Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones announced on Friday that former executive Gil Brandt will become the 22nd member of the team’s Ring of Honor.
Brandt will be inducted during a ceremony on Nov. 29, at halftime of the Cowboys’ Thursday night game against the New Orleans Saints at AT&T Stadium.
“When Jerry called me with the news, it was on par with walking off the field after winning the Super Bowl,” said the 85-year-old Brandt, who spent 29 seasons — through 1988 — in the Cowboys’ front office as the team’s lead scout and contract negotiator.
“I hope my heart and legs will be strong enough to survive that moment. To see my name up there with guys like Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, Drew Pearson, Lee Roy Jordan — these all-time greats not only with the Cowboys franchise but in the history of our great game — it overwhelms me.”
Brandt personally acquired via the draft or trade 15 of the 19 Dallas players who are in the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor.
As the Cowboys’ vice president of player personnel, Brandt was responsible for the acquisition of 15 players have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and 53 who made the Pro Bowl at least once.
Brandt pulled off two trades — each for the second pick in the draft — for future Hall of Fame members Tony Dorsett and Randy White.
His 1964 draft produced three Hall of Fame players — Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes and Staubach — and in the 1975 draft the Cowboys selected White and four other players who made the Pro Bowl.
Brandt will become the third non-player to be inducted into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor, joining general manager Tex Schramm and head coach Tom Landry. Those three built a 1960 NFL expansion team into a league dynasty.
