Tex Schramm
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| Position: | General manager, president |
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| Personal information | |
| Date of birth: | June 2, 1920 |
| Place of birth: | San Gabriel, California, United States |
| Date of death: | July 15, 2003 (aged 83) |
| Career information | |
| High school: | Alhambra (CA) |
| College: | Texas |
| Career history | |
| As executive: | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Tex Schramm | |
|---|---|
| Allegiance |
 United States
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| Service/branch |
 U.S. Army Air Forces
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| Battles/wars | World War II |
Texas Earnest "Tex" Schramm, Jr. (June 2, 1920 – July 15, 2003) was the original president and general manager of the National Football League's Dallas Cowboys franchise. Schramm became the head of the Cowboys when the former expansion team started operations in 1960.
Despite his name, Schramm was not born in Texas, but in San Gabriel, California. Texas was his father's name and where his parents met. Schramm attended Alhambra High School and went to the University of Texas, graduating in 1947 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. At UT he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, as was his father. Schramm interrupted his education to serve as an officer in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II.
Before joining the Cowboys, Schramm was part of the Los Angeles Rams from 1947 to 1956. During his tenure, he hired Pete Rozelle as the Rams' public relations director; Rozelle later became one of the most important commissioners in the history of the NFL. They remained close friends after Rozelle became NFL commissioner and Schramm became general manager of the Cowboys (each holding his position for 29 years).
In late 1959, when it became apparent that the NFL was intent on expanding to Dallas, Schramm told his friends in football that he was interested in running the team. Chicago Bears owner George Halas introduced Schramm to Clint Murchison, Jr., who had tried to bring the NFL to Dallas several times in the past. Murchison hired Schramm as the general manager for a potential Dallas team, which became a reality when the league awarded a franchise to the city on January 28, 1960.
In 1960, Schramm hired head coach Tom Landry and chief scout Gil Brandt. By the mid-1960s, the three men had built the Cowboys into an elite team. The Cowboys, despite two consecutive losses to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL Championship Game in 1966 and '67, had 20 consecutive winning seasons, and won the most games of any NFL team of the 1970s. They appeared in five Super Bowls that decade, winning Super Bowls VI and XII, and losing Super Bowls V, X, and XIII by a combined 11 points. The Cowboys became a marquee NFL franchise, their popularity inspiring the nickname "America's Team".
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