<P> Although the NFL rapidly grew more prosperous during the latter part of the 1950s , ( especially after the success of `` The Greatest Game Ever Played '' - the 1958 championship game in old Yankee Stadium between the vaunted New York Giants versus the developing Colts leading to a later profitable nationwide television contract ) , the fiasco in Dallas left the NFL leery of further expansion . Unable to persuade other NFL owners to reconsider , Texas oil scion Lamar Hunt with others , founded the American Football League as a direct competitor to the older NFL . When Hunt 's new Dallas Texans were announced as charter members of the new league , the NFL quickly reconsidered its position on expansion and made a second venture into Dallas in 1960 , establishing what would become a more successful and later world - wide famous team , the Dallas Cowboys , briefly known in the beginning as the Dallas Rangers . A minor league baseball team of that same name was expected to disband , but did n't and the `` Cowboys '' name was later adopted for the NFL team in mid-March 1960 . Both franchises shared the Cotton Bowl ( also the home of Southern Methodist University 's ( SMU ) Mustangs ) stadium for their first three seasons . The new AFL team moved after winning the 1962 AFL Championship in double overtime and became the Kansas City Chiefs for its fourth season in 1963 . </P>
<P> Although the NFL rapidly grew more prosperous during the latter part of the 1950s , ( especially after the success of `` The Greatest Game Ever Played '' - the 1958 championship game in old Yankee Stadium between the vaunted New York Giants versus the developing Colts leading to a later profitable nationwide television contract ) , the fiasco in Dallas left the NFL leery of further expansion . Unable to persuade other NFL owners to reconsider , Texas oil scion Lamar Hunt with others , founded the American Football League as a direct competitor to the older NFL . When Hunt 's new Dallas Texans were announced as charter members of the new league , the NFL quickly reconsidered its position on expansion and made a second venture into Dallas in 1960 , establishing what would become a more successful and later world - wide famous team , the Dallas Cowboys , briefly known in the beginning as the Dallas Rangers . A minor league baseball team of that same name was expected to disband , but did n't and the `` Cowboys '' name was later adopted for the NFL team in mid-March 1960 . Both franchises shared the Cotton Bowl ( also the home of Southern Methodist University 's ( SMU ) Mustangs ) stadium for their first three seasons . The new AFL team moved after winning the 1962 AFL Championship in double overtime and became the Kansas City Chiefs for its fourth season in 1963 . </P>
lamar hunt s dallas texans football team would eventually become the
lamar hunt s dallas texans football team would eventually become the
the Dallas Cowboys
the Dallas Cowboys