The History of the Best Rivalry in the NFL
Well, its that time again! Time for trash talking, bold predictions, and gloating. It's time for the Washington Redskins to do battle with the Dallas Cowboys. What is so special about this game? Well if you really need to ask this question, then you are definitely not a Redskins' fan, and probably not a Cowboys' fan either. While this rivalry does not go as far back as others, it does have a long history of being an intense, passionate rivalry that most people label as the best in all of the NFL.
This feud goes all the way back to the origin of the Cowboys. In 1958, Texas oil tycoon Clint Murchison tried to buy the Washington Redskins from owner George Preston Marshall, who was willing to sell the team. The deal fell through at the last moment when Marshall wanted a change in the terms of the contract. Murchison was so offended that he cancelled the deal.
Marshall didn't seem to be a people person. He did not get along with the band director of the Redskins, Barnee Breeskin, either. Breeskin wrote the music to "Hail to the Redskins" which was then, and still is, part of the identity of the club. As a desperate act of revenge, Breeskin sold the rights to the song to Murchison for $2,500. That amount of money was probably like $250 Million is today, a whole lot of dough!
After the deal with Marshall fell through, Murchison teamed up with George Halas to create an expansion team to play in Dallas. There was just one thing standing in their way: Redskins owner George Preston Marshall. The NFL rules stated that the Dallas team would need unanimous approval by the current NFL team owners. Marshall, still bitter about the unsuccessful deal with Murchison, held out as the only NFL owner to disapprove the deal.
Marshall was forced to change his mind after he learned that Murchison was holding the beloved fight song of the Skins hostage in exchange for his endorsement for Dallas to get an NFL franchise. So, Marshall agreed and Murchison returned the song. The Dallas Cowboys were born on January 28, 1960. Later that year on October 9th, the Redskins won their first game of the season by stomping the infant Dallas franchise 26-14. That year, the two teams met just once due to them being in different conferences. However, the next year the Cowboys moved into the Eastern division with the Skins and have played against them at least twice a year every year since (except for in the strike shortened season of 1982).
This weekend's match up will mark the 94th time that the two teams have battled one another. This rivalry has created a lot of interesting and amusing stories. The Washington Post has made an awesome database of the original newspaper articles that were published in the paper after each Redskins-Cowboys game. Every fan of this great rivalry should check it out.
Eric Scott
