The hand of WHO?

The rivalry with the hated Cowboys has risen to Heavenly heights according to the authoritative Wikipedia no less. The November 2006 miracle come-from-behind win by the Redskins over the Cowboys is now referred to as the "Hand Of God" game in the Wikipedia article Significant rivalries in the NFL.

"The 'Hand of God' game occurred on November 5, 2006 at FedEx Field when the Redskins won through a most unusual series of events. With the game tied 19-19, Redskins kicker Nick Novak missed a 49 yard field goal attempt, turning the ball back to Dallas on downs. The ensuing plays, in turn, set up for Dallas' Mike Vanderjagt, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, to try for a 35-yard field goal with 6 seconds remaining. The kick was blocked by Redskins’ safety Troy Vincent and picked up by the Redskins' Sean Taylor. Taylor returned the kick to the Cowboys' 44-yard line with no time left on the clock. However, the Cowboys' Kyle Kosier committed a 15-yard facemask penalty on Taylor during the return, which caused the game to be extended by one untimed down. From 47 yards out, Nick Novak made the game winning field goal to send the Cowboys back to Dallas with an unexpected loss."

By Divine intervention, the Redskins were saved from a 4-12 season, but lost out on the fifth pick of the draft.

The "Hand Of God" reference is also in an eZine article Cowboys vs. Redskins - A Rivalry 47 Years Strong And Counting.

For Running Redskins' history of the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry, see -

Cowboys-Redskins Part I: It Didn't Start With Allen

Cowboys-Redskins Part II: Aces Wild

Cowboys-Redskins Part III: The Future Is Now

Cowboys & Redskins: Part III - The Future Is Now

Prominent Washington lawyer Edward Bennett Williams assumed management control of the Redskins in 1968. He, along with fellow board member Jack Kent Cooke, exerted more control over the Redskins in 1962 when they pushed owner George Preston Marshall to acquiece to the government's demand to integrate the team. Cooke and Williams felt that Marshall was on the wrong side of the issue, both because of the the threatened eviction from government-owned DC (later RFK) Stadium, and because the Skins were fielding a less competitive team without Negro talent.

After watching Tom Landry's success in Dallas, Williams pushed for an upgrade in coaching and achieved spectacular success when he lured Vince Lombardi out of retirement to coach the Skins. The Redskins were a competitive 7-5-2 in 1969, their first winning season in 14 years. The shock of Lombardi's untimely death in 1970 numbed the franchise almost as much as it did the Green Bay Packers.

When Los Angeles Rams coach George Allen became available in 1971, Williams jumped at the chance to bring him to Washington. Allen amassed a 49-16-4 record in five years with the Rams.
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"I gave Coach Allen an unlimited budget and he exceeded it." -- Edward Bennett Williams
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Over The Hill. Allen believed in veteran players and traded draft choices to get them, especially for players he had a relationship with, like Jack Pardee, Ron McDole, and Verlon Biggs. He was heavily criticized for signing aging "has beens" to big contracts. Orthodox philosophy was to build through the draft for the future. Allen countered that you never knew how a rookie would turn out. A high prospect player could get injured. Young players make mistakes. He wanted proven talent. He wanted immediate results. "The future is now" he famously said.

The results were immediate. The Redskins became periennial contenders through the '70s. Allen went 67-30 in his stay with Washington. The league was shocked that a group of "has beens" could be so successful. Pundits referred to Allens' crew as "The over the hill gang" named for a popular made-for-TV movie of the same name. That story, starring Walter Brennan, was about a group of broken down, retired Texas Rangers who brought law and order to the West.

America's Team. Ironic that the 1970s Redskins would be identified with TV Texas Rangers. The Dallas Cowboys emerged as "America's Team" and the road to the playoffs went through Dallas. Allen used that to motivate his team. To Allen, it was not enough just to beat Dallas, the Redskins had to beat Dallas' record. Every game to him was a Dallas game. Every loss was a killer.
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"Every time you lose, you die a little. Not all of your organs, but a portion of you; maybe just your liver." -- George Allen
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Everyone can see. There was a second influence that brought the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry to prominance and it was huge. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozell worked tirelessly to promote the league and by 1970 had signed national TV contracts with the networks that brought huge audiences to the game. The contract also launched Monday Night Football.

Television is all drama and stars. For drama, the networks wanted games that influenced the playoff race and it wanted identifiable rivalries. And recognizable personalities. There was eccentric, secretive, highly competitive George Allen developing a legitimate challenger to America's Team. TV maximized rivalries. Oakland vs. Kansas City (actually, John Madden's Oakland vs. anybody) and Minnesota vs. Green Bay held appeal. But Washington vs. Dallas could feed the TV beast with Allen vs. Landry, Over The Hill Gang vs. Doomsday Defense, Stauback vs. Kilmer/Jurgensen, Drew Pearson vs. Charley Taylor and an early touch of Red vs. Blue -- another irony given the Redskins history under Marshall.

The rivalry was already intense to Redskins and Cowboys followers. National TV made it famous. As the national audience tuned in to the intensity, there was Allen who was making the games meaningful to the post-season. Allen is forever tied to "making" the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry.

Redskins and Cowboys. The Redskins did not disappoint. They stunned the Cowboys 21-16 in the first meeting in 1971 and were greeted by 10,000 delerious fans who welcomed tham home at the airport. Landry won the rematch 13-0 enroute to Super Bowl VI.

The highpoint of Allen's tenure in Washington was the 1972 team that was 11-3 and got as far as Super Bowl VII. The Cowboys were off to a 20-7 lead in the game at RFK when the Redskins pulled out a 24-20 win. It was the first time anyone was aware that the stadium could be made to shake. Dallas won the rematch in Dallas 34-24, but both teams made the playoffs, Washington as division champs.

That set up one of the most famous events in Redskins lore, the 1972 conference championship game. Washington held home field advantage and the Over The Hill Gang held Dallas to 73 passing yards. Charlie Taylor caught two touchdown passes from Billy Kilmer. With Curt Knight's four field goals, the Redskins crushed the Cowboys 26-3.

The Skins under Allen were always a playoff calibre team, but never made it all the way back after '72. (Among the NFC East contenders was Don Coryell's St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals took the division in 1974 and '75. Coryell had on his staff a promising young offensive coordinator named Joe Gibbs. For more of Gibbs' story, look here.)

The Over The Hill Gang had several memorable games with the Cowboys. Ken Houston's mano~a~mano stop of Walt Garrison at the one yard line on a Monday Night game comes to mind. We don't speak of the Clint Longley game around here. By 1977, the Gang really was showing the effects of age and were swept by the hated rivals.

Allen left the Redskins to return to the Rams for what he thought was a better deal. He would call that a mistake. But his effect on the Redskins survived his departure. Jack Pardee and Richie Pettibone, both Allen disciples, coached the George Allen defense into the 1990s. Then, ex-Cowboys offensive coordinator Norv Turner came along and changed everything.

Damned Cowboys won again.

For the official Redskins summary of the rivalry, look here.

For a graphic depiction of the rivalry, look here.

Dallas Cowboys
Washington Redskins

Cowboys & Redskins: Part I - It Didn't Start with Allen

The Roots Of Evil. It's Dallas Week. With the Redskins' return to competitive play (thank you, Joe Gibbs), Dallas Week again means something, although it's far from the two-city enthusiasm of the seventies and eighties. It's a common misconception that the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry started with George Allen. While Allen stoked those fires, there was a heated relationship between the teams from the inception of the Dallas Cowboys. And why not, since Redskins founder and owner George Preston Marshall tried to strangle the Texas baby in the cradle.

This Land is My Land. Washington sports fans are well acquainted with Peter Angelos effort to deny a major league baseball franchise to the Washington area. Angelos had an aggravating notion that the Washington TV market belonged to Baltimore and a team located so close his would damage the value of his team, The Baltimore Orioles. Angelos did not originate this twisted logic. Four decades before, Marshall held the same view for the Redskins.

The Dallas Redskins? Marshall asserted that the Redskins market was the South. All of it, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. If it was below the Mason-Dixon line, it was Redskins territory. He built a radio network to broadcast Redskins games and had had quite a large following in the Southeast U.S. His business strategy led practices now viewed as unsavory. To avoid offending his southern listeners, Marshall refused to add Negro players to his teams, even though every other NFL franchise was doing so. Marshall would have the Redskins band play a chorus of Dixie between verses of Hail To The Redskins. The cheers were louder for Dixie than for the Redskins fight song.

By the 1950s, the Redskins were struggling on the field and financially. In a weak moment, Marshall considered selling the team. One prospective buyer was Texas oil man Clint Murchison who was seeking to bring a NFL franchise to Dallas. They nearly concluded a deal that would have moved the Washington franchise to Texas until Marshall insisted on a change in the terms. Murchison suggested what Marshall could do with his change of terms and the deal fell apart.

My Kingdom for a Song. Murchison's next move was to work with Pete Rozell on an expansion team when Marshall created the marketplace argument that would later be used by Peter Angelos. Expansions could only be approved by unanimous vote of the owners. Marshall would have none if it. Then he made a critical mistake, two actually. First he had a falling out with Barnee Breeskin, The Shoreham Hotel orchestra leader who was also leader of the Redskins band from 1937 to 1951. It was Breeskin who wrote the music for Hail To The Redskins. Two, Marshall failed to acquire the ownership rights to Hail, which he discovered to his horror when Breeskin, in a snit, sold those rights to Clint Murchison. Now, a big part of the Redskins mystique is the fight song. Kids learn that song about the same time they learn the words to Jingle Bells. You can't be a true Washingtonian unless you know the first four lines of Hail To The Redskins! It's the song as much as anything that has fans clinging to the team name Redskins. With his beloved tune held ransom, Marshall relented on the Dallas franchise. But, boy was he pissed.

Quarterback Controversy. It was bad enough that Murchison outmaneuvered Marshall to land his team. To rub salt in the wound, Dallas selected Redskins pro-bowl ('55, '57, '58) quarterback Eddie LeBaron off the Redskins roster. Never mind that Marshall failed to add LeBaron to his protected list. Marshall considered Murchison and his Texans underhanded. Historically, that made Marshall the first Washingtonian to say "Cowboys suck!" He took it personally and made sure his team took it personally.

A Rivalry Is Born. In a rivalry full of irony, Marshall insisted that the Cowboys play in the Eastern Division with the Redskins. The Minnesota Vikings were the second expansion team and Marshall did not want to play a late season game in the cold North.

The Dallas Cowboys played their first game in the 1960 season. The Redskins 1960 victory over the Cowboys was their only win that year. The Cowboys were winless. The Skins won two of the first four and tied two others. The rivalry grew as Dallas fans pulled off a series of pranks in the early years. In December 1961, they conspired to release two crates of chickens onto the field during halftime of the Redskins-Cowboys game. The plot was discovered before the chickens were released. The night before the third Redskins-Cowboys game, the nefarious plotters managed to sneak a turkey into Marshall's hotel bathroom, giving Marshall quite a start. At the game, two acrobats in chicken suits ran onto the field at halftime after giant "Chicken" banners were unfurled in 50 yard line stands.

After the first four games, when the Skins went 2-0-2, the tide slowly turned in the Cowboys favor as superior coaching and better talent asserted themselves. In nineteen times in the sixties, the Redskins' record against the Cowboys in that decade was 7-10-2. Rivalries are more than games and records. You must have memorable moments. Those Cowboys-Redskins games were real donnybrooks. In the mid-60s, the Cowboys and Redskins dueled in a remarkable four game series that forever set the tone of the rivalry. More on that in Part II, Jurgensen and Meredith, Aces Wild.

For more information, go to ESPN's A Rivalry For A Song, or to Wikipedia's Cowboys-Redskins rivalry.

Dallas Cowboys
Washington Redskins