Don was a small back- 5-foot-10 and 191 pounds. How Lamar Hunt and Clint Murchison Jr. cooked up the first Super Bowl. Historians credit the teams success for giving the City of Dallas a point of pride and a way to recover from the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Dont give up. Clinton Williams Murchison, Sr. (April 11, 1895 - 20 June 1969), was a noted Texas-based oil magnate and political operative. Unable to strike a bargain with the City of Dallas, he elected to build a new stadium in Irving, Texas. I was led to this book from Brian Burrough's "The Big Rich." His is an exciting journey during the golden age of journalism, and his biography will be required reading for journalism and medical students alike. A dozen huskies in feeding frenzy, chasing a couple hundred chickens and dragging Santa along behind to boot. Then Clint slowly lifted his cane and smilingly pointed at the front of Carters pullover shirt. His grandfather founded the First National Bank in Athens. Marshall would get his number changed and unlisted. The station was not a financial success, and joined forces with the Caroline organization to become the southern station of Radio Caroline. In The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty, author Jane Wolfe writes how Clint Jr. thrived in a milieu of intellectuals from Harvard, MIT and Wellesley. No spam, ever. Radio Nord broadcast in Swedish for 16 months, between March 8, 1961 and June 30, 1962. It was, however, a natural fit for Clint Jr., who for the first and only time in his life was surrounded by people whose intelligence mirrored his. Despite politics and religious issues being banned at the station, it was stopped when the Swedish government introduced new legislation in the spring of 1962, criminalizing the act of buying commercials on the station. Clint Jr. saw a downtown stadium as a far better home for his rapidly improving team than what he called the fully depreciated Cotton Bowl in Fair Park. The article, by Edwin Pope, a sports editor of The Miami Herald, referred to Mr. Murchison as ''a 130-pound halfback from M.I.T.'' Suite 2100 The Cowboys and the Super Bowl have come a long way from that close encounter we had in 1966-67. This an excellent expose on the legendary rise and then fall of a true TEXAS Dynasty. Yep. Its the only way I can deal with mis particular dilemma. Author Jane Wolfe lived in Dallas for forty years before recently relocating to her hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Carter frowns at me. , Dimensions Young said the major systems of the home have been improved, along with bathrooms and the primary suite. In telling you the story, we will show you how it serves as history, comedy and tragedy, but most of all, as a rollicking read, every bit as fascinating as a Texas character named Clint Murchison Jr., the creator of your Dallas Cowboys, who fostered their own rare world beneath the hole in the roof that seized the attention of terrorists and sports fans alike. [4], Murchison, with his MIT background, understood the potential of using computers in football. But if you pile it up in one place, it stinks like hell., According to Fortune, Clint Sr. declares one of his best assets is a full knowledge of the use of credit. I have tried to convince myself that if the Cowboys make him happy, then I am happy, but really I still struggle with my own memories of the team and try to reconcile them with the Cowboys of today. After his father's death in 1969, Mr. Murchison and his brother John ran an array of companies described as ''obscure, fantastic and phantasmagorical'' by Philip I. Palmer Jr., a lawyer who handled the Murchison bankruptcy case in 1985. Publisher The answer to the mystery revealed itself in what was then the highest-rated episode in television history, titled Who Done It?, luring an estimated 83 million viewers more than the number of voters in that years presidential election. It is now a signature element in the design of AT&T Stadium, whose own version of the hole in the roof appeared in the opening moments of the TNT remake of Dallas. His elder son, John, won Wall Street's biggest proxy fight, developed the Vail, Colorada ski resort, and was a noted jet-setter. His elder son, John, won Wall Street's biggest proxy fight, developed the Vail, Colorada ski resort, and was a noted jet-setter. How different are the very rich from you and me? Her current book is "BURL: Journalism Giant and Media Trailblazer," to be published by Andrews McMeel Publishing (AMP) on September 6, 2022. This went on for five minutes a night, five nights a week on Channel 4. At their fathers knee, Woolley wrote, Clint Jr. and John learned how to wheel and deal. Soon, Clint Sr. was sharing his idea of an education, designed to ensure enduring wealth and chisel the Murchison name into the granite of high society. Well, thats what Landry did, 1 point out. As with all great stories, ours has a beginning, a middle and an end. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Pre-order on Amazon. Clint William Murchison Jr., (September 12, 1923 in Dallas, Texas-March 30, 1987) was a businessman and founder of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Even so, the Arkansas oilman deserves 100% of the business chops he gets. The club came apart from the top. [4] Over the years the suites increased in value including one trading hands for a million dollars. Theres no in-between mats very comfortable. [3], In addition to the Dallas Cowboys, The Murchison Family businesses included Centex Corporation (home builders), Daisy Air Rifles, Field & Stream magazine, the Tony Roma's restaurant chain and real estate developments throughout the U.S.[4], In the early 1960s the Murchisons were involved in a proxy fight with Allan P. Kirby over control of Alleghany Corporation, a holding company whose interests included New York Central Railroad and Investors Diversified Services, a large mutual fund company. I dont know anything at all about Smith and Everett. They will shut off their outside receivers. What about Clint? The home has seven bedrooms, seven bathrooms and two half-bathrooms and has been renovated, boasting plenty of natural light, classic details and even some of the original wallpaper. Money is like manure, Clint Sr. once famously told his boys, echoing a line written by Thornton Wilder in his 1954 play, The Matchmaker, but adding his own special spin: If you spread it around, it does a lot of good. Lawyers involved in the case called it one of the largest personal bankruptcy cases in United States history.[2]. In the early 1960s Burl pioneered home kidney dialysis treatment and in 1966 became only the 130th person in the world to undergo a live kidney transplant, a risky and unproven operation at the time. ), Richardson, Hunt, Murchison and Cullen accomplished their meteoric rise through an alchemy of luck and risk, whose payoff was best captured in the lyrics of the 1960s television comedy The Beverly Hillbillies, about a poor mountaineer who was shootin at some food, when up through the ground come a bubblin crude. But I should try. Willie Nelson and Roger Miller, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Doors. Texas Stadium and its hole in the roof would not have existed had it not been for the Cowboys founder, Clint Murchison Jr. His father, Clint Murchison Sr., was one of the most iconic names in the history of Texas oil, the world that gave rise to J.R. Ewing. He returned to Athens and worked in the bank until the outbreak of World War I, when he joined the Army. The plan was to turn the chickens loose when the dogsled hit the field. John Murchison and his brother Clint Murchison Jr. were the first owners of the Dallas Cowboys. The slow, downward death spiral. [1][2] A son of Clint Murchison Sr., who made his first fortune in oil exploration and became notorious for exploiting the sale of "hot oil", Clint and his surviving brother inherited their father's wealth and business interests to which Clint Jr. added ventures of his own. The theory suggests that Murchison's connections to certain Dallas industrialists as well as influence in American politics, at the time, facilitated the assassination of the president. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in. Son of a Texas Wildcatter. The sponsors quickly dropped out, the station threatened firing and Schramm threatened fines. dallashistory.org. A quote from the former husband sadly intoning he wishes things could have worked out better. Even those who know a little, Fortune wrote, dont pretend to understand how Clint got mixed up in so much outlandish stuff, or how he keeps track of it all without going batty or broke. His wealth in 1953 was estimated at $300 million and growing. Over the next 20 years I wrote three more novels, several screenplays, dozens of newspaper and magazine articles and saw my screenplay of North Dallas Forty made into a major motion picture starring Nick Nolte. Smith will get over 100 yards rushing, he says. He changed where and how games are played, not only in professional football but also in baseball, basketball, and colleges and high schools. He attended school at Lawrenceville School and joined the Marine Corps after Pearl Harbor and went on to become a student at Duke University as part of the Marine Corps V-12 training program[2] where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in electrical engineering. The City of Irving will also host the authors, on Dec. 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Irving Archives and Museum, 801 W. Irving Blvd., Irving. They had a good system. Watch what they do to Buffalo. . Dallas sportswriter Blackie Sherrod attributed the Cowboys' success to two rare possessions of Clint Murchison: a bottomless pocketbook and patience.[8]. [1][2] A son of Clint Murchison Sr., who made his first fortune in oil exploration and became notorious for exploiting the sale of "hot oil", Clint and his surviving brother inherited their father's wealth and business interests to which Clint Jr. added ventures of his own. One of Michaels most esteemed colleagues in a newspaper career spanning more than 50 years was the late Bryan Woolley, whose thousands of bylines include a moving profile of Clint Jr. In case youre wondering, Katy taxpayers paid for most of it. Jones even managed to land the Jan. 1, 2021, Rose Bowl game, which, because of the pandemic, could not be played in its traditional home in Pasadena, Calif. After everybody finished laughing and Danny finished blushing (which he did often), Meredith called the next play and we went on to beat Cleveland. I joined the team for the 1964 season, coming to Dallas and the NFL out of Big Ten Basketball at Michigan State. He was a wide receiver for the Cowboys, and then he wrote North Dallas Forty. And just as the beginning of the Cowboys epic saga must start with Clint Jr., so his story begins with his dad, Clint Sr. We, the authors, are Burk Murchison (one of Clint Jr.s four children) and Michael Granberry, who grew up in Dallas and who, like his co-author, began following the Cowboys from the moment they were founded in 1960. Eventually, skyrocketing interest rates and plummeting oil and real estate prices led him to one of the largest personal bankruptcies in history. 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His general attitude was to hire experts and let them execute the aspect of the business that fell in their expertise. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Murchison and McLendon remained in the shadows and allowed Murchison's long-time friend Robert F. Thompson to take credit for actual ownership while day-to-day management was vested in Swedish-Finnish businessman Jack S. Kotschack. Bright said Mr. Murchison once read an uncomplimentary news article about the Dallas Cowboys and himself. He was talking about the very place I made my living in the 60s. Texas Stadium redefined the sports stadium. The company they acquired was Tecon, which over the years would remove the overhanging shale that threatened to close the Panama Canal and would build the tunnel under Havana Harbor, the St. Lawrence Seaway and other multibillion-dollar projects around the world.. Clint Murchison Sr. erupted from East Texas during the rough-and-tumble years of oil drilling in the 1930s, and spent his life "doing deals." Clint Murchison Jr. was an entrepreneur, businessman and risk-taking founder of the successful Dallas Cowboys football franchise. The home has six additional bedrooms, two of which are in what is designated as the guest suite. Mr. Murchison, whose fortune reached an estimated $250 million in 1984, according to Forbes magazine, was recently beset with financial difficulties brought on by the collapse of the real estate market and global oil prices. Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2010. Clint Jr.s risk-taking would lead him to the world of professional football and allow his team to succeed. He made trades for draft choices and built a team thatll last for years, Carter says. Hes wondering the same thing I am: What the hell am I doing defending Tom Landry? I left football in 1969 and worked in the advertising business in Dallas for a couple of years. Clint believed there was an opportunity in Dallas for a successful professional football team. I played with Don Perkins in Dallas in the 60s, and he was the greatest football player I ever saw. Theyll kill the Bills. Hunt and Hugh Roy Cullen, American folk heroes in the making. He was curious about the latters hole in the roof, which Dallas Cowboys linebacker D. D. Lewis once famously said existed so that God can watch his favorite team.. Clint, Jr.s' s son Burk Murchison and Dallas Morning News writer Michael Granberry ("Hole in the Roof: The Dallas Cowboys, Clint Murchison Jr., and the Stadium That Changed American Sports Forever") join the podcast this week to help us delve into the history and mythology of Texas Stadium - the Cowboys' groundbreaking suburban Irving, TX home . From now on, you're on your own.[4]. Then thru the 70's it all starts to fall apart as Clint jr made dumber and more leveraged deals that thru off little cash. His failure is just one of the ways Hole in the Roof embraces a double meaning. Kennedy. There was a problem loading your book clubs. Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2015. : The franchise was worth $600,000 when the Murchisons bought it, and the Super Bowl was an afterthought of a game designed to pave the way for the NFL-AFL merger that would keep down player salaries. On January 31, 1993, he was euphoric. ''With his engineering background, he was very much 'hands on' during its construction. ''One of his greatest satisfactions besides the Cowboys was Texas Stadium, the home of the Cowboys,'' John D. O'Connell, a longtime friend and business associate, said of Clinton Murchison. Don Meredith was quarterback, and Danny Reeves was the halfback to Perkins at fullback. I want my kid to handicap for me. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. His name was Mohamed Atta. Murchison had two brothers, John D. Murchison (19211979) and Burk Murchison (19251936), who died at age ten from a childhood disease. The new stadium has yet to lay claim to a Super Bowl-winning Cowboys team. I cant see how theyre only a 7-point favorite. I am interested in the Bills because Elijah Pitts is the backfield coach and Elijah went with the Packers to that first Super Bowl instead of Perkins and me. Because the risk-taking pair won far more than they lost, they stayed afloat. The event is free, but registration is required. Forbes magazine assessed its value in 2021 at $5.7 billion the sixth consecutive year the Cowboys were ranked as the worlds most valuable sports company. it suddenly became clear to me how much time has passed. Wolfe tells a riveting tale of the rising fortunes and ultimate downfall of the Murchison family, quintessential high rollers. Cheerful and Optimistic. He only had a few childhood friends. They believed the people who borrowed money and invested it in land and other things that appreciate with inflation would win. [9] Murchison's Cowboys, featuring likable players and a winning tradition, paved the way for a new Dallas image. The suites were an immediate status sensation. Theres also guest quarters, complete with a bedroom, living room and kitchen, and an attached five-car garage. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. The primary suite has its own wing, which amounts to more than 2,000 square feet. Clint taught the sports world how stadiums could be so much more than where games are played. No, he shakes his head. "[6], As the team floundered through their first few seasons and critics called for Landry's firing, Murchison backed his coach by handing him a 10-year contract. The players are rich, young, immortal. He believed his team would be good, even special, for years to come. From the beginning, Clint saw it as far more than a place to play games. And in that respect alone, irony abounds, one of many we share in Hole in the Roof. Trying to tear off his red Bobby Knight sweater to throw it on the floor, he got it caught around his neck, nearly strangling himself. The Pete Gent Show was not renewed. The battle widened when Murchison bought the copyrights to Hail to the Redskins out from under Marshall and used the song as a bargaining chip to force Marshall to drop his opposition to Clints bid. He also longed for a symbol of redemption a state-of-the-art stadium that could go a long way toward restoring a depressed downtown in the wake of President John F. Kennedys assassination on Elm Street in Dallas in 1963. It would, he believed, give the Cowboys and their fervent fan base a spiffy new home that would pay an added dividend: it would serve as a catalyst in rebuilding a damaged Dallas and healing a wounded populace who bristled at the nickname city of hate.. Carter has already heard this. He gets on my nerves but hes a good coach. Carters eyes never leave the television. To wit: In 2017, Katy, Texas, unveiled a $72 million high school facility, which carries luxury boxes for corporate sponsors. Except for one play and they called that one back. Learn more. Under Murchisons ownership the Dallas Cowboys delivered 20 consecutive winning seasons, 17 years of playoff appearances, five trips to the Super Bowl and two Lombardi trophies. DAD? They were arguably professional footballs most popular team, despite falling short of a championship until they won Super Bowl VI on Jan. 16, 1972. Spared the wrath of terrorists, Texas Stadium enjoyed a happier fate. I was an account executive for Tracy-Locke advertising and we were handling a new Frito-Lay product called Doritos. This leadership genius produced remarkable results externally and of equal importance maintained this unique, special culture internally. They passed up Tony Mandarich for Troy Aikman. Carter turns back to Ice Cube and The Nappy Dug Out. Clint Jr.s success can be attributed largely to Schramm, a marketing genius; Landry, one of the games great coaches; and Gil Brandt, who, as director of scouting, revolutionized the way players are recruited by using newfangled technology computers long before computers were commonplace. Clint W. Murchison Jr., the scion of a Texas wildcat oil family who created the Dallas Cowboys football team, died Monday night. It is the story of the late Burl Osborne, former chairman of "The Associated Press" and publisher of "The Dallas Morning News," who waged and won one of the last great newspaper wars in the United States. Foreword by Hall of Famer Drew Pearson. An unassuming, softspoken native of Tyler, Tex., Mr. Murchison (pronounced MER-kiss-un) was born Sept. 5, 1921, the son of Clint W. Murchison Sr., who made a fortune in the . In terms of what stadiums could mean to the foundation of a franchise, Jones took what Clint envisioned and put it on steroids. Listing agent Lillie Young, citing tax documents, said the home was originally built for Texas oilman Clint Murchison Sr. Beginning in his native East Texas, the elder Mr. Murchison went on to make millions of dollars in the oil fields near Wichita Falls, Tex. Joe Bailey He reacted to his rejection by threatening to slit the throat of loan manager Johnell Bryant, who told him she was skilled in the martial arts, which scared him away. He said he hoped to buy a twin-engine, six-passenger crop duster on which he could add a large fuel tank. Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items. , ISBN-13 And yet, his wealth continued to grow. Clinton Williams Murchison Jr. (September 12, 1923 March 30, 1987) was a businessman and founder of the Dallas Cowboys football team. When it all came to an end in 1984 the tragic part of the story Clint Jr. had lost everything, and risk-taking was largely to blame. The team last won it all in Super Bowl XXX in Tempe, Ariz., on Jan. 28, 1996, when the Cowboys beat the Pittsburgh Steelers to capture their fifth Lombardi Trophy. But when it came to the Dallas elite, Clint Jr.s ideas were met by scoffs, not support. The sale of his assets to pay back creditors was to eventually include his 25-acre estate and the home in North Dallas where he was reared. In 1966, when the still-young Dallas Cowboys franchise ended six years of agony with their first winning season, the team's owner and founder, Clint Murchison Jr., son of a billionaire oilman, was feeling ambitious. In biblical terms, the story of the Cowboys financial empire is one of Clint begat Jerry. Clint Murchi-son Jr. was there-he was already desperately ill. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. Clint Sr was a former wildcatter who got into the oil business right after World War 1. A three-story mansion in San Antonio's Monte Vista Historic District once owned by powerful oilman Clint Murchison has hit the market for $1.5 million. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. (Perhaps its no coincidence that H.L. In 1984, an ailing Murchison[4] sold the Dallas Cowboys to an investment syndicate led by Bum Bright, a Dallas area businessman who had a background in banking/financial services and in oil/gas production. But the most compelling contain elements of all three. [10], Incorporating a host of first-ever innovations, Murchison became known as the godfather of modern stadium construction. By Burk Murchison and Michael Granberry. Television has convinced a whole generation that success in sports requires a professional career and a stack of product endorsements. Its the least I can do. We missed going to the first two by a total of 3 yards and about 15 seconds. His 2 sons then extended the empire to Wall Street in the 1950s and pro football in the 1960s--they started the Dallas Cowboys. Also surviving are several grandchildren. had exactly zero attendance, including the new $5 billion SoFi Stadium, which houses the Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers, who until the 2021 kickoff had played before zero thats right, zero fans in the stands in Inglewood, Calif., where the capacity is 70,000. Thats not what being young is supposed to be about, anyway. Anyone can read what you share. John excelled, in Woolleys words, in such three-piece-suit enterprises as banking and insurance. When three creditors, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, the Kona-Post Corporation and Citicorp, filed a petition to force him into bankruptcy, the fate of his financial empire was sealed. [4], Murchison worked with architects to create a revolutionary design for a football-only stadium that would feature a roof that would cover all the seats, but leave an open field to keep the elements as part of the game. Clint Jr. had begun as an undergraduate at MIT but was soon derailed by World War II, which led to his induction in the Marine Corps, via the U.S. Navys V-12 program. Before that moment, however, Bryant said he asked specifically about two iconic buildings: the World Trade Center in New York and Texas Stadium in Irving. Her first book, "THE MURCHISONS: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty," was published in 1989. Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall hated Clint Murchison Jr. because, to get the Dallas franchise, Murchison lobbed money on Congress to force the Redskins to give up their virtual broadcast monopoly of professional football in the South in 1960.