4/1/87

Dallas Morning News staff

Clint Murchison Jr. was in the final days of his long battle with a debilitating nerve disease when Roger Staubach visited his hospital room last week. Weak and near death, Murchison could not speak. Staubach simply sat at the bedside.

"It was a weird feeling," the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback said Tuesday. "Seeing him brought back so many great moments in my life, yet I was seeing him so close to death. You felt the vulnerability of a human being."

When he died late Monday at 63, Murchison, former owner of the Dallas Cowboys, was past his glory days as an oil magnate and a force behind a phenomenally successful team. But as news of his death spread Tuesday, associates and friends remembered the shy, shrewd Texan as the man responsible for making the Cowboys a sports powerhouse.

Cowboys president Tex Schramm was deeply upset to learn of Murchison's death.

"It's just a very, very sad ending for a great guy. He's what kept the whole thing here together," Schramm said. "He was the glue. Our 25-year record is a tribute to him. I don't think he ever got the credit he deserved.

"There was something that separated the Cowboys from other organizations. Other organizations have had great coaches, great management, great players, but there's never been another one that achieved what this one did for a 25-year period. It had to be something that he gave the organization that was unique."

The fact that Murchison did not meddle in the affairs of Schramm, coach Tom Landry and vice president Gil Brandt is often mentioned as a stabilizing influence within the organization, but Schramm said that may be misleading.

"I think that was overpublicized. It was his role and his presence that really held the organization together," Schramm said. "It was his support of all those people that made it possible. You can stay out and not contribute, but his whole thing was he gave the support and backbone to the organization that allowed people to have the confidence to perform their jobs."

One of Murchison's biggest projects was the building of Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys moved from the Cotton Bowl during the 1970 season.

"Texas Stadium was a thing he was proud of. That was his personal project," Schramm said. "He designed it, he supervised every bit of the building, and he made every decision all along the way as to any detail that you want to name. He was a stickler for detail. And when it was completed, there was no question that it was state of the art at that time for a football stadium.

"This is just a very sad and tragic ending to a great person who deserved more."

Some also called Murchison the man who put Dallas on the map.

Jack Kent Cooke, owner of the Washington Redskins, called Murchison one of the greatest owners in NFL history.

"I think Clint and his Dallas Cowboys did more to make a glowing, shining metropolis out of the name Dallas than anyone else I can think of," he said.

Mayor Starke Taylor said Murchison and the team helped bring international attention to the city, and played a large role in Dallas' growth.

"Traveling around the world there are always things people ask you: One is about the TV show Dallas, and one is about the Cowboys," Taylor said.

Suffering from financial problems that later led him to file for Chapter 11 reorganization, Murchison sold the Cowboys franchise in 1984.

Friends, business associates and former players praised Murchison 's hands-off managing style as a key to the franchise's success.

At a Tuesday afternoon news conference at Valley Ranch, the Cowboys' training facility, Landry said Murchison had brought stability to the team. He said he probably would not have remained in coaching had Murchison not shown unusual faith in him in the mid-60s, when he offered Landry a 10-year contract.

"It's unique for someone to have enough confidence in himself to release that kind of responsibility to other people," he said.

Former Cowboys players said they had little contact with Murchison when he was the team's owner. They said he frequently visited the locker room after games, but rarely attended practices.

"He treated football like a business," said former running back Walt Garrison. "But when you think about what he did for the Cowboys -- he took a chance buying them and did well."

National Football League owners and officials, however, recalled Murchison 's winning drive. "He didn't care too much if the team made a great deal of money or they lost money or if they broke even. All he wanted was to win, and he was an exemplar of that theory," Cooke said.

NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle said in a statement Tuesday that Murchison "was obviously absorbed in seeing his Cowboys successful."' He added: "However, few will ever know his quiet, behind-the-scenes contributions to the NFL itself."

Gov. Bill Clements, in a statement, said Murchison was "a longtime friend of mine," and "an outstanding Texan who served his community, state, and nation well."

Memorial services will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Shady Grove Church in Grand Prairie. A private family graveside service will be Thursday at Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park on Northwest Highway.