NFL Owners Approve Sale of Cowboys

An era came to an end today when NFL owners unanimously approved the sale of the Dallas Cowboys to Arkansas oilman Jerry Jones and Tex Schramm, the only president the team ever had, resigned to head the new International Football League.

The vote at a special meeting was followed by the announcement that Schramm will head the new league, which hopes to start play as early as next spring. Schramm had headed the Cowboys since their beginning 29 years ago as an expansion team.

Left Out of Decisions

Since Jones bought the team Feb. 25 for $146 million, Schramm has been left out of all of the team’s major decisions.

For example, Jones, without Schramm’s approval, fired Tom Landry as coach and replaced him with Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson.

“It’s just not my style to sit around and take orders,” Schramm said earlier. “It’s difficult for me because I’ve been running an organization for 29 years.”

Because the sale involved the purchase of Texas Stadium and the Cowboys’ vast complex at Valley Ranch, the NFL withheld approval until all financial aspects of the deal could be studied.

Under previous owners Clint Murchison Jr. and H. R. (Bum) Bright, Schramm’s autonomy as leader of the franchise was unchallenged.

“Jones has said he would be in charge of everything from jocks to socks. He has,” Schramm said.

Play in the Spring

Schramm’s new league will play in the spring and have six sites in the United States and six in Europe.

“I think it would work,” he said. “You would have to have television behind it, but I believe you could get that.”

Schramm envisioned that such a league would have the backing of the NFL. Clubs could buy shares of the IFL corporation.