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Dallas Cowboys Say Goodbye To Longtime Practice Facility Valley Ranch

THE LANDRY HAT

The Dallas Cowboys closed a major chapter in their history this week. They’re leaving Valley Ranch after three decades, and heading to a sparkling new home in Frisco.  

Former Cowboys executive Gil Brandt has seen it all at Valley Ranch.

“I was here for the first practice and I was here for the last practice,” Brandt told DallasCowboys.com. “Our equipment room originally here, it’s the same size as it is now, and that equipment room we have here was state of the art then. Now it’s like a small office.”

Back in 1985, the team moved to what was then 30-acres of ranchland. Now, houses, apartments and businesses crowd the practice field.

Several former players including Michael Irvin stopped by yesterday’s final practice.

“I walked in this building my first year, and looked at everything that I have, we all dreamed of and wanted to become – we all did it in this building,” Irving told reporters.

Current head coach Jason Garrett also played for the Cowboys in the 90s.

At the final press conference, he reminisced about it all.

“For the last 31 years some of the greatest coaches, the greatest players and the greatest teams assembled in the National Football League worked here,” Garrett said. “The standard they set is high.”

The Cowboys head to training camp in California next month. When they return they’ll move into a pricier neighborhood in Frisco. The development is called “The Star” and it’ll cost $1.5 billion.

Gus Contreras is a digital producer and reporter at KERA News. Gus produces the local All Things Considered segment and reports on a variety of topics from, sports to immigration. He was an intern and production assistant for All Things Considered in Washington D.C.