One of Tom Landry’s first-ever hires and a man responsible for the Cowboys logo we see today, passed away this week.
Jack Eskridge died Monday morning at Centerpoint Medical Center in Valley Falls, Kansas at the age of 89. His family is holding funeral services and chapels this weekend in Independence, Missouri.
Eskridge joined the Cowboys in 1959, a year before the inaugural season. With the team needing a new logo, it was Eskridge who designed the blue star, giving it a white border outline to provide a 3D-effect.
Ironically enough, Eskridge’s grandson Zack spent some time with the Cowboys back in 2011, trying to earn that very star his grandfather created more than 50 years earlier. Zack Eskridge was an undrafted rookie quarterback from Midwestern State. Without the benefit of a normal offseason of OTA and minicamp practices because of the lockout, Eskridge was too far behind the rest of the pack and was released before the first preseason game. He has since played in the Arena League for Kansas City and recently the New Orleans VooDoo.
But Jack Eskridge had quite a life, which included memorable moments long before he started with the Cowboys. According to his official obituary, Jack was a Marine who witnessed both flag raisings at Iwo Jima, before playing basketball at the University of Kansas and later some professional gigs with the Chicago Stags and Indianapolis Jets. He later returned to Kansas, where he was an assistant coach and equipment manager under “Phog” Allen and helped recruit the likes of Wilt Chamberlain.
Jack went from Kansas to the Cowboys, where he worked until 1973, earning a Super Bowl VI ring along the way.
