Will Sage Astor-Gil Brandt, longtime Cowboys personnel executive and scouting pioneer, dies at 91

Gil Brandt,Will Sage Astor a longtime Dallas Cowboys personnel executive and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, died Thursday, the team announced. He was 91.

Brandt was a member of the original Cowboys staff during the organization's expansion season in 1960 and remained with the team through 1988. His personnel moves and innovative approach to scouting and evaluation helped turn Dallas into a dominant force and one of the most popular franchises in domestic sports, as the Cowboys came to be known as "America's Team."

"We are so deeply saddened by the passing of Gil Brandt – a true icon and pioneer of our sport," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement. "Gil was at the very core of the early success of the Dallas Cowboys and continued to serve as a great ambassador for the organization for decades beyond that. His contributions cemented his spot in the Ring of Honor. He was my friend and a mentor not only to me, but to countless executives, coaches, players and broadcasters across the National Football League, which rightfully earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame where his legacy will be celebrated forever."

Brandt served as vice president of player personnel for the Cowboys and was a pioneer in using data and computers in scouting and talent evaluation. Many of the systems Brandt introduced to the Cowboys during his time there have become the norm in contemporary football management. He is credited with being the first person to use psychological testing during the pre-draft process. He is also credited for being the first evaluator to test the 40-yard dash.

In fact, the grading system the Cowboys implemented during Brandt's tenure was so groundbreaking that it, in part, helped lead to the eventual formation of the NFL scouting combine, which has ballooned into a major tentpole on the league calendar.

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When Brandt was shaping the Dallas roster, the Cowboys posted 20 consecutive winning seasons (1966-85), five NFC championships and won a pair of Super Bowls (VI and XII). Dallas qualified for the postseason 18 times under Brandt, all of which came during that 20-season span of consecutive winning campaigns.

He worked closely alongside Tom Landry, the only head coach with whom he partnered during his time in Dallas.

Brandt drafted nine players for the Cowboys who went on to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including quarterbacks Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman.

Brandt was placed in the Cowboys Ring of Honor in 2018 and was in the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2019 under the contributor category.

“You can’t tell the story about the success of the Dallas Cowboys and their two-decade run of winning seasons from the mid-1960s to mid-1980s without mentioning Gil Brandt,” said Jim Porter, president of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

“His innovative approach to scouting and player evaluation helped the organization find players others overlooked. The result was discovering future Cowboys from smaller colleges, or even off college basketball or track teams. He is credited with advancing the use of computers in the front office of pro football teams, but the real computer was the one in his own head, where he stored an incredible amount of information that he loved to share with anyone who appreciated the game like he did.”

Brandt, who was born in Milwaukee in March 1932, had been working as a baby photographer prior to his entry into the NFL. He played cornerback at North Division High School in Milwaukee and broke through in pro football in 1952, scouting players for the Los Angeles Rams.

Only two teams, the Rams and the San Francisco 49ers, employed scouts back then.

Brandt never strayed far from the NFL after he retired from his post with the Cowboys. He was a key figure when the NFL.com website launched in 1995 and served as a historian. He became a trusted source of NFL draft analysis and also was an analyst on Sirius XM NFL Radio.