1989 and promptly fired Landry, angering many of the team’s die-hard fans who had become fond of the coach over the course of 28 seasons. However, the Cowboys’ luck in the draught from 1988-1990 helped alleviate the situation, as they picked up future Hall of Famers Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith in that order. In the 1990s Cowboys went on to win three consecutive Super Bowls and dominate the NFL for the most of the decade.
Post season
As its best players entered their twilight years or moved on to other teams, the franchise struggled in the early 2000s. While the Cowboys had made the playoffs on occasion since 1996, they had not won a postseason game until 2010, when quarterback Tony Romo led them to an opening-round playoff triumph over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Starting in 2011, the Cowboys had three consecutive 8-8 seasons in which they failed to make the playoffs by losing their last regular-season game against a division opponent. The Cowboys won 12 games and a division title in 2014 but were eliminated from postseason contention after losing their second playoff game the following year.
Two years later, after an injury to Romo in the preseason, rookie Dak Prescott took over at quarterback for the Cowboys. He and fellow first-year sensation Ezekiel Elliott led the team to a 13-3 record and the best record in the NFC, but they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round. After missing the playoffs in 2017, the Cowboys returned in 2018, won their opening game, and then lost in the divisional round.