Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

I found a 15-page article about the 1952 Dallas Texans at:

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... 090/m1/42/

It's in the Spring, 2005 issue of "Legacies", which is a history magazine for Dallas and North Texas.

Thanks for posting.

I didn't know anything about the circumstances surrounding the startup of the Texans franchise. It seemed VERY ill-conceived. I'm always amused when people buy a sports franchise without having a stadium to play in. The Texans owners also had no particular person in mind to run the football operation. The fact that the Texans owners had to take on the debt (i.e. Yankee Stadium lease) of the old NY Yanks franchise makes it even more ridiculous that their financial model had the Texans 'breaking even' in year 1 based on projected ticket sales and broadcasting fees. The unfriendly lease to use the Cotton Bowl almost guaranteed that the Texans would be losing money at home games. So I disagree when the author attributes the Dallas Texans' failure to 'bad timing'...the organization was comically inept and short of funds.

Bert Bell's involvement with the franchise made no sense to me. Bell insists on approving front office hires for the franchise, then later turns around and criticizes the Texans for being poorly-run. I think the on-field product was doomed from the start, as the other teams in the Texans' conference were loaded with talent (Rams, Lions, Bears, Niners...even the Packers ended up 6-6 in 1952). Perhaps with better management the Texans could have overtaken the Packers in a couple years and worked their way up in the standings.

Hugh McElhenny was a rookie in ’52. In his first game against the Texans he carried 7 times for 170 yards including an 89-yard touchdown run. He also caught a 33-yd TD pass. In the second game, he had an 83-yd TD run and a 19-yd TD catch. Joe Perry also had a 78-yd TD run in this one. I’ve seen some of the ’52 highlights. They are fun to watch - basically week in review highlights - I remember thinking whenever the Texans game was up, there would probably be some big plays.

I saw the Texans play the Packers in Green Bay. The Packers scored a couple of TDs on long pass plays and won easily.

Stan Grosshandler's article from Coffin Corner Vol. 4 #10 about the '52 Texans:

http://profootballresearchers.com/archi ... 10-112.pdf