text: Originally, the formation of an NFL expansion team in Texas was met with strong opposition by Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall. Despite being located in the nation's capital, Marshall's Redskins had enjoyed a monopoly as the only NFL team to represent the American South for over 20 years since moving from Boston in 1937. Marshall was not about to give up the Redskins' status as the "professional football team of Dixie" without a fight. His intransigence came as little surprise to Dallas' would-be owners, Clint Murchison Jr. and Bedford Wynne. To ensure the birth of their expansion team, the men bought the rights to the Redskins fight song, "Hail to the Redskins" and threatened to refuse to allow Washington to play the song at games. Needing the song, Marshall changed his mind, and the city of Dallas was granted an NFL franchise on January 28, 1960. This early confrontation between the two franchises helped to trigger what became one of the more heated National Football League rivalries, which continues to this day.
  The team was first known as the Dallas Steers, then the Dallas Rangers. On March 19, 1960, the organization announced that the team name was the Cowboys to avoid confusion with the American Association Dallas Rangers baseball team. The founding investors of the Dallas Cowboys were Clint Murchison, Jr. (45%), John D. Murchison (45%), along with minority shareholders, Toddie Lee and Bedford Wynne (Director and Secretary) (5%) and William R. Hawn (5%). The new owners subsequently hired CBS Sports executive and former Los Angeles Rams general manager Tex Schramm as president and general manager, San Francisco 49ers scout Gil Brandt as player personnel director, and New York Giants defensive coordinator Tom Landry as head coach.
  1960–1964: Early struggles