Legends of the Dallas Cowboys ─ Tom Landry, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Other Cowboys Stars

Five Super Bowl titles, fourteen Hall of Famers, and a litany of legendary players, characters, and games later, the Dallas Cowboys franchise has cemented itself among the most successful in all of sports and, with a fan base that extends all over the world, among the most well known.

Legends of the Dallas Cowboys takes an in-depth look at some of the legends who have shaped the Cowboys’ identity, beginning with Tom Landry, the man who was hired before Murchison had been awarded a team and who is still the franchise’s enduring image. Also included is Tex Schramm, under whom the Cowboys had twenty straight winning seasons and who is considered the most forward-thinking NFL executive ever, as well as Randy White, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Bob Lilly, Lee Roy Jordan, Mel Renfro, and more. Also included are innovators such as Bob Hayes, who forced the creation of the zone defense, and Michael Irvin and Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, who forced the creation of behavioral clauses in contracts. Each of the legends played his own unique role in shaping the lore of one of sports’ greatest franchises, a franchise that began humbly on a winter day in Miami and is now a model of success.

Cody Monk is the author of Alfonso Soriano: The Dominican Dream Come True and the coauthor of Have More Money Now: A Commonsense Approach to Financial Management with WWE’s John Layfield. Monk began his writing career at the Dallas Morning News and has writing and broadcast credits at, among others, the Associated Press, the Washington Post , ESPN, The Sporting News, USA Today, and the Dallas Morning News’ Spanish-language newspaper, Al Dia.