The Battle for Texas is on Monday night and this old school rivalry got it's start thanks to an Oklahoma Sooner being drafted.

Ever Heard the Story of Ralph Neely?

The Dallas Cowboys and Houston Texans only play each other in the regular season every four years. Back in the day, the Dallas and Houston game was mandatory in the preseason thanks to Ralph Neely. Back in the day, this Oklahoma Sooner changed the future of the Dallas Cowboys.

Houston Oilers of the AFL

Before 1970, the AFL and NFL were separate leagues. The AFL had the Houston Oilers and the NFL had the Dallas Cowboys. The AFL also had the Dallas Texans for a period of time, but they would move to Kansas City and become the Chiefs. Before the NFL and AFL merged into one league, they had to resolve some contract issues. One of those was Ralph Neely.

The Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys Owned the Contract of Ralph Neely

In 1965, Neely was selected in a draft in both leagues. Neely was selected in the AFL by the Houston Oilers and in the NFL by the Baltimore Colts. Neely's NFL rights were traded to the Dallas Cowboys that year and Neely held a bidding war between the two leagues. Neely would eventually pick the Cowboys, but this would lead to problems a few years later.

AFL/NFL Merger in 1970

One of the agreements with the two leagues coming together were that any contracts that teams had on one player had to be resolved before the leagues could merge. One of these was Ralph Neely since the Oilers technically drafted him as well. The Cowboys agreed to send the Oilers a first round, a second round, and two fifth round picks in exchange for Neely. Apparently a part of this contract was that the Cowboys and Oilers would always play each other in the preseason the next five seasons and thus began the Governor's Cup.

Houston/Dallas Rivalry?

It make sense to try to get a Dallas/Houston rivalry game going, but the Dallas Cowboys never really felt like it was one to begin with. Former Dallas Cowboys General Manager Tex Schramm once said, “We’ve got a lot fans in Houston. You don’t have any (Oilers) fans in Dallas.” It's true, more people in Houston were watching the Cowboys at the time, than the Oilers.

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We will wait and see how the latest edition in the Governor's Cup or Battle for Texas goes on Monday. Just remember it all started thanks to Ralph Neely. Maybe bring the Governor's Cup back as a mandatory preseason game every year?