Former Cowboys president, general manager Schramm dies

DALLAS (AP) -- Tex Schramm, who turned the Dallas Cowboys into "America's Team" with his bold innovations and keen eye for promotion and was instrumental in making the NFL a billion-dollar industry, died Tuesday. He was 83.

The former Cowboys president and general manager died at his Dallas home, said Schramm's son-in-law, Greg Court.

"Tex will go down as one of the most influential figures in the history of the NFL," said Don Shula, the league's winningest coach. "I truly believe he had as much, or more, to do with the success of professional football as anyone who has ever been connected with the league."

Schramm was a showman with a passion for football. His focus was the Cowboys, but he was always thinking about what could help the league, too, with ideas ranging from using professional dancers as cheerleaders to letting officials correct calls through instant replay.

His dedication was recognized in 1991, when he became the first team executive elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"The NFL family has lost one of its giants," commissioner Paul Tagliabue said. "Tex Schramm was one of the visionary leaders in sports history -- a thinker, doer, innovator and winner with few equals."

After carving out his reputation as an executive with the Los Angeles Rams and CBS-TV Sports, the 39-year-old Schramm was hired to start the NFL team in Dallas before it was even formally approved by the league.

His first move was to hire Tom Landry as his coach. Despite opposite personalities, their "business relationship" -- as Schramm called it -- produced 20 straight winning seasons, 18 playoff appearances, 13 division titles, five Super Bowl appearances and two championships.

Schramm left the organization in 1989, two months after Jerry Jones bought the club and fired Landry.

A strained relationship with Jones left Schramm out of the club's Ring of Honor -- until April, when Jones decided the man who created the Ring should be in it. Schramm will become the 12th honoree this fall, joining 11 people he brought to the Cowboys.

"I never gave up hope," he had said at a news conference announcing his selection, his eyes filling with tears. "Things that should happen to people that deserve them, usually do happen."

Jones said having Schramm's name on the facade of the upper deck at Texas Stadium ensures "his spirit will be honored for years to come."

"This organization and its fans will forever be the beneficiaries of Tex Schramm's spirit and vision -- his passion and creativity," Jones said Tuesday.

While Schramm's contribution to the Cowboys is enough to leave a profound mark on pro football, it's only a piece of his NFL legacy.

Schramm spurred the league's evolution and popularity by wielding two powerful tools: He was the chairman of the competition committee for 25 years, and was such a close adviser to commissioner Pete Rozelle that some jokingly called Schramm the "vice commissioner." Their relationship dated to 1952, when Schramm gave Rozelle his first NFL job by making him publicity director of the Rams.

Among the rule changes Schramm oversaw: the addition of regular-season overtime in 1974, putting the official time on the scoreboard, moving goal posts from the front of the end zone to the back, and protecting quarterbacks through the in-the-grasp rule.

Radios in quarterback helmets were his idea, as were wide sideline borders and wind-direction strips dangling atop the goal posts. He also pushed the six-division, wild-card playoff concept.

"He made so many contributions, you would run out of ink if you tried to write them all down," said Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt, whose franchise started in Dallas as the Texans of the rival AFL in 1960, the same season the Cowboys began.

At Rozelle's urging, Schramm played a significant role in negotiating with Hunt the AFL-NFL merger. Soon after, Schramm headed off a problem with the players' union, then in 1987 he pushed the use of replacement players to break a strike. NFL players haven't gone on strike since.

Despite his high-profile roles with the league, Schramm made it clear his loyalty was to the Cowboys.

"It was the Cowboys first and everything else second," New York Giants owner Wellington Mara said. "That's why he was so successful."

Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. was born June 2, 1920 -- but not in Texas. He grew up in San Gabriel, Calif. Texas was his father's name, and where his parents met.

A 147-pound fullback in high school, Schramm earned a journalism degree from the University of Texas and became a sports writer after a stint in the Air Force.

He worked for the Rams from 1947-56, starting as publicity director and working his way up to GM. He then went to CBS, where he learned the intricacies of wedding football and television. While there he orchestrated the first TV broadcast of the Winter Olympics and hired Pat Summerall to broadcast Giants football games.

In Dallas, the Cowboys lost every game their first season, then went through a heartbreaking stretch in which they were known as "Next Year's Champions." The span was typified by their loss to the Green Bay Packers in the "Ice Bowl."

By the 1970s, the Cowboys' blue star became among the most recognizable images in pro sports. Schramm was the driving force, mostly by daring to be different.

He hired baby photographer Gil Brandt as his top talent evaluator and let him put together a scouting system that was ahead of its time. He also agreed to risky draft picks, usually in the late rounds, such as Olympic sprinter Bob Hayes, Naval officer Roger Staubach and basketball players Cornell Green and Pete Gent. He also took Herschel Walker while he was starring in the USFL.

In 1966, Schramm volunteered to host a second NFL game on Thanksgiving Day and drew the largest crowd in franchise history (80,259). The holiday afternoon game remains a team staple and a national tradition.

His most risque move was in 1972, when he replaced high school cheerleaders with professional dancers. The seven-member squad forever changed the sidelines.

A few years later, an NFL Films producer working on the team's annual highlight film noticed the Cowboys had throngs of fans wherever they played, so he dubbed them "America's Team."

Schramm loved the moniker and made it stick. It helped that he put together a radio network that broadcast games on 225 stations in 19 states, plus a Spanish-speaking network with 16 stations in seven states and Mexico.

"Tex was the ultimate football-minded man," said Hall of Famer Bob Lilly, the team's first draft pick. "He loved the game and he had a flair about him of show business."

Schramm's wife of 60 years, Marty, died in December. Their oldest daughter, Mardee Anne Smith, died before them.

He's survived by daughter Christi Wilkinson and son-in-law Bill Wilkinson of San Antonio, daughter Kandy Court, and son-in-law Greg, and six grandchildren.

A private funeral will be held Friday, followed by a public memorial service at 2 p.m. at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church.