ATLANTA, Texas – Gil Brandt is the one man who had the task of finding talent to build the new Dallas franchise of the National Football League in 1960 from scratch, that man was legend Gil Brandt. Brandt worked as the Vice President of player personnel from 1960 at the club’s inception to 1988. During his tenure with the Cowboys,’ the team won two Super Bowls (VI and XII), were five-time NFC Champions (1970, 1971, 1975, 1977, and 1978), won thirteen Division championships, and had 20 straight winning seasons (1966-1985). He is now the 22nd member of the Dallas Cowboys’ hallowed Ring of Honor, for his contribution as a scout and the techniques he pioneered that changed the course of the NFL and are still used today.
Brandt grew up in Milwaukee Wisconsin, where he attended North Division High School and played as a defensive back. He attended the University of Wisconsin but always knew what he wanted to do as a career.
“ I liked football ever since I was a little kid and I guess I started by collecting Topps Cards. You could go get a package for three cents and it grew from there. I was very fortunate to meet a man by the name of Elroy Hirsh, who is one of the greatest players of all time. When the league releases the top 100 players of all time, he will be involved in it. He was with the Rams at the time and I got to know him from Madison Wisconsin and I started doing some things with the L.A. Rams on the weekends. The Rams were the forerunner in everything that has taken place today. From that I got to meet Tex Schramm, who was the general manger of the L.A. Rams. He left to go to CBS and be the head of Sports Programming and was putting on a winter Olympics at the time. About October, I got a call from Tex and he said, “I got a job for you.”
That is where his NFL journey began. He began scouting players to sign for the new Dallas franchise that did not even have a name yet.
“ In February we got into the National Football League and one of the greatest things of all time happened there. The Redskins and George Preston Marshall the Owner, did not want the Cowboys to get in, and he was against it because he had this radio network that covered the South and so he thought he would loose some of that. His statement to us was, “ we are not voting for you. “ So Mr. Murchison said, “ George do you have permission to play that song ‘Hail to the Redskins?’ He said, “ I don’t need it. “ Murchison said, “Yes you do. I own the lyrics to it.” That was the start of the Cowboys. We had several names including the Steers and Rangers before we got the name of the Cowboys. “
The road was not always easy. In building a new team and acquiring talent, Brandt had to work a lot of hours and travel quite frequently. Back then, the staff on NFL Teams is not what it is today and he had to do scouting on his own.
“It sounds like a scout has a great life, he just goes out and has an expense account and goes from school to school. It is a good life, except that you are away from home about 200 days out of the year… I would work a lot of hours. When I started there was one man scouting. I did have a secretary, we had a PR person, we had four coaches, we had a general manager, and a business manager. That was our entire office… I have a beautiful wife and 28-year-old son that is the apple of my eye. Everyone thinks it is a glamorous job and it is if you pick the right player and they don’t say ‘how did you ever pick this guy?”
The job was a pleasant one if the team was winning and people were not scrutinizing players’ every moves on the field, and questioning their selection and role on the team after a bad performance. The right players will make or break a team and produce winning or failing seasons. Brandt had a knack for recognizing talent and pioneered many techniques that are still used today: using computers to systematically define and compare skills and traits, finding potential from other teams, making draft choices in lower rounds based on potential, using psychology tests to assess the mental makeup and personality of individuals, finding players who were undrafted free agents from smaller schools, and acquiring high draft picks using trades. These techniques enabled the Cowboys to draft high caliber elite players such as Roger Staubach, Chad Hennings, Drew Pearson, Randy White, Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones, and Tony Dorsett that changed the course of the franchise.
“ We made a trade with the Seattle Seahawks who had the second pick in the first round which was contingent on one player we wanted being there and that was Tony Dorsett. There were two running backs at the top of the draft, Ricky Bell and Tony Dorsett. We set in a small room and we knew that we had made this trade- coach Landry and Tex Schramm and myself, along with a scout on our staff named Red Hickey. Hickey was a distinguished football guy; he was a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and was a player in the National Football league. There was a guy that had done all that vs. me so to speak. One of the questions Landry asked us both was, “ ok Gil get the book out.” Well we had this large book of probabilities and we could go and look at a player and compare Dorsett to Ricky Bell. Bell came up first and Red loved Bell. He was a good player, but he did not have the characteristics that lead to success. We had Dorsett picked out and he had all the characteristics that led to success. Red said “stop, I bow to the machine.” We used data from the computer to make good decisions. “
Many rare players like Dorsett played for the Cowboys which is a testament to Brandt’s ability as a scout and Landry’s ability to involve each individual into the scheme and form it around each player’s individual skillset. Over the years, Brandt formed many relationships and bonds with the players he brought to Dallas to play for the team that was becoming ‘America’s Team’ and growing in publicity around the world.
“ I had like 500 children. Each and everyone was so important to me. Jethro Pugh, who unfortunately passed away, was one of my favorites. You could not help but like the guy, he was from Elizabeth City College. Very small school probably played the equivalent of high school in Frisco Texas and we drafted Jethro. One of the things that happened to Jethro prior to coming to camp was playing baseball, as well as softball, and he tripped over the base and dislocated his shoulder. Everybody gives players coming into camp a physical, to see if they are ok. We were paying enormous salaries in those days like $14,000 a year to a player and Tex said to me “is this guy any good?” I said, “Why did you ask that question? “ Why would we pay someone $14,000 dollars if he is not any good? I said, “ It is hard to tell because he is good at this level but will he be good at the next level? Well, he turned out to be pretty good. I think he led our team in sacks four years and had almost 100 sacks for his career. The Cornell Green’s, the Drew Pearson’s, there is a story behind everyone. They are all really important to me. “
Because of Brandt’s vision, he turned their dreams of becoming NFL players into reality and their combined talents on the field led to 20 winning seasons. He believed whole-heatedly in the players he scouted for the Cowboys and invested and rejoiced in there successes as he watched their dreams of winning ‘the big one’ come true in a time of hardship in Dallas.
“My favorite moment was when we finally won a Super Bowl, it was not my favorite moment because I got thrown in the shower, and we were regarded as next year’s champions. We came close in Super Bowl V against Baltimore. We scored a TD or at least we think we did and Dwaine Thomas fumbled and the official on the far side of the field pointed the other way. Our guy, Dave Manders, who is one of our really good football players, came out of the thing and handed the ball to the official on that side, and I think that was the moment that was the most disappointing to me. When we finally won, we beat Miami in New Orleans that was the best time… I do not think there has ever been a city that benefited more than when we won the Super Bowl after the assassination of President Kennedy here.”
Brandt built the teams that went to the Super Bowls for the Cowboys in the 70’s through his revolutionized style of scouting and helped spur the team on to becoming a nationwide beloved team. The first Super Bowl won by the Cowboys changed the course of the franchise and not only produced hope in the Cowboys’ organization that they could finally win the big one, but placed the right kind of recognition and triumph on the city of Dallas and brought joy back into the hearts and minds of people during a period of tragedy in the nation and specifically in the Cowboys’ home turf. For his achievements, he was named to the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.
When Brandt was asked about his induction and his legacy, he replied, “It means everything to me. I am so happy that Jerry picked me. There is a lot of very worthy people out there and I would hate to have the job of picking these people, because when I look around those names up there, there are a lot of really great names. I am proud to be an ex-Cowboy personnel person… I want my legacy to be a person who has achieved something through work, through techniques, and a person that can relate to the common person. The one great thing about the Cowboys’ franchise is we have fans all over the world.”
Brandt is a humble man that gave credit to everyone but himself for the success of the Cowboys during the years in the 70’s and 80’s. I can think of no one more deserving to be included into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. The man is a legend and will go down in history as one of the greatest NFL scouts of all time. His love and passion for the game, paired with his eye for potential impactful players at the professional level, changed the Dallas Cowboys into a winning franchise known and loved around the world. He is a man of character that looked for and recognized that quality trait in the iconic players he selected to wear the Star on their helmet. It is fitting that Gil Brandt’s name will be side-by-side with the name’s of the players he helped bring to the organization. Together they built America’s Team!!
