Clint Murchison Jr.

Clinton Williams Murchison Jr. (September 12, 1923 – March 30, 1987) was an American businessman and founder of the Dallas Cowboys football team. A son of Clint Murchison Sr., who made his first fortune in oil exploration and became notorious for exploiting the sale of "hot oil", Clint and his surviving brother inherited their father's wealth and business interests to which Clint Jr. added ventures of his own. These included the establishment of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys franchise, real estate development, construction, home building, restaurants and financing the offshore pirate radio station called Radio Nord.

Murchison had two brothers, John D. Murchison (1921–1979) and Burk Murchison (1925–1936), who died at age ten from a childhood disease. His mother died when he was two and he was mainly raised by an aunt. He attended school at Lawrenceville School and joined the Marine Corps after Pearl Harbor and went on to become a student at Duke University as part of the Marine Corps V-12 training program where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in electrical engineering. He received a master's degree in mathematics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Following the death of his father Clint Murchison Sr., John and Clint Jr. inherited the wealth that their father had created. They began doing business as the Murchison Brothers in the late 1940s from an office in Dallas, Texas. Their inherited interests included the Daisy Manufacturing Company (manufacturing a BB gun); Field and Stream magazine; Heddon Rod & Reel; Henry Holt and Company (later known as Holt, Rinehart, and Winston); Delhi Oil; Kirby Petroleum and a marine construction company known as Tecon Corporation.

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.

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. The proxy fight was the largest in corporate history.

In 1960, the National Football League approved a franchise for Dallas, and Murchison, along with Bedford Wynne, was awarded the rights to the franchise. A motivating factor in the NFL's decision to award a franchise for Dallas was the establishment of the American Football League (AFL) by Lamar Hunt, another Dallas area businessman. Hunt, in helping create the AFL, established a professional football presence in Dallas, and the NFL realized the urgency with which they needed to address a potential market gain by the upstart league and a loss for the established organization.

For the most part, Murchison was a hands-off owner, delegating a great deal of operational control of the Cowboys to general manager Tex Schramm, head coach Tom Landry and scouting/personnel director Gil Brandt. His general attitude was to hire experts and let them execute the aspect of the business that fell in their expertise. Hence, Schramm oversaw most of the Cowboys day-to-day business matters, and represented the Cowboys at league meetings–a prerogative normally reserved to the owner. Brandt had a free hand in drafting and scouting players, and Landry enjoyed absolute authority over the day-to-day running of the actual team.

Murchison's laissez-faire attitude has been credited by many Cowboys fans as the driving force in the team's 20 consecutive winning seasons from 1966 to 1985 (including five Super Bowl appearances and including two Super Bowl championships). By leaving most football matters in the hands of operations staff, Murchison did not create an atmosphere of second guessing and arguments over player selection or credit for the team's success.