1961 Season

Offseason

The Cowboys participated in their first NFL college draft following the 1960 season. Despite owning the league's worst record, the team picked second overall because the expansion Minnesota Vikings received the first overall selection. However, the team previously traded away their first round pick in the 1961 draft to the Washington Redskins for quarterback Eddie LeBaron. The Cowboys had another selection in the first round (13th overall) that they acquired from the Cleveland Browns, and with that selection they chose defensive lineman Bob Lilly from Texas Christian University. Other notable selections in the draft included offensive linemen E.J. Holub, Billy Shaw, and Stew Barber. However, all three chose to sign with teams in the rival American Football League.

Other notable acquisitions by the Cowboys during the offseason included trading for linebacker Chuck Howley from the Chicago Bears, and signing rookie free agents Amos Marsh and Warren Livingston.

The Cowboys played in the NFL's Western Division for the 1960 season, but were a "swing team" and played each of the other 12 teams in the league that year. When the Minnesota Vikings joined the league for the 1961 season, the owners of the Eastern Division teams were allowed to vote on which expansion franchise they wanted to be permanently assigned to their division.^[1] In April 1961, the Eastern Division owners voted for Dallas, largely as a safeguard against early winters in Minnesota. This also pleased Western Division owners, who preferred the Vikings because of lower travel expenses and natural geographic rivalries with teams like the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. This resulted in both Eastern and Western Divisions having seven teams.

Schedule[

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Record	Recap	Attendance
1	September 17, 1961	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 27–24	Cotton Bowl	1–0	[1]	23,500
2	September 24, 1961	Minnesota Vikings	W 21–7	Cotton Bowl	2–0	[2]	20,500
3	October 1, 1961	at Cleveland Browns	L 25–7	Cleveland Stadium	2–1	[3]	43,638
4	October 8, 1961	at Minnesota Vikings	W 28–0	Metropolitan Stadium	3–1	[4]	33,070
5	October 15, 1961	New York Giants	L 31–10	Cotton Bowl	3–2	[5]	41,500
6	October 22, 1961	Philadelphia Eagles	L 43–7	Cotton Bowl	3–3	[6]	25,000
7	October 29, 1961	at New York Giants	W 17–16	Yankee Stadium	4–3	[7]	60,254
8	November 5, 1961	St. Louis Cardinals	L 31–17	Cotton Bowl	4–4	[8]	20,500
9	November 12, 1961	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 37–7	Forbes Field	4–5	[9]	17,519
10	November 19, 1961	Washington Redskins	T 28–28	Cotton Bowl	4–5–1	[10]	17,500
11	November 26, 1961	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 35–13	Franklin Field	4–6–1	[11]	60,127
12	December 3, 1961	Cleveland Browns	L 38–17	Cotton Bowl	4–7–1	[12]	23,500
13	December 10, 1961	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 31–13	Busch Stadium	4–8–1	[13]	15,384
14	December 17, 1961	at Washington Redskins	L 34–24	D.C. Stadium	4–9–1	[14]	21,451

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1961 roster
Quarterbacks 11 Buddy Humphrey 14 Eddie LeBaron 17 Don Meredith Running Backs 34 Merrill Douglas 45 L. G. Dupre 35 J. W. Lockett FB 31 Amos Marsh FB/RS 43 Don Perkins Wide Receivers 82 Frank Clarke 81 Billy Howton 80 Lee Murchison Tight Ends 36 Dick Bielski K 83 Jim Doran		Offensive Linemen 77 Byron Bradfute T 53 Mike Connelly C/G 62 Andy Cvercko G 63 Mike Falls G 75 Bob Fry T 64 Bob Grottkau G 67 John Houser C/G 70 Bob McCreary T Defensive Linemen 87 Nate Borden DE 79 Ken Frost DT 78 Don Healy DT 72 Bill Herchman DT 74 Bob Lilly DE/DT		Linebackers 33 Gene Babb OLB/FB 30 Mike Dowdle OLB 54 Chuck Howley OLB 56 Jack Patera MLB 50 Jerry Tubbs MLB Defensive Backs 20 Bob Bercich SS 44 Don Bishop CB 32 Tom Franckhauser SS/CB 21 Glynn Gregory CB/FS/WR 40 Jimmy Harris CB/FS 47 Dicky Moegle FS Special Teams 61 Allen Green K/P		Reserve Lists 51 Tom Braatz OLB (IR)  88 Sonny Davis OLB (IR)  41 Warren Livingston CB/FS (IR)  Rookies in italics 38 Active, 3 Inactive