Harvey Roberts "Bum" Bright (October 6, 1920 – December 11, 2004) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was the owner of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

from 1984 to 1989.

Early life

Bright received his bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

in 1943. After graduating, he was commissioned in the U.S. Army. He was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers and deployed to Europe during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Bright remained in the Army until 1946, obtaining the rank of

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

.Ma, Ji.
Businessman, philanthropist Bright dies
" ''The Battalion''. College Station, Texas. 18 January 2005. Accessed 7 July 2011.

Business

Bright returned to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in 1946 and began investing in oil and natural gas leases. Later he expanded to trucking, banks, real estate, and savings and loans. His investments made him a millionaire by the age of 31.H. R. 'Bum' Bright obituary
" ''Los Angeles Times''. 14 December 2004. Accessed 7 July 2011. In 1990, he was listed as one of the 100 richest people in Texas.Anderson, John and Christine Carroll.
The Texas 100: The 100 Richest People in Texas.
''Texas Monthly'' September 1990: 88-140.

Dallas Cowboys owner

In 1984, Bright (along with 11 limited business partners, including Craig Hall) purchased the

NFL franchise from Clint Murchison, Jr. for $85 million. Like Murchison, Bright was a mostly hands-off owner; he largely left the Cowboys in the hands of president and general manager Tex Schramm. In his first season as owner, the Cowboys finishing with a 10–6 record and made the playoffs, losing to the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in the first round. The team's performance declined over the next three seasons, posting records of 7–9, 7–8, and 3–13. After suffering financial losses, including an estimated $29 million in the 1988 collapse of First Republic Bank Corporation, Bright sold the franchise to

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. (born October 13, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman who is the owner, president, and General manager (American football), general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He bought t ...

in 1989 for $140 million. Jones made many changes to the team, including firing longtime head coach

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry ( ; September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football coach, player, and World War II veteran. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he was the first head coach of the Dallas ...

, the only head coach of the team up to that time. Later, Bright claimed that he wanted to fire Landry himself as early as 1987, but Schramm claimed he didn't have a successor in place yet.Ex-Cowboys Owner Bright Almost Fired Landry in '87
" ''Los Angeles Times.'' 26 February 1990. Accessed 14 July 2011. In 2016, Jones revealed that Bright offered to fire Landry before Jones introduced himself as the Cowboys' new owner. According to Jones, Bright knew Jones would almost certainly be pilloried by the media and fan base if he fired Landry, and wanted to relieve Jones of the pressure by making the decision himself. However, Jones declined the offer, wanting to tell Landry himself that he was being let go.

Politics

An outspoken conservative, Bright was highly critical of John F. Kennedy. In response to President Kennedy's visit to Texas in 1963, Bright co-sponsored a political advertisement in the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation in 2022 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885, by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ' ...

'' to criticize the president's policies. The full-page ad ran on November 22, 1963, the day that Kennedy was

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

in Dallas.Hurt, Harry. "Welcome, Mr. Kennedy, to Dallas." ''Texas Monthly'' April 1981: 148-151, 236-252. He also disapproved of the extent of federal welfare programs. In a 1990 interview with ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

'', he stated, "Our unrestrained welfare programs encourage people to be non-productive, and therefore, hungry and helpless."

Connection to Texas A&M

Bright was known for publicly supporting his

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, and its athletics programs. After the Texas A&M football team upset the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

in 1967, he had one million matchboxes with the inscription "''Tee Hee Hee: Texas A&M 10, Texas 7''" printed and distributed throughout the state of Texas. He was the chairman of Texas A&M University System Board of Regents from 1981 to 1985. In 1991, Texas A&M named him a distinguished alumnus. A&M also presented him with the Sterling C. Evans medal in 2002.Sterling C. Evans Medal recipients
" ''Texas A&M Foundation.'' Accessed 16 July 2011. Bright donated an unrestricted contribution of $25 million to Texas A&M in 1997. In 2000, he donated another $5 million to support renovation of the school's football stadium,

Kyle Field Kyle Field is an American football stadium in College Station, Texas located on the campus of Texas A&M University. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent concrete stadium s ...

. Two buildings on Texas A&M's campus bear his name: the Bright Football Complex and the H. R. "Bum" Bright Building.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bright, Bum 1920 births 2004 deaths Dallas Cowboys owners Texas A&M University alumni United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army Corps of Engineers personnel United States Army officers People from Muskogee, Oklahoma