Maveric

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David Helman
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer


The Dallas Cowboys have added a 17th member to their impressive Hall of Fame fraternity.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame revealed its 2019 enshrinees on Saturday night, adding Gil Brandt and Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen to the class as contributors. This year’s full class features Champ Bailey, Tony Gonzalez, Johnny Robinson, Ty Law, Ed Reed and Kevin Mawae, as well as Brandt and Bowlen.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame defines a contributor as an individual who has made outstanding contributions to professional football in capacities other than playing or coaching. By that measure, Brandt contributed plenty to the game during his 32 years as an NFL scout – 28 of which were spent with the Dallas Cowboys.
Brandt is revered as the father of modern football scouting, as he was at the forefront of many advancements in the profession that are still used today. He was the first to incorporate computer technology into scouting and talent evaluations, helping the Cowboys automize their preferred qualities and traits into numbers and formulas that could be computed for easier reference.
He was also one of the first scouting figures to use psychology and personality tests to determine the mental makeup of prospective players. In a feat that all NFL draftniks can appreciate, Brandt was also one of the guiding voices in creating the annual NFL Scouting Combine, which has grown from humble beginnings into the must-see event of every NFL offseason.

All of these factors combined to help Brandt, head coach Tom Landry and team president Tex Schramm build the Cowboys into one of the dominant franchises of the 1960s and 1970s. During this time period, Brandt oversaw the drafting of franchise cornerstones like Bob Lilly, Lee Roy Jordan, Mel Renfro, Roger Staubach, Rayfield Wright, Randy White and Tony Dorsett.
Brandt also took unconventional methods to find difference-making players. He was one of the first scouts to look outside of football for prospects, turning track star Bob Hayes and basketball player Cornell Green into Pro Bowl football players.
All told, there are 13 Dallas Cowboys players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Brandt had a hand in acquiring nine of them. There are 19 players in the Cowboys’ illustrious Ring of Honor, and Brandt had a hand in acquiring 15 of those.
For those contributions to the organization, Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones made Brandt the 22nd member of the Ring of Honor this past November. Now, the Hall has honored him at the highest level possible.
With Brandt as the newest inductee, the Cowboys’ 17 Pro Football Hall of Famers are: Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Tom Landry, Tex Schramm, Tony Dorsett, Randy White, Mel Renfro, Troy Aikman, Rayfield Wright, Michael Irvin, Bob Hayes, Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders, Larry Allen, Charles Haley, Jerry Jones and Gil Brandt.

Brandt and the rest of his class will be officially enshrined at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, this summer.
 

theoneandonly

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So proud and grateful you fired his ass the second you took over.

"We are so proud of his accomplishments with the organization and just as grateful for what he has done over the course of the last 30 years."

Jerry Jones gives statement regarding Gil Brandt’s election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. #PFHOF19

dallascowboys.com/…/gil-brandt-becomes-cowboys-17th-hall-of…
 
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dbair1967

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So proud and grateful you fired his ass the second you took over.

Me too, we'd have never won those 3 super bowls in the 90's with Brandt running drafts.

Or did you forget just about every fucking awful pick he made from 1978-1988?
 
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It is great that Tex Schramm, Tom Landry, and Gil Brandt are in the NFL Hall of Fame. Seeing other VP of Personnel directors go into the HOF bother me greatly when they passed on Gil Brandt.

Brandt was the teams original photographer and personnel director. We all know his accomplishments for America's Team draft America's Team Players (from 1960 to 1989). From Bob Lilly to Troy Aikman.

However, I had the pleasure to spend almost 2 weeks with Gil Brandt when he was with the Cowboys. He has a memory that is incredible. Almost 30 years since we met, he not only remembered my relatives that was drafted and played in the NFL, he remembered me. I was not a pro prospect, I was just a young Cowboys fan that wanted to know if my cousin was considered to be a Cowboy and that the Cowboys would get some good players for the collapse of the USFL (I was with him when they got the news that the USFL players they drafted were now available for the NFL). If Gil Brandt did not have the foresight to draft Herschel Walker, there would not have been anything for Jimmy Johnson to trade to the Vikings that turn into the Team of the 90's.

The original Cowboys triplets were not Troy, Emmitt, and Michael. It was Tex, Tom, and Gil. They had more playoff appearances, consecutive winning seasons, and played in more Super Bowls than any set of Cowboys triplets.

Congrats to the best President of Player Personnel the NFL has seen.
 

MrB

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Me too, we'd have never won those 3 super bowls in the 90's with Brandt running drafts.

Or did you forget just about every fucking awful pick he made from 1978-1988?

That Michael Irvin pick sure sucked huh?
 
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That Michael Irvin pick sure sucked huh?
Good comeback. Also the Troy Aikman, Ken Norton Jr., Kelvin Martin, Kevin Gogan, and Nate Newton FA signing out of the USFL sucked.

People forget that Sherrad, Shaw, Cannon Jr., and Penn all had injuries mess up their careers in Dallas.

Gil Brandt best selection was Herschel Walker. Without Walker, you could not make the great team of the 90's trade.
 

MrB

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Good comeback. Also the Troy Aikman, Ken Norton Jr., Kelvin Martin, Kevin Gogan, and Nate Newton FA signing out of the USFL sucked.

People forget that Sherrad, Shaw, Cannon Jr., and Penn all had injuries mess up their careers in Dallas.

Gil Brandt best selection was Herschel Walker. Without Walker, you could not make the great team of the 90's trade.

Those were just the picks later in his Cowboys career. He found many great players throughout his career. It amazes me that he never got another job as a GM or player personnel guy. Or maybe he did get offers and always turned them down?
 

dbair1967

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That Michael Irvin pick sure sucked huh?

Hey genius, go back and show me all the great players Brandt drafted from 1978-1987. His drafts in those years were so bad even drunken GM Jerry would have been envious.

And dude, it's a TON of fucking picks.
 

dbair1967

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Good comeback. Also the Troy Aikman, Ken Norton Jr., Kelvin Martin, Kevin Gogan, and Nate Newton FA signing out of the USFL sucked.

People forget that Sherrad, Shaw, Cannon Jr., and Penn all had injuries mess up their careers in Dallas.

Gil Brandt best selection was Herschel Walker. Without Walker, you could not make the great team of the 90's trade.

LOL, Brandt gets credit for drafting Aikman now?

Again, go back and look at some draft history. His drafting from 78-87 was absolutely atrocious, and he wasted dozens upon dozens of picks.
 

MrB

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LOL, Brandt gets credit for drafting Aikman now?

Again, go back and look at some draft history. His drafting from 78-87 was absolutely atrocious, and he wasted dozens upon dozens of picks.

Aikman was the clear cut choice #1. There was already talk that the Cowboys were going to take him with the top pick so yes Gil Brandt gets credit that too.
 

MrB

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Hey genius, go back and show me all the great players Brandt drafted from 1978-1987. His drafts in those years were so bad even drunken GM Jerry would have been envious.

And dude, it's a TON of fucking picks.

So by your standards I guess Tom Landry was terrible too huh?
 

dbair1967

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You are misunderstanding what I am saying.

He absolutely should be in the HoF and he absolutely developed what real "scouting" was all about. He and Landry built those overwhelming Dallas teams truly from scratch. Deserves all the credit in the world for unbelievable success throough drafts from 1961-1977)

But other than his last draft in 1988 and the Herschel Walker pick, his drafts after 1977 were epic fucking putrid and any of you clowns trying to argue otherwise is as stone dumb as a Zoner.
 

dbair1967

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Aikman was the clear cut choice #1. There was already talk that the Cowboys were going to take him with the top pick so yes Gil Brandt gets credit that too.

Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones made up their own minds to take Aikman. Jimmy ran EVERYTHING and made every single one of those picks in 1989, not Brandt.
 

MrB

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Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones made up their own minds to take Aikman. Jimmy ran EVERYTHING and made every single one of those picks in 1989, not Brandt.

No shit numbnuts, but you do know that there was a point before that ‘89 draft that Jerry did not own the team right? Their season ended in December and from that point up until the sale of the team went through Brandt was working on the draft and Aikman was going to be their pick. In fact I recall that many people were upset because Jerry and Jimmy hinted that Aikman might not be their pick because Jimmy wanted his QB from Miami (Walsh) who he ended up taking in the Supplemental draft with a 1st. So again, yes Brandt gets credit for Aikman since he had made it clear that’s who he would have taken.
 

MrB

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You are misunderstanding what I am saying.

He absolutely should be in the HoF and he absolutely developed what real "scouting" was all about. He and Landry built those overwhelming Dallas teams truly from scratch. Deserves all the credit in the world for unbelievable success throough drafts from 1961-1977)

But other than his last draft in 1988 and the Herschel Walker pick, his drafts after 1977 were epic fucking putrid and any of you clowns trying to argue otherwise is as stone dumb as a Zoner.

I’m just making sure the man is getting credit for what he did. You’re the one making it sound as if his bad drafts in the 80’s should discredit everything he did for this organization. Everyone knows he made some bad picks during that time but he also revolutionize the whole draft process and found/drafted numerous Hall of Famers and several that probably should be Hall of Famers.
 

bbgun

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No shit numbnuts, but you do know that there was a point before that ‘89 draft that Jerry did not own the team right? Their season ended in December and from that point up until the sale of the team went through Brandt was working on the draft and Aikman was going to be their pick. In fact I recall that many people were upset because Jerry and Jimmy hinted that Aikman might not be their pick because Jimmy wanted his QB from Miami (Walsh) who he ended up taking in the Supplemental draft with a 1st. So again, yes Brandt gets credit for Aikman since he had made it clear that’s who he would have taken.

Jimmy always wanted Troy. After watching his personal workout in LA, he phoned Jerry and yelled "We found our quarterback!" Nor was Aikman some obscure prospect that Brandt found at Appalachian State. EVERY team would have taken him #1, so any credit you want to extend to Gil should be minimal.
 

MrB

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Jimmy always wanted Troy. After watching his personal workout in LA, he phoned Jerry and yelled "We found our quarterback!" Nor was Aikman some obscure prospect that Brandt found at Appalachian State. EVERY team would have taken him #1, so any credit you want to extend to Gil should be minimal.

Go back and read my original message I say that exact same thing. Everyone and their momma knew Aikman was going first. Doesn’t mean Gil shouldn’t get credit for wanting Aikman. If you’re saying he shouldn’t get credit for wanting Aikman just because he was the #1 obvious choice then you have to lump Jimmy into the same category.
 

bbgun

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The Cowboys were desperate for a QB and had the #1 pick. Ergo, Aikman was a no-brainer. I give Johnson credit for accomplishing in three years what Brandt couldn't for over a decade.
 

MrB

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The Cowboys were desperate for a QB and had the #1 pick. Ergo, Aikman was a no-brainer. I give Johnson credit for accomplishing in three years what Brandt couldn't for over a decade.

Absolutely no doubt about that. No one is trying to take anything away from what Jimmy did, especially not me. I just want to make sure that no one is trying to take anything away from Gil Brandt either. Like I said, he did have some bad drafts late in his Cowboys career but he also had some good picks during that time and his overall body of work is definitely HOF worthy.
 
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