What if…

The Dallas Cowboys have had a great run in their first four decades of existence, which has seen them become arguably the most successful franchise in NFL history - five Super Bowls, several more appearances in conference title games, many of the most memorable moments in NFL history, and some of the greatest players the game has seen.

But, you can’t help but wondering what if things might have been a little different. Not that I’d want to trade any of the great moments in Cowboys history for some others, but this is just a little something to think about.

What If the NFL Hadn’t Brought a Franchise to Dallas?

Lamar Hunt desperately wanted a pro football team in his hometown of Dallas. And, when the NFL owners said no to his attempt to buy the Cardinals and move them to Dallas, he decided to start his own league, so that he could have a team in Dallas. Thus came the birth of the AFL, and soon after, the Dallas Cowboys. It may well have only been a matter of time before Dallas became home to an NFL franchise anyway, but if not for the NFL owners retaliating against Lamar Hunt’s efforts to rival the NFL, who knows what would have happened? It was a shrewd business move, and maybe a low blow, but you know how history can change on one decision.

Hunt’s Texans stayed in town for only a few seasons before being moved to Kansas City in 1963. That move was partly due to the presence of the Cowboys in Dallas. If the Cowboys weren’t in Dallas, the Texans might have stayed.

If the existence of the Cowboys had been delayed, or even not happened, there would have been no Bullet Bob or Dandy Don, no Staubach, no dynasty of the 90s, no America’s Team, and no five Super Bowls.

What If Herschel Hadn’t Been Traded?

Herschel Walker was a Pro Bowler as a Cowboy in 1987 and 1988. In 1988, he finished second in the league with 1,514 rushing yards. There wasn’t any doubt that he was one of the premier players in the league.

But, he was a great player playing on a bad team. From 1987 to 1989 went 11-36, including records of 3-13 and 1-15 in 1988 and 1989.

So, Jerry Jones and the new regime (which I’ll get to soon enough) decided he’d trade the team’s biggest asset, and there just happened to be a taker, and a gullible one at that - the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings got Walker and a few draft picks, but the Cowboys got five players and a draft’s worth of picks, including their first-round picks from 1990-1992.

Through those picks, Dallas got Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson, Dixon Edwards, and Alvin Harper, all of whom were influential parts of Dallas’ success from ‘91 to ‘95. Minnesota did get receiver Jake Reed with one of Dallas’ picks, but the trade ended up being overwhelmingly one-sided in the Cowboys’ favor.

Given that Walker was at the height of his career, the Vikings may have figured it was even at the time, but it didn’t take long for it to basically blow up in their faces. While the Cowboys went on to win three Super Bowls, the Vikings did have moderate success, but had trouble getting past the first round of the playoffs.

So What If Jerry Hadn’t Bought the Team in the First Place?

From the inception of the franchise in 1960 until 1984, owner Clint Murchison and coach Tom Landry were the driving forces behind the Cowboys, and during that time, the Cowboys became one of the NFL’s most successful and followed teams. But, he sold the team to Harvey ‘Bum’ Bright in 1984, and that signaled the end of one era in Cowboys history.

For the next few seasons, the Cowboys began to struggle, and also during that time, Bright and the other mainstay of the franchise, Coach Landry, had, at best, a strained relationship.

With the Cowboys on the slide, along came Jerry Jones, who not only purchased the team, but took on a hands-on approach that the previous owners hadn’t. That approach included supplanting GM Tex Schramm, and then ended another era by letting go of Landry, in favor of bringing in his former teammate at Arkansas, University of Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson.

Those moves might not have been well-accepted by all of the Cowboys’ faithful, and a 1-15 record in Johnson’s first season couldn’t have helped confidence in the new ownership. But, it wasn’t long before things turned around, and success came back to Big D.

Some of his moves haven’t been too favorable (like the firing of Landry, and the way he’s handled things with some coaches, like Johnson), and some of them haven’t worked out (sorry, Dave Campo, Quincy Carter, David LaFleur, and others), but I don’t think anyone would trade him for any other owner. There’s three Super Bowl rings, and future Hall of Famers Smith and Woodson, and current Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, and Michael Irvin, among others, to show for what he’s done. And hey, that new stadium he’s building can’t hurt either.

Other What Ifs

What if the Cowboys had went outside of the organization after Chan Gailey left, instead of hiring Campo? Campo was great as an assistant coach, but the franchise suffered with him as the head coach.

What if the Cowboys hadn’t drafted Steve Walsh in the 1989 supplemental draft? They’d have kept their 1990 first-round pick, which, given their 1-15 record, would have been the #1 overall pick. That pick could have been used on someone else, like Penn State running back Blair Thomas. But then, we could have been talking about another draft bust, as Thomas’ NFL career was over within just a few short, injury-affected years.

Walsh might have been Johnson’s QB at Miami, but he didn’t work out in Dallas, as the other rookie QB, Aikman, won the job over him, and persevered through a rough first season to have a Hall of Fame career. Walsh was traded to New Orleans in 1990, and threw more INTs than TDs in his NFL career.

What if Bart Starr had come up an inch short in the Ice Bowl? Dallas might have been known as ‘Titletown’ before Green Bay was.

What if the ball had gone off of Dwight Clark’s fingertips or sailed over his head instead of into his hands? That would have affected not only the Cowboys, but also the 49ers as well.