America’s Team did not look so good in its first season, going 0-11, but the Cowboys slowly began to lay the groundwork for a team that dominated multiple decades of football.

The Cowboys immediately began stockpile through the draft, picking up quarterback Don Meredith, running back Don Perkins, linebacker Chuck Howley, linebacker Lee Roy Jordan, cornerback Mel Renfro, and wide receiver Bob Hayes. The team could not go far without a coach, and the legendary Tom Landry took over the team from the beginning and lasted nearly three decades.

By the mid-60s the Cowboys has become a power in the Capitol Division or the East Division that would follow. The team won six straight division titles starting in 1966. The collection of talent began to change as key players started to retire, but they were replaced with quarterback Roger Staubach, tight end Mike Ditka, and running back Calvin Hill.

The Cowboys reached the Super Bowl twice to start the ‘70s, winning in Super Bowl VI handedly 1971. Roger Staubach won the Super Bowl MVP award for a performance that had two touchdown passes on the way to a 24-3 victory over the Miami Dolphins. The game remains the only Super Bowl in which a team was held without a touchdown.

Dallas continued their success throughout the decade, only missing the playoffs once in 1974 with an 8-6 record and third place finish in the NFC East. The Cowboys soon returned to the Super Bowl with a new star running back in Tony Dorsett and talented defensive players like defensive linemen Harvey Martin, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, and Randy White.

The Cowboys lost Super Bowl X to the Steel Curtain in 1975, but won again in 1977 against the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII. The defense was so dominant that year that defensive end Harvey Martin and defensive tackle Randy White shared Super Bowl MVP honors.

Dallas returned to the Super Bowl the next season, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 35-31 battle of offense. The Cowboys reached the NFC Championship game three times in the following seasons, but could not get back to the big game. Dallas did not have a down year again until 1984. The franchise finally fell onto bad time for the next few years, with only 1985 as an anomaly.

The troubled Cowboys switched owners, with Jerry Jones taking over in 1989. Jones immediately let Tom Landry, the only coach of the Cowboys up to that time, go and hired Jimmy Johnson. Johnson began stacking the team through the draft in similar fashion to Landry in the ‘60s.

Johnson added fullback Daryl Johnston, quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and several key lineman on offense and defensive tackle Russell Maryland and safety Darren Woodson on defense.

The team that would dominate the ‘90s had some talented leftovers from Landry’s Cowboys, including wide receiver Michael Irvin, guard Nate Newton, linebacker Ken Norton, Jr., and offensive lineman Mark Tunei. Dallas was completed through free agency, which bough them tight end Jay Novacek and defensive end Charles Haley.

After two tough rebuilding and growing seasons, the Dallas Cowboys emerged for the first playoff appearance since 1985 in 1991. The following year the franchise won the first of back-to-back Super Bowls and the first of three Super Bowls in four years.

The first Super Bowl victory was one of the most dominant performances ever, as the Cowboys destroyed the Buffalo Bills 52-17 and forced nine turnovers. The rest of the ‘90s saw an aging team on the decline, and the perennial NFC East champions began to struggle with early playoff exits.

The turn of the century had the Cowboys searching for a new direction. They put together a mix of good and bad seasons, but did not really emerge as a true threat until the rise of Tony Romo in 2006. The rise of the Cowboys has always been dependent on a quarterback and Romo looks to have the arm and the moxie to take the Cowboys to the next level.