( CNN ) -- The man behind a famous star has passed away . Jack Eskridge designed the Dallas Cowboys ' team logo after joining the team in 1959 , a year before its first season kicked off . His blue star with the white highlight graces every Cowboy 's helmet to this day . Eskridge was 89 when he died near his home at a hospital outside Kansas City this week , the Dallas Cowboys ' website reported Friday . He was n't from the Lone Star State , though he liked Texas enough to live there twice in his life for a total of 23 years -- the first time to work for the Cowboys , the second to teach school , according to his obituary . He was once a professional basketball -- not football -- player . Eskridge played for the Chicago Stags and the Indianapolis Jets before joining the University of Kansas as assistant coach , where he helped recruit basketball superstar Wilt Chamberlain , his obit said . Iconic Cowboys coach Tom Landry hired him as an equipment manager . When the team needed a logo , Eskridge made one out of the lone star . It has endured . Eskridge passed away Monday . Dallas Cowboys players involved in fatal crash were 'like brothers ' People we lost in 2013 : The lives they lived . CNN 's AnneClaire Stapleton contributed to this report .
Iconic coach Tom Landry hired Jack Eskridge before the Cowboys ' first game . The team needed a coach , and Eskridge , the general manager made one . He was a pro basketball player , his autobiography says .