As legendary as the team is, it’s an open question whether Dallas Cowboys merchandise would’ve been as popular as they are without the equally famous Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. These ladies are not just any ol’ football cheerleading squad members, but make up a veritable franchise in themselves.

No less than two made-for-TV movies have appeared about them, not to mention any number of Dallas Cowboys merchandise bearing their likeness somewhere on the product! For when you think of Texas football, you think the Cowboys – and when you think Cowboys, you think of their cheerleaders.

Sure the die-hard fan may prefer his Dallas Cowboys flag “straight-up” but many others who aren’t so hard-core would most likely welcome a shot of the cheerleaders illustrating their fan merchandise! No other collection of young ladies so epitomize the American woman: young, fun, and fit; spirited; glamorous; intelligent.

Yes, despite the voyeurism involved these beauties know how to comport themselves and market themselves. Team try-outs obviously focus on athleticism and physical beauty but as spokesmodels for the team a great amount of social savvy and hence intelligence is necessary, too.

The only other set of girls that have left such a deep impression on popular culture worldwide would have to be Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunnies. Interestingly, the Cowboys’ cheerleading squad actually started out mixed, with both males and females, as was high school and collegiate football tradition.

And indeed, it was local high school students that actually made up the squad back in the 1960s. In 1969, however a deliberate attempt was made to improve in-game attendance by offering only female cheerleaders whose routines were unlike those prevalent at school games. By 1972, all cheerleaders were over the age of eighteen as their moves became increasingly more like sexy dance routines.