“If the Cowboys ever decide to put a woman in their Ring of Honor, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more deserving than Ms. Dee Brock,” one tribute read
Credit: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders/Instagram
NEED TO KNOW
- Dee Brock, the founding director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, died at 96 on Sept. 23
- Part of her history includes integrating the cheer squad in 1965, a progressive move in a largely segregated Dallas at the time
- The uniform she helped create was added to the Smithsonian Institution in 2018 as a symbol of pop culture history
Dee Brock, known for her role as the founding director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, has died. She was 96.
On Wednesday, Sept. 23, Greg Whiteley, who directed the Netflix hit documentary series America’s Sweethearts, announced via social media that Brock died earlier that day.
“She was a model, a teacher, and held a PhD in Literature and founded El Centro College, the first community college in Dallas,” he captioned an Instagram post, adding, “Oh, and she also started the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.”
Credit: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders/Instagram
Whiteley added the Oklahoma native is said to have sketched the very first DCC uniform on a legal notepad before designer Paula Van Wagoner and seamstress Leveta Crager brought the “iconic look” to life.
Decades after Brock made her first sketch of the uniform, it was added to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History collection in 2018 as a permanent symbol of pop culture, according to the official Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders website.
Whitley went on to share another milestone that Brock was especially proud of.
“In 1965, she integrated the cheer squad, a progressive stance in a Dallas that was still largely segregated. She said convincing Tex Schramm was among the hardest things she ever worked for,” he wrote in his lengthy tribute to the pioneer.
“If the Cowboys ever decide to put a woman in their Ring of Honor, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone more deserving than Ms. Dee Brock,” Whiteley concluded.
The organization also confirmed Brock’s death on Facebook, writing, “In loving memory of Dee Brock, our founding director. We will forever honor her and her legacy.”
Their post contained a single photo of the current director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Kelli Finglass, as the former DCC cheerleader and Brock smiled for a photo together.
Brock initially used high school students with traditional cheers to pump up the crowds at Dallas Cowboys games until 1965, per the DCC website.
Credit: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders/Instagram
She later met Frances Roberson, a local high school drill-team director, who added choreography to the cheers, ultimately evolving the squad into what would become a global phenomenon.
Since then, the team has made guest appearances on shows like American Idol, Conan, The Late Show with David Letterman, Saturday Night Live, The Today Show, The Oprah Winfrey Show and more, even inspiring their very own Barbie doll.
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“I hadn’t realized I had made such a good impression,” Brock told Texas news station KETK in June, the week of her 96th birthday when she was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. “I am so happy about that.”
“It makes me very proud to know I got it started and they’ve taken it on, and doing a great job. So, I would say just keep on loving the Cowboys, and keep on cheering all you can,” she said.
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