The Original 1960 Dallas Cowboys Roster

I thought it would be interesting to examine the very first Dallas Cowboys roster in relationship to football cards, more specifically, rookie cards of the players before they were Cowboys.

On March 13, 1960 the Cowboys started the selection process from a player pool that was created earlier by the 12 current NFL franchises at a meeting in Los Angeles. The Cowboys were allowed to pick three unprotected players from each team giving them a verteran roster base of 36 players.

Since the Cowboys did not participate in the draft that was held in November of 1959, the rest of the 42 man roster was assembled by trades and free agent signings. Most notably was the acquisition of SMU star QB Don Meredith (drafted by the Chicago Bears, 3rd round), and New Mexico RB Don Perkins (an injury kept Perkins off the active roster). Since the Cowboys didn't formally exist yet, these players were signed to personal services contracts.

Below are the players that took the field in the Cowboys inaugural season 50 years ago. Along with a team issued photo and how the player was acquired, I have shown the players' RC if one exists prior to becoming a Dallas Cowboy. Both the Bill Butler and Ed Husmann RC's were issued after leaving the Cowboys.