In 1991 the Cowboys replaced offensive coordinator Dave Shula with Norv Turner ; the Cowboys raced to a 6-5 start then defeated the previously-unbeaten Redskins despite injury to Troy Aikman.

Backup Steve Beuerlein took over and the Cowboys and finished 11-5, then defeated the Bears for the Cowboys ' first playoff win since 1982.

Jones then lured Bill Parcells out of retirement to coach the Cowboys.

The Cowboys then finished an up-and-down 2006 season with a 9 – 7 record and a playoff appearance, but after a last second loss in the wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks, Parcells retired and was succeeded by Wade Phillips.

Romo then threw 3 touchdown passes to Miles Austin as the Cowboys rallied to send the game into overtime.

The two conference title games led to a hot bidding war between the clubs for players ; the Niners signed cornerback Deion Sanders from the Atlanta Falcons and also signed linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. from the Cowboys ; they defeated the Cowboys 21-14 in the 1994 regular season and then hosted the Cowboys in that year's Conference title game, with the Cowboys now coached by Barry Switzer ; the 49ers raced to a 21-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter and won 38-28 en route to Super Bowl XXIX.

But following this Super Bowl the rivalry cooled as first the Cowboys and then the 49ers went through lengthy performance slumps.

Much speculation centered on Jimmy Johnson, then the coach of the Dallas Cowboys, who was rumored to be feuding with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Green Bay would then come from behind to defeat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL championship game for the second year in a row, in one of the most famous games in NFL lore: The Ice Bowl.

The Cowboys then mounted an eleven-play drive to the Miami 1-yard line which featured just one pass and a fake field goal attempt on fourth-and-one at the Miami 20-yard line.

Instead of trying to immediately tie the game on a long passing play, the Steelers ran the ball on the first four plays of their ensuing possession, and then quarterback Terry Bradshaw completed a 32-yard pass to wide receiver Lynn Swann to reach the Cowboys 16-yard line.

After Gerry Mullins recovered Dallas ' onside kick attempt, the Steelers then tried to run out the clock on the next drive with four straight running plays, but the Cowboys defense stopped them on fourth down at their 39-yard line, giving Dallas one more chance to win.

Dallas was then forced to punt, and the Broncos advanced to the Cowboys ' 33-yard line before quarterback Craig Morton was sacked for an 11-yard loss on third down.

Dallas then drove to the 8-yard line, but Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach was sacked by Lyle Alzado for a 10-yard loss on third down, forcing them to settle for a 35-yard Efren Herrera field goal to increase their lead to 10-0.

The Cowboys then drove to the Denver 26-yard line, but Herrera missed wide left from 43 yards out.

On the next play, the Cowboys scored on a 29-yard halfback option play: Staubach pitched the ball to fullback Robert Newhouse, who ran left as if it were a normal run play, but then Newhouse passed the ball to Cowboys receiver Golden Richards for a touchdown.

Bradshaw then attempted a pass to Swann, but the receiver collided with Cowboys defensive back Benny Barnes and fell to the ground as the ball rolled incomplete.

Dallas also signed veteran tight end Jay Novacek away from Phoenix, who went on to make the Pro Bowl in five of his six years with the Cowboys.

The Dallas Cowboys also took roster hits when WFL teams in Hawaii and Houston signed running back Calvin Hill and quarterback Craig Morton respectively.

Other players joined the WFL despite being drafted by NFL squads, such as quarterback Danny White, who signed with Memphis before eventually joining the NFL's Dallas Cowboys.

George signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys on July 23, 2004 for $ 1. 5 million plus incentives that could have earned him more than the $ 4. 25 million he would have made under his contract with the Titans, who released him on July 21, 2004 in part due to salary cap considerations.

He was released by the Arizona Cardinals and signed a one-day contract for one dollar with the Dallas Cowboys — after which he immediately retired as a Cowboy, the team he played for from 1990 to 2002.

So to beef up the Blues, Mulligan signed five new players: back Obie Bristow and guard Steve Owen from the Kansas City Cowboys which ended its season in Hartford ; fullback Roy Mackert from the Rochester Jeffersons ; end Herb Kopf, and, most newsworthy, halfback Don Miller, became the third Horsemen to sign a contract with Mulligan.

In 2006 the Cowboys signed controversial former Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens.

Two years later, he was released and signed to another large pact by the Dallas Cowboys, only to be given his unconditional release on March 4, 2009.

) The next season, Owens was released by the Philadelphia Eagles franchise and eventually signed with the Dallas Cowboys.

Four days later, on March 18, 2006, Jerry Jones announced that the Dallas Cowboys had signed Owens to a 3-year, $ 25 million deal, including a $ 5 million signing bonus, with a $ 5 million first year salary.

During his weekly Philadelphia sports radio show on WIP ( AM ) prior to the game against the Dallas Cowboys, Owens stated if he could return to the 2004 off-season he would not have signed with the Eagles.

In 1961 he was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys, but because Tom Landry didn't have any room for him on the roster, Gil Brandt called Dallas Texans head coach Hank Stram to give Grayson a try.

On March 23, Vanderjagt signed a three-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys.

While signed to Lookout !, the band continued to release an album a year: 1995's Pile Up ( notable for its various cover songs, including Ned Sublette's " Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other " and Nirvana's " Smells Like Teen Spirit " ( covered as " Smells Like Queer Spirit ")), 1996's Wish I'd Taken Pictures ( featuring the single " I Really Wanted You ", the music video of which played once on MTV ) and the 1997 B-sides compilation More Lovin ' From Our Oven.

He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2008.

In 1976 he signed with the Dallas Cowboys after the World Football League folded.

However, Sanders only played 9 regular season games for the Cowboys in 1995 due to injuries, and thus only recorded 24 tackles and 2 interceptions for 34 yards.

He even criticized Troy Brown of the New England Patriots and Deion Sanders of the Dallas Cowboys, two players who also have played both offense and defense, because their positions as a wide receiver and cornerback didn't require as much contact as the center and linebacker positions that Bednarik played.

He tore his ACL against the Detroit Lions trying to tackle Barry Sanders in the first game and returned to play in Super Bowl XXX between the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys 19 weeks later.

On September 9, 1995 ( which happened to fall in Week 2 of that NFL season ), Sanders signed a lucrative contract with the Dallas Cowboys ( seven years, $ 35 million with a $ 12. 9 million signing bonus ), essentially making him, at the time, the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL.

Sanders later stated in his book Power, Money & Sex: How Success Almost Ruined My Life that the Oakland Raiders offered him more money than any other team, but he chose to play in Dallas for more time on the offensive side of the ball, a chance to win back-to-back Super Bowls, and because of his friendship with Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin.

Arthroscopic surgery kept him sidelined until his debut in Week 9, which was once again in Atlanta against the Falcons, though this time Sanders ' debut with his new team was not as dramatic as it was with the 49ers ( the Cowboys won, 28-13 ).

Sanders proceeded to play four more seasons with Dallas, earning Pro Bowl berths in all of them, though the Cowboys would only win one playoff game ( in 1996 against the Minnesota Vikings ) during that time.

After five seasons with the Cowboys, new Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder pursued Sanders along with other high priced free agents Mark Carrier and Bruce Smith.

Once in the NFL, Sanders felt he deserved to be paid as much as NFL quarterbacks and in 1995 he used the " Prime Time " strategy to sign a seven-year, $ 35 million contract with the Dallas Cowboys ( the contract was essentially five years, but was given a seven-year length for an easier cap hit and the signing bonus was $ 12, 999, 999. 99, one cent under $ 13 million due to a superstition of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ).

Sanders has also been the mentor to San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, as well as Dallas Cowboys wide receiver, Dez Bryant.

In 1995 with the Cowboys having discussions to possibly sign the flashy free agent cornerback Deion Sanders, Brown was on his way to becoming a nickelback until Kevin Smith tore his achilles tendon in the first game of the 1995 season against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football.

Minnesota was forced to punt on their next drive, but returner Deion Sanders muffed the kick and Dwayne Rudd recovered the ball for the Vikings at the Cowboys 30-yard line.