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 American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

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, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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 of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

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

Business

Bright returned to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

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. Clinton Williams Murchison Jr. (September 12, 1923 – March 30, 1987) was a businessman and founder of the Dallas Cowboys football team. A son of Clint Murchison Sr., who made his first fortune in oil exploration and became notorious for exploit ...

for $85 million. The Cowboys made the playoffs in his first season as owner, losing to the

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

in the first round and finishing with a 10–6 record. 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 First Republic Bank Corporation was an American bank based in Texas. Founded as the Guaranty Bank and Trust Company in 1920, in 1922 it assumed the name Republic National Bank of Dallas. Afterwards the bank acquired several banks and invested i ...

, Bright sold the franchise to

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones (born October 13, 1942) is an American businessman who has been the owner, president, and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) since February 1989. Early life Jones was born in Los Ange ...

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 player and coach. He was the first head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football League (NFL), a position he held for 29 seasons. Dur ...

, 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 general manager

Tex Schramm Texas Earnest Schramm Jr. (June 2, 1920 – July 15, 2003) was an American football executive who was the original president and general manager of the Dallas Cowboys franchise of the National Football League (NFL). Schramm, usually referred to ...

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 John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

. 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 of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

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

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

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. ''Texas Monthly'' was founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy and has been published by Emmis Publishing, L.P. since 1998 and is ...

'', 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,

, 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. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

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 served as 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 the American football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, United States. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggies football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a permanent con ...

. 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