Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders of 1972 - 73
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| The 1972 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders |
The shift from 1971 to 1972 was like flipping a switch for the Cowboys-off the high school pep vibe, onto pro everything, starting with the cheerleaders. Tex Schramm, the GM who loved spectacle, pulled Dee Brock aside after that championship glow and said, Enough with the teens; let's make icons. Brock, who'd run the squad like a drill sergeant for a decade, rounded up Texie Waterman, a Broadway dancer with legs for days-and auditioned over a hundred girls in some sweaty Dallas gym. They originally chose 8 girls for the new squad. Sources say that one was too scared to perform and quit without being replaced. The remaining fresh faces traded chants for jazz pirouettes.
The uniform reveal? Paula Van Wagoner nailed it-hot pants, crop top, that star-spangled fringe that screamed sex without apologizing. The first game in Texas Stadium, September 24, 1972: fringe flies, crowd loses their minds, and the Cowboys win twenty-three-seven over the Giants. Schramm's grin said it all: this sells tickets.
Season-wise, it was messier. Roger Staubach twists his shoulder in preseason-out till November-so Craig Morton slings it, Calvin Hill grinds yards, but they drop from eleven-three to ten-four. Still sneak in as wild card, face the Forty-Niners down twenty-eight-sixteen in the fourth, Staubach jogs on cold and engineers the Hail Mary comeback, thirty-twenty-eight. Pure drama. Then bam, NFC Championship in D.C.-Redskins crush 'em three-zip, zero points in Dallas's offense. Heartbreak, but the cheerleaders steal headlines. Brock mentors quietly, Waterman choreographs kicks that make NFL Films drool. By '73, the squad doubles, but those seven originals? They paved the real road-glamour masking grit, just like the team's. If you're rewatching America's Sweethearts, that's the blueprint they built on.
Inaugural Roster
Click on table header to sort
| Name | Status | Year | Season |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anna Carpenter | Veteran | 1972 | 2 |
| Carrie O'Brien | Rookie | 1972 | 1 |
| Deanovoy Nichols | Rookie | 1972 | 1 |
| Dixie Smith | Rookie | 1972 | 1 |
| Dolores McAda | Rookie | 1972 | 1 |
| Rosemary Hall | Rookie | 1972 | 1 |
| Vonciel Baker | Rookie | 1972 | 1 |
Management
Director: Dee Brock
Choreographer: Texie Waterman
Asst. Director: Frances Roberson
Uniform Seamstress : Leveta Crager
Sources
Squad photo: Dallas Cowboys Official Website[1]
Names: Dallas Cowboys Official Website[2]
