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1963 Dallas Cowboys season
1963 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Clint Murchison, Jr.
Head coach	Tom Landry
Home field	Cotton Bowl
Results
Record	4–10
Division place	5th NFL Eastern
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
	← 1962; Cowboys seasons; 1964 →;

The 1963 Dallas Cowboys season was their fourth in the league, and also the first where the Cowboys were the only professional football team in Dallas, as the AFL's Texans relocated to Kansas City (and were rebranded as the Chiefs) during the offseason.

The team failed to improve on their previous output of 5–8–1, winning only four games.^[1] The Cowboys also missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap
1	September 14	St. Louis Cardinals	L 7–34	0–1	Cotton Bowl	36,432	Recap
2	September 22	Cleveland Browns	L 24–41	0–2	Cotton Bowl	28,710	Recap
3	September 29	at Washington Redskins	L 17–21	0–3	D.C. Stadium	40,101	Recap
4	October 6	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–24	0–4	Franklin Field	60,671	Recap
5	October 13	Detroit Lions	W 17–14	1–4	Cotton Bowl	27,264	Recap
6	October 20	at New York Giants	L 21–37	1–5	Yankee Stadium	62,889	Recap
7	October 27	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 21–27	1–6	Forbes Field	19,047	Recap
8	November 3	Washington Redskins	W 35–20	2–6	Cotton Bowl	18,838	Recap
9	November 10	at San Francisco 49ers	L 24–31	2–7	Kezar Stadium	29,563	Recap
10	November 17	Philadelphia Eagles	W 27–20	3–7	Cotton Bowl	23,694	Recap
11	November 24	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–27	3–8	Cleveland Stadium	55,096	Recap
12	December 1	New York Giants	L 27–34	3–9	Cotton Bowl	29,653	Recap
13	December 8	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 19–34	3–10	Cotton Bowl	24,136	Recap
14	December 15	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 28–24	4–10	Busch Stadium	12,695	Recap

Conference opponents are in bold text

Game summaries

Week 5

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	0	0	0	14	14
• Cowboys	0	7	0	10	17

Date: October 13
Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Game weather: 76 °F (24 °C); wind 8 mph

^[2]

Week 8

	1	2	3	4	Total
Redskins	0	10	3	7	20
• Cowboys	7	7	7	14	35

Date: November 3
Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas
Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C); wind 16 mph

^[3]

Week 10

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	6	0	7	7	20
• Cowboys	7	10	7	3	27

Date: November 17
Location: Cotton Bowl
Game attendance: 23,694
Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C); wind 18 mph

^[4]

Week 14

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cowboys	0	14	0	14	28
Cardinals	0	14	10	0	24

Date: December 15
Location: Busch Stadium
Game weather: 6 °F (−14 °C); wind 11 mph

^[5]

Standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
New York Giants	11	3	0	.786	9–3	448	280	W3
Cleveland Browns	10	4	0	.714	9–3	343	262	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	9	5	0	.643	8–4	341	283	L1
Pittsburgh Steelers	7	4	3	.636	7–3–2	321	295	L1
Dallas Cowboys	4	10	0	.286	3–9	305	378	W1
Washington Redskins	3	11	0	.214	2–10	279	398	L3
Philadelphia Eagles	2	10	2	.167	2–8–2	242	381	L2

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Season recap

The Cowboys were expecting to turn their fortunes around and have a good year, but won only three of their first ten games.

The assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, stands out as an infamous moment in the season: not only was the nation's psyche impacted by this event, but the image of the city of Dallas was seriously tarnished. On November 24 - just two days after this historic event - the NFL decided to play its normal schedule of games, with the Cowboys traveling to face the Cleveland Browns.

On game day, when the team was introduced, the public address announcer referred to the team as simply the Cowboys, while the crowd also vented their frustration and pain at Cowboys players and officials during the game. The Cowboys lost 17–27, and would go on to have only one more win in the remaining three games.

On September 29, 1963, Billy Howton became the NFL's all-time receiving leader, breaking Don Hutson's record for career receptions and receiving yards. He retired at the end of the year, after playing in 12 seasons with 503 catches, 8,459 yards and 61 touchdowns.

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1963 Dallas Cowboys draft
1	6	Lee Roy Jordan *	LB	Alabama
3	34	Jim Price	LB	Louisville
4	48	Whaley Hall	OT	Mississippi
7	90	Marv Clothier	OG	Kansas
10	132	Rod Scheyer	OT	Washington
11	146	Ray Schoenke	OG	SMU
12	160	Bill Perkins	RB	Iowa
13	174	Paul Wicker	OT	Fresno State
14	188	Lou Cioci	LB	Boston College
15	202	Jerry Overton	S	Utah
16	216	Dennis Golden	OT	Holy Cross
17	230	Ernie Parks	OG	McMurry
18	244	Bill Frank	OT	Colorado	Played in the CFL in 1963
19	258	Jim Stiger	RB	Washington
20	272	Tommy Lucas	E	Texas
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career