Espionage. Bitterness and back stabbing. Alleged cross-dressing.
In the D.C. area, these images could evoke thoughts of the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. But the eclectic history of the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry combines these elements, too.
The rivalry began before the Cowboys were even an NFL franchise, said Michael Richman, the author of “The Redskins Encyclopedia: The Definitive History of the Washington Redskins.”
In 1960, Redskins owner George Preston Marshall — boasting the NFL’s southernmost franchise at the time — tried to block the Cowboys’ entrance into the league, explained Richman.
Cowboys owner Clinton Murchison then bought 50 percent of the rights to “Hail to the Redskins” from renowned band leader Barnee Breeskin, Richman said, essentially holding Washington’s famous fight song hostage. Marshall eventually acquiesced, and the Cowboys entered the NFL.
The rivalry began to escalate when George Allen began coaching the team in the early 1970s.
“Cowboys-Redskins is personal,” said Houston Chronicle columnist Richard Justice. “[Dallas coach] Tom Landry was convinced that George Allen had scouts … spying on his football team.”
“Allen didn’t like the Cowboys. He hated them. Allen would get [the players] so psyched to crush the Cowboys, whereas Landry was a very quiet man,” author Richman said. “It made for an interesting combination there.”
“[Defensive tackle] Diron Talbert would say things like ‘Roger Staubach wears skirts,’ ” Richman continued, adding that when he interviewed Staubach, the Hall of Fame quarterback conceded that the taunt actually affected him psychologically.
Players, too, are keenly aware of the rivalry.
“Playing the Dallas Cowboys when something is on the line is as close to a playoff atmosphere as you can get,” said Rick “Doc” Walker, an original member of the Redskins’ famed “Hogs” offensive line of the 1980s.
“It’s special,” said Justice. “It’s special when they play.”
