As the first president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, and as a longtime member of the NFL’s competition committee, Tex Schramm had a major impact on the evolution and shape of modern professional football. Schramm, a former sports writer in Austin, Tex. and Rams’ general manager, oversaw the Cowboys’ rise from expansion team to America’s Team. Under his leadership, Dallas posted 20 straight winning seasons and won two Super Bowls. He established the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, a novel concept at the time. He was involved in the AFL / NFL merger of 1970, and helped create the system in which each conference is split into three divisions and features a wild-card playoff game. Other innovations that Schramm promoted were instant replay, the 30-second clock between plays, the referee’s microphone, and highlighting the 20 and 50-yard lines by having stripes painted on them.