The Pro Football Hall of Fame has been blitzing fans all week with storied names from the NFL’s past, announcing the Modern-Era Players, Seniors, and Coaches who have advanced in the voting process for inclusion in the Class of 2026.
But there’s one more category of note, and there’s a Cowboys connection there who’s still in the running for enshrinement in Canton. In fact, without this individual, the Dallas Cowboys wouldn’t exist at all.
Clint Murchison, Jr. is one of 21 individuals up for consideration in this year’s Contributors category. The Texas businessman passed away in 1987 at the age of 63, but his monumental impact is still felt every single day: the founder and first owner of what would become the most valuable sports franchise on the planet, the NFL’s flagship organization, and one of the most recognized brands on Earth.
Murchison came from old Texas oil money and in the late 1950s, dreamed of bringing the still-niche sport of professional football to his hometown of Dallas.
The story of how he eventually did it is one that Cowboys Wire has told before in great detail and is worth your time, if you don’t know the extraordinary history. Suffice it to say the Cowboys’ remarkable origin story under Murchison’s leadership involves some truly fascinating twists and turns that include:
Murchison sold the Cowboys to Bum Bright in 1984 and died three years later. The team he founded in 1960 with a $600,000 investment is now valued at $13 billion, per Forbes.
Despite the obvious and indelible mark his contributions made to the Cowboys and therefore pro football as a whole, Murchison- who has been a finalist for Canton before- will face an uphill fight to make the Class of 2026.
Other advancing candidates include some giants of the sport: Bud Adams, Roone Arledge, Howard Cosell, Robert Kraft, Virginia McCaskey, Art Rooney Jr., and Amy Trask among them.
Also up for consideration are John Wooten, who was the Cowboys’ director of pro scouting from 1975 to 1991, and Frank Kilroy, who worked for a time in the team’s player personnel department.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Clint Murchison Jr. birthed Cowboys franchise in 1960; up for Hall of Fame consideration
Reporting by Todd Brock, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
