The creative genius behind America's team: Tex Schramm [1920-2003]

Sporting News, The, July 28, 2003 by Paul Attner

Tex Schramm was so damn smart. He was smart about building a franchise in Dallas that would become both the most popular and most despised in football. That takes some doing. He was smart about the game itself, proposing rules that helped improve its entertainment value. He was smart about the large picture, too; more than all but a handful of men, Schramm recognized the enormous potential of football on television, which became the partnership that elevated the NFL into a stratosphere never previously visited by a pro league.

His death last week removes one of the major pioneers of the new NFL--innovators like Pete Rozelle and Art Modell and the Rooneys--whose vision and intelligence transformed a relatively passive enterprise into a money-making Godzilla. It would be a mistake to look at Schramm and see only the Cowboys. Even though his footprints on that franchise alone separate him from the pack, his impact on the game is so much more extensive.

He was a man's man, a hard-drinking, argumentative, creative, quick-tempered, irascible, huggy bear of a gent, Texas big in his concepts and his audacity, appropriate for a guy named Texas. He didn't look or act like a showman, but he was--a former public relations man who gave us sexy cheerleaders, luxury boxes, an anchor team in the annual Thanksgiving Day game and the image of the Cowboys' organization, with its computers and stars and draft innovations and squeaky clean coach and, yes, attitude. Think how dull the NFL would be if we hadn't had those stinking Cowboys to root against all these years. He could be an in-your-face adversary, especially when it came to defending his franchise. Yet his phone number was always listed for anyone to call. He was so shrewd--always be accessible, always have organization members be accessible so your franchise's name keeps appearing in stories and video dips, over and over. That's how you build popularity and image.

Schramm had views, lots of them, and pushed hard to turn many of them into reality. He helped broker the merger between the NFL and AFL that stopped the financial bleeding of the latter. He was one of the thinkers behind NFL Properties, the hugely successful merchandising arm of the league. As chairman of the competition committee, he was a backer of instant replay, overtime, moving the goal posts to the back of the end zone, more restrictive rules on pass defenders that opened up the offensive game, even wireless microphones for game officials.

He particularly loved television, understood its power, played to it, pushed the league toward embracing it. He once told me that the synergy between TV and football was so strong that you could put on games without a crowd and still have significant ratings and a successful league. That is one idea the NFL likely will never try. But given Tex's success path, he was probably right on that issue, too.

HOW'S THAT FEEL?

To catch Hall of Fame heat

When Diamondbacks ace Randy Johnson made his rehab start for the Class A Lancaster JetHawks last week, 23-year-old Mike DiRosa was on the receiving end. DiRosa shares the thrill--and the fear--of catching a true giant of the game.

I was nervous. I mean, this guy won four Cy Youngs in a row, a definite Hall of Famer, one of the greatest pitchers of all time. I didn't even think about going out to the mound for a pep talk. When he wants to talk to you, he'll call you over. On a consistent basis, he was the hardest thrower I've ever caught. His slider definitely was the nastiest stuff I've ever caught. The umpire would call a strike and then tap me on the shoulder and say, "Damn, that was dirty!"

He gave up five runs and lost the game, but he wasn't trying to strike a bunch of guys out. He was just trying to hit his spots and get himself ready to pitch in the big leagues again.

After the game I told him, "Good job," and then he said goodbye and went into the clubhouse. It definitely was something will always remember. Hopefully it wasn't the highlight of my career, but it certainly was the highlight of my year.

Upon further review ...

Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson has the major leagues' winning percentage since the start of the 1996 season. (.741 at the All-Star break). The information was incorrect in the July 14 issue.