There are obviously rivalries in the NFL, some stretching back decades and rank amongst the best around, but few -- if any -- match the unbridled hatred that exists between the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins. It reaches all the way back to 1960, when eventual Cowboys' owner Clint Murchison, Jr. squared off against then-Redskins' owner George Preston Marshall in a battle that would change the landscape of the NFL forever. Murchison, a Texas oil tycoon, struck an agreement with Marshall to purchase the Redskins, but Marshall sought to change the terms of the deal at the last minute. An infuriated Murchison then went about lobbying for an expansion team of his own in Dallas, at a time when there were no NFL teams in the South.
Marshall tried to block the expansion by breaking bad on what needed to be a unanimous "yes" from all owners, leading Murchison to play hardball. The Dallas-native figured out the Redskins didn't own their own "Hail to the Redskins" fight song, and he used that against them by purchasing the song rights from the composer. Just ahead of the final vote for possible expansion, Murchison told Marshall he no longer had permission to play his beloved fight song and rights would only be relinquished if Marshall voted yes on allowing Dallas to house an NFL team.
Yeah, notsomuch. Just trying to find any way to get up for this game.
