Dee Brock, Creator of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Dies at 96
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 27
Dee Brock, Creator of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Dies at 96
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 27
Summary
Dee Brock, the high school English teacher and model who launched the original Dallas Cowboys cheer squad, died Wednesday in hospice care in Tyler, Texas, a friend confirmed. She was 96.
In 1961, Cowboys president Tex Schramm hired Brock as the N.F.L. expansion team sought to build its image, but his refusal to pay professional models pushed her to recruit local high school cheerleaders instead.
Brock then reshaped the group over the 1960s, integrating it in 1965, adding choreography and moving it from the modest Cowbelles and Beaux era toward open auditions, adult performers and more revealing costumes.
That evolution helped turn the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders into a globally recognized sideline brand, known for blue tops, star-spangled vests, shorts and white boots.