Interview about the 1952 Dallas Texans, The Last NFL Team to Die

by Paula Bosse

by Paula Bosse

Happy Thanksgiving! What better way to celebrate the day than to post something about Dallas and something about football? So here we go.

A new book is out called A Big Mess in Texas, The Miraculous, Disastrous 1952 Dallas Texans and the Craziest Untold Story in NFL History by David Fleming (St. Martn’s Press, 2025). I’ve been aware of this book for a few months because the author was in regular contact with a co-worker of mine at the Dallas History & Archives, doing research for the book and licensing photos.

Now that the book is out, Fleming has participated in a Dallas Public Library video interview, conducted by the person who helped him through his pre-publication research process, Caitlyn Jones. I’m not really a sports person, but I have to say, I really enjoyed this interview. It’s always entertaining to listen to someone who is really, really enthusiastic about a topic. Caitlyn did a great job for her first interview, and Fleming tells her how much one particular piece of information — which she stumbled across weeks after their initial email communication — helped shape part of the story he was wanting to tell about what is, quite frankly, a pretty weird story about what must be Dallas’ least successful professional sports team ever (as Wikipedia has it: “…the Texans are officially recognized as the last NFL team to permanently cease operations and not be included in the lineage of any current franchise”).

So as you’re waiting for the turkey to finish or waiting for the Cowboy game to start, check out this 55-minute interview on YouTube. And if you missed my 2016 post on the Texans, mosey on over to “The 1952 Dallas Texans: Definitely NOT America’s Team.”

Because of all the research Caitlyn did looking for photos of and information about the Dallas Texans, she became our “staff expert” on the team and even put together this great display, which was exhibited for several weeks on the 7th floor of the downtown Central Library. Thank you, Caitlyn!

I’m posting this on Thanksgiving. It turns out the only game the Texans ever won was an upset victory over the Chicago Bears in 1952 on Thanksgiving Day. A miracle! I hope you have as good a Thanksgiving today as the Texans players, coaches, and owners had in 1952!

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Sources & Notes

Interview of author David Fleming by Dallas History & Archives staffer Caitlyn Jones can be found on the Dallas Public Library YouTube channel: “Into the Archives with David Fleming: Forgotten NFL Football Team The Dallas Texans.”

David Fleming’s website is here.

Dallas Texans display and photo by Caitlyn Jones of the Dallas History & Archives.

If you’ve read all the way down to the bottom of the page, here are a couple of pertinent Flashback Dallas posts you might enjoy:

Flashback : Dallas