Arlington Texas Attractions.com: Bringing the Dallas Cowboys to Arlington

Hi! This will be a brief insider's history of some of the highpoints of bringing the Dallas Cowboys to Arlington, Texas. As far as I know, this is the first published account by an inside authority - an Arlington City Councilmember. I was a Councilmember during the entire time period, until June of 2008.

The story begins while Elzie Odom was Mayor of Arlington. He was hosted on a helicopter ride by some Cowboys representatives to scout potential sites for the New Stadium. Arlington was a favorite location because we had the financial means, and a proven track-record with the Texas Rangers Ballpark.

The preferred site was located north of the Trinity River, where the Veridian mixed-use planned development is now underway. This location proved too expensive due to ingress and egress issues. The Cowboys interest faded, and drifted to other Metroplex locations. There was Irving, and Grapevine, and Dallas, and probably many others.

I think the Cowboys really wanted to be in Dallas. They worked really hard to make a site near the State Fairgrounds work. But, their strongest opponent was the Mayor of Dallas. Who, by the way, is no longer in office. The Dallas County Judge wasn't much help, either. And, she is no longer in office. Seems there were a lot of political dominoes, because the Irving Mayor, who also wasn't much help for his community, is no longer in office. Kind of a fruit-basket turnover. They all had an enormous opportunity, but literally and figuratively, dropped the ball.

It was during the final moments, while Dallas was an unwilling player, that Arlington began to re-enter the picture. Although Arlington never interfered between Dallas and the Cowboys, we had three important things going for us. First, Wes Jury, the CEO at the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, had already brought to the Cowboys attention another possible site in Arlington. Second, we had a longstanding organized group of citizens, called Touchdown Arlington, who were continually promoting Arlington for the New Stadium. This group was led by Robert Rivera, who is now an Arlington City Councilmember for District Three. And, we had Mayor Robert Cluck, who dearly held a self-appointed mission to bring the Cowboys to Arlington. Then, thanks to the Dallas Mayor, the Cowboys started thinking about Arlington again.

One day, that all-important call came. Dallas was out, and the ball was in our court. And, believe me, we were not going to fumble. Quickly, we pulled together the most capable team of lawyers and financial advisers in the great State of Texas. They came from all over, but mostly from Dallas. Go figure. We could hardly hide our amusement at this strange twist of fate.

The City Council met in special executive session several times a week for many weeks hammering out an agreement. There were some super tough negotiations. Once, on a Friday, we came to an impasse. The Mayor had the difficult duty of advising the Cowboys that it would have to be our way or the highway. It was a long tense weekend. On Monday, we had an answer. It would be our way. That was the last hurdle. Soon, there was a fully executed contract.

We accomplished in a matter of weeks what other cities had been moaning about for months. But, there still had to be an election. If the voters rejected this plan, the Cowboys might leave the Metroplex. The stakes were now really high.

Well, we already know the end of the story. And, what a happy ending. An enormous voter turn-out, and their overwhelming approval.

Just so no one ever forgets, here are the names of the City Councilmembers and City Executives who were on board for this grand moment in Arlington's history: