Clint Murchison Sr. was among the richest of Texas oilmen, appearing on the cover of Time magazine in 1954 with an estimated net worth of more than $300 million. A love of football that began in prep school led Mr. Murchison to create the first great professional sports franchise in Dallas, the National Football League's Cowboys, in 1960. Hence, Schramm oversaw most of the Cowboys day-to-day business matters, and represented the Cowboys at league meetingsa prerogative normally reserved to the owner. He seems to be able to listen to my question and understand the rap lyrics. Carter frowns at me. Clint Murchison: Craziest Dallas Cowboys Owner Ever - The Landry Hat 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. [4] Over the years the suites increased in value including one trading hands for a million dollars. Clinton Williams Murchison, Sr. (April 11, 1895 - 20 June 1969), was a noted Texas-based oil magnate and political operative. In 1963, Dallas suddenly became known as the city that assassinated John F. Then Perkins from Waterloo, Iowa, spoke in his deep, mellifluent voice. She has written for dozens of newspapers and magazines, including "The New York Times" and "Town & Country.". Behind the Signatures | Clint Murchison Jr. After all, I made more money in the offseason in an advertising printing business with Bobby Hayes than I ever made in football. Son of legendary Texas oil man Clint Murchison Sr., he enlisted in the Marine Corps after the attack on Pearl Harbor, earned an electrical engineering degree from Duke University and a master's in mathematics from MIT. His loyalty has spanned all three eras, from Clint Murchison to Bum Bright to Jerry Jones. John was more conservative than daring, more measured than maniacal. When Clint Murchison, Jr. was 26 years old in 1949, his father. Plenty of Texas History you would never learn about in a history class (in Texas). One of the first to make nationwide headlines was the youngest of Hunt's sons: shy, well-mannered Lamar. We may also surprise you by showing you the ways in which the sports world has taken Clints model and corrupted it in ways that he more than anyone would loathe. Undaunted, these rich Dallas tycoons would get drunk, make prank calls to George Preston Marshall in the middle of the night and cluck into the phone. That was all a long time ago. Carter glances sideways at me and frowns. The Cowboys played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas since their inception in 1960. J. R. crumpled to the floor with a gunshot wound in the cliffhanger episode that aired on March 21, 1980. I want my kid to handicap for me. [1] He died of pneumonia in 1987 at age 63 in Dallas,[2] and is buried at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery in North Dallas. He has switched to Black Entertainment Television and Ice Cube is rapping Givin Up The Nappy Dug Out. By noon the next day, theyd returned to Wichita Falls, having tripled their profit in 24 hours by flipping the leases for $200,000 (more than $3 million in todays dollars). He was 6 years old. 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. 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. "[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. Clint Murchison, Jr. | Military Wiki | Fandom https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/01/obituaries/cw-murchison-jr-dies-in-texas-at-63.html. Broke and dying, Clint Jr. sold the Cowboys in 1984, the same year the art museum abandoned Fair Park, only to resurface downtown as the anchor of the Dallas Arts District. Through the accelerated officers training program, he was sent to Duke, where he obtained his bachelors degree in electrical engineering. You cant talk to them about pensions and health insurance and how bad youre gonna feel every morning. Co-author Burk Murchison is named for the uncle who died. Editors note: This excerpt from Hole in the Roof: The Dallas Cowboys, Clint Murchison Jr., and the Stadium That Changed American Sports Forever, by Burk Murchison and News staff writer Michael Granberry, is reprinted with permission from Texas A&M University Press. I thought you didnt like Landry and Schramm. Carter doesnt take his eyes off the screen, which is filled with oversized behinds, shaking like wet dogs. The Murchison estate also included what the family called the "Big House," a 22,000-square-foot mansion that Clint Sr. built and which Lupe abandoned in 1998, when she completed her house just . This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. 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. This story ends with Super Bowl XXVII. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we dont use a simple average. As with all great stories, ours has a beginning, a middle and an end. The sponsors quickly dropped out, the station threatened firing and Schramm threatened fines. Young said the home was passed on to Clint Murchison Sr.'s son and daughter-in-law, John and Lucille Lupe Murchison. When 1 played for Tom. During those years, I watched from the outside as professional football became a billion-dollar business, with the Super Bowl its showcase event. It sits on 2.87 acres and is listed for $7.5 million. Clint Jr., probably best known as the builder and first owner of the Dallas Cowboys, was also a philanderer and deal-maker. Despite sporting radically different personalities, the two agreed to co-own the Cowboys via their partnership, with each owning half of the 90% of total ownership. Among his companies was the Southern Union Company. Lombardes Packers beat the hell out of the Kansas City Chiefs. Murchison quickly established his vision and then hired qualified executives to implement strategies to accomplish the goals. Hole in the Roof takes you on a deep dive into the personality and passions of Clint Jr., while extending a more than passing hello to everyone else who was part of his world. He was also the father of Dallas Cowboys owner Clint Murchison, Jr.. There was a problem loading your book clubs. With the team becoming more successful in the mid-1960s, Clint Murchison, Jr. wanted a new stadium for the team. But since he had two sons in their teens, whose business talents were unpredictable, it seemed unwise to keep all their legacy in one immensely risky petroleum basket.. 750 North St.Paul St. [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. Balanced history of a most interesting family, especially Sr. Moldea's book further alleges that Murchison maintained a working relationship with former U.S. Senate power broker Bobby Baker (known as "Lyndon Jr." for his close affiliation with the . They slapped down $50,000 on the spot to buy the leases. 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. By Burk Murchison and Michael Granberry. All in a days work. The Los Angeles coliseum was half empty, and the crowd was asked to sit opposite the press box so that TV audiences would have the impression that there were lots of people in attendance. He could barely speak and had hired ex-Redskins quarterback Billy Kilmer to assist him with standing and walking. ''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. Except for one play and they called that one back. He spent 19 years at the Los Angeles Times before returning to Dallas. Ive heard that before. He changed where and how games are played, not only in professional football but also in baseball, basketball, and colleges and high schools. 1898, d. 1926). And in that respect alone, irony abounds, one of many we share in Hole in the Roof. John Murchison and his brother Clint Murchison Jr. were the first owners of the Dallas Cowboys. He returned to Athens and worked in the bank until the outbreak of World War I, when he joined the Army. 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 . His sons Clint Jr. and John shared their father's wizardry, adding to their investment firmament the Vail, Colo., ski resort and the Dallas Cowboys. And what a world it was. [9] Murchison's Cowboys, featuring likable players and a winning tradition, paved the way for a new Dallas image. The elder Murchison died in 1969, almost a decade into Clint Jr.s Cowboys experiment, which his father only reluctantly supported, despite the fact that, by the time Clint Sr. died, the Cowboys were a sports-world juggernaut. Cheerful and Optimistic. As Wolfe notes in her book, The professor told Murchison that it was a great loss to science that his son Clint had gone into business.. I left football in 1969 and worked in the advertising business in Dallas for a couple of years. He was socially aloof to the point many considered downright rude. The ship Bon Jour was later renamed Mi Amigo, and after docking for almost a year in Galveston, Texas she sailed for southern England to become Radio Atlanta (McLendon began his radio career in the small town of Atlanta, Texas). Now he has a 16-year-old son who sees the team and the sport very differently than he did. Clinton Williams Murchison Jr. (September 12, 1923 March 30, 1987) was a businessman and founder of the Dallas Cowboys football team. Tom didnt like the idea of off-the-field jobs, let alone TV product endorsements. [4], Cowboys Linebacker D.D. Lawyers involved in the case called it one of the largest personal bankruptcy cases in United States history.[2]. We missed going to the first two by a total of 3 yards and about 15 seconds. Clint Murchison Jr. was an entrepreneur, businessman and risk-taking founder of the successful Dallas Cowboys football franchise. In case youre wondering, Katy taxpayers paid for most of it. [11] Texas Stadium was the first dedicated football stadium to offer luxury suites. Free to hear the presentation, $30 to buy the book. My total salary for five years with the Cowboys is less than single game checks today. Clint Murchison | Assassination of John F. Kennedy | Fandom The rest of the financing was provided by Murchison and no taxpayer money was used. I am on shaky ground. C.W. MURCHISON JR. DIES IN TEXAS AT 63 - The New York Times The new stadium has yet to lay claim to a Super Bowl-winning Cowboys team. And yet, it was money that Clint Sr. and his wife would not be able to share. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. This next part is important, because it underscores the model Clint Jr. followed with the Cowboys: Once Clint Sr. established or acquired a company, he left its operations to others, in the same way that Clint Jr. appointed Tex Schramm to be his president and general manager and Tom Landry his head coach. The Murchisons - the rise and fall of a Texas dynasty, by Jane Wolfe. Next play Ill goose him. Anything short of a world championship followed by designing your own line of sporting goods means failure. News | Clint Murchison Jr. Her second book, published in 1994, is "BLOOD RICH: When Oil Billions, High Fashion, and Royal Intimacies Are Not Enough." MURCHISON: A FORTUNE LOST - The New York Times He received a master's degree in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Well, thats what Landry did, 1 point out. Clint Murchison Sr. - Wikipedia When he got to Wichita Falls, he yanked his buddy out of a poker game. Thats right. I just wish it was on Kindle. [4], Murchison enjoyed a reputation as a practical joker. Its the only way I can deal with mis particular dilemma. Clint Jr. became enamored of education and its extracurricular dividend football, which gave him his own identity beyond his dad. 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. Jane Wolfe is the author of two previous biographies and one that will be published in September, 2022. In the long run, the Cowboys may be the family's biggest memorial. Its 70 acres now eat up multiple blocks, housing museums and a school for the performing arts, in addition to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Dallas Opera and the Tony Award-winning Dallas Theater Center. Marshall would get his number changed and unlisted. The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty. But Im already getting ahead of myself. On Sept. 11, 2001, barely a year after asking about the hole in the roof, Atta spearheaded a terrorist attack that flew hijacked airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, killing 2,749 people in the towers and on the ground nearby. This is the journey we share how Clint Murchison Jr. created the prototype, giving the Cowboys and the rest of professional sports the blueprint of a new model. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations. From Clint to Jerry: 'Hole in the Roof' is a Dallas Cowboys adventure How the Dallas Cowboys Were Born in 1960 They were the first expansion team to challenge for the championship, and when they lost two years in a row they last dramatically and heroicallyBut haw glorious to lose, and how poignant to keep the conviction in the hearts of Cowboys fans that their team was the best, as inly time would tell. Next Years Champions, the Story of the Dallas Cowboys, by Steve Perkins, 1969 MY 16-YEAR-OLD SON, CARTER, HAS been a Cowboys fan for years. [13], Murchison ran into financial difficulties as a result of questionable investments and mismanagement and failing health[2] at a time when the real estate market was collapsing, at the same time as a sharp decrease in the price of oil and a rise in interest rates. The huddle turned strangely quiet for a moment. He graduated from Samuell High School in Pleasant Grove in 1970 and from Southern Methodist University in 1974. By some accounts, John was responsible for a conservative viewpoint that helped hold in check the ''wheeler-dealer'' nature of his elder brother. Taking a hands-on approach, Murchison led the concept, design, planning, financing and construction of Texas Stadium. Clint Murchison Jr. - Wikiwand The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty - Goodreads Among his companies was the Southern Union Company. Johnson also drafted Kevin Smith and traded for Thomas Everett at the defensive halfbacks. This went on for five minutes a night, five nights a week on Channel 4. 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. So, Carter and the Finch boys were at each other all year long, especially when the Redskins and the Cowboys met. The Murchisons: The Rise and Fall of a Texas Dynasty Hardcover It is a perfect example of the generation gap between my son and me-the old Cowboys and the new Cowboys. Despite being a scrawny 5 feet 6, 120 pounds, he played halfback on an intramural team at Lawrenceville, his New Jersey prep school. He made Phi Beta Kappa in electrical engineering at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and earned a masters degree in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which was at the time the countrys toughest school for science and engineering. Mr. Murchison, who had been debilitated. Learn more. 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. It was gonna be beautiful. He doesnt want to hear it any more. They got Irvin but not Aikman. The future seems to be theirs for the taking. John was nothing like his father, whereas Clint was everything like his dad a gambler, a risk-taker extraordinaire. In that respect, Clint Sr. and Jr. resembled a more modern billionaire: current Cowboys owner Jerral Wayne Jerry Jones. Yep. [12], Murchison's luxury suite often played host to famous guests including Willie Nelson, Clint Eastwood, Jerry Jeff Walker, Norman Lear, Burt Reynolds, Henry Kissinger and Lyndon Johnson. It was the first to use seat option bonds to help fund construction and first to offer luxury suites on a commercial scale. 287: Texas Stadium - With Burk Murchison & Michael Granberr So young, so vital, so seemingly unstoppable. Unable to add item to List. Please try again. The next generations playing out this lunatic antagonism between the Cowboys and the Redskins more than 30 years after it began without the faintest idea how it started. Dont worry, Dan, he said, sternly. He looks at me. . During the outrageously troubled 2020 season, 13 National Football League teams 13! 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.. 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. Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. But when it came to the Dallas elite, Clint Jr.s ideas were met by scoffs, not support. The Packers went instead and we became the team that couldnt win the big game. Within a short period of time the "Project Atlanta" people sold out completely to the Caroline group. 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.. The plan was fowled up by a puzzled security guard who heard the chickens clucking under the stadium. This was the same man who almost fired me in 1968 for getting Kenny Rogers a sideline photographers pass. dallashistory.org. The old NFL, country music and rock n roll. Its a lot different now. His failure is just one of the ways Hole in the Roof embraces a double meaning. 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. Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. I guess thats good. 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. We document that story as well, showing you how, in the end, it comes back around to Clint. '', In the early 1980's, Mr. Murchison was involved in a number of energy and real estate ventures that eventually eroded his wealth. Carter, I ask, do you like Jimmy Johnson? They won for 20 years. 1 am quickly backpedaling. Clint Murchison Jr., and the Stadium That Changed American Sports . Throughout his business career, Mr. Murchison started and participated in a number of industries, including a taxicab company, publishing, life insurance, restaurants, banks and residential construction. The biography tells the riveting story of Burl's unlikely rise from the coal mines of Appalachia to the pinnacle of journalism - a remarkable feat made more so by his ongoing battle with kidney disease. NFL films will show the Cowboys seven TDs over and over in every future pregame show, so the network can recoup their billion-dollar investment in the NFL by selling hundreds of minutes of commercial time at $2 mil-Hon-$3 million a minute. 1 looked at Carters shirt where the outline of a cowboy on a bucking horse was stitched over his heart. Its just that in football you spend your youth so fast. While everyone else wore suits and talked football, I wore blue jeans and did outrageous morality plays with defensive tackle Willie Townes and Craig Mortons sheepdog. I was led to this book from Brian Burrough's "The Big Rich." As part of the agreement to build Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas, Murchison gave up ownership of the stadium and the 95 acres on which it sat in exchange for a 40-year lease. Clinton Williams Murchison Jr. (September 12, 1923 - March 30, 1987) was a businessman and founder of the Dallas Cowboys football team. These young kids seem to be having so much fun. [14] In February 1985, he had to file for personal bankruptcy protection after three creditors, the Toronto-Dominion Bank, the Kona-Post Corporation and Citicorp, filed a petition to force him into bankruptcy. 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. They began doing business as the Murchison Brothers in the late 1940s from an office in Dallas, Texas. After World War II, he earned a master's degree in mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dare we say it, but that was precisely the model that became the antithesis of how Jones runs the Cowboys. In 1927 he founded a company that was to become the Southern Union Gas Company in Dallas. : For public libraries interested in the history of the oil business or Texas, or in the exploits of the wealthy. Back in 1966, when the NFL had two divisions, 14 teams and 560 players, we were playing Cleveland in the Cotton Bowl for the lead in the old Eastern Division. Until John Murchison died and Clint got sick and had to sell to Bum Bright. 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. Mr. Murchison is survived by his second wife, Anne, and a daughter and three sons from his first marriage, Coke Anne Saunders, Clint Murchison 3d, Burk Murchison and Robert Murchison. This an excellent expose on the legendary rise and then fall of a true TEXAS Dynasty.