The originator of the Dallas Cowboys’ ’88 Club’ actually didn’t start with No. 88

Of all the great players who have played for the Dallas Cowboys, only through organics, and Jerry Jones, has one jersey number become more precious, and valuable, than the rest.

More than No. 22 (Emmitt Smith), No. 8 (Troy Aikman), No. 12 (Roger Staubach), No. 74 (Bob Lilly), et al.

Only does No. 88 have its own club, which features Drew Pearson, Michael Irvin, Dez Bryant, CeeDee Lamb and, naturally, Post Malone. Grapevine native, hip hop artist, and part time country singer, Post Malone is an honorary member of the 88 Club, ahead of a wide receiver who actually wore the jersey this century, and produced in his three years with the team, Antonio Bryant.

Only with the Cowboys does all of that make sense.

There is no other group like this in the NFL, and it’s been carefully cultivated, and grown, thanks to the men themselves, and Jerry Jones. Jerry made No. 88 a thing, and those who have worn it have made it into a club, a podcast and a brand. They are all on a text thread, with Post Malone included.

Of than many skills that the current No. 88 for the Cowboys, CeeDee Lamb, can learn from the Original 88 is the art of self promotion. There have been few players for the Cowboys who are better at selling than Pearson.

“I started calling myself (the Original 88) when I retired,” he said Tuesday, “but I’m not the first 88.”

Wearing his gold Pro Football Hall of Fame jacket, Pearson was the featured guest on Tuesday at AT&T Stadium when the East/West Shrine Bowl announced that its annual college football All-Star game will be played at the venue in early 2025.

How No. 88 elevated itself above the rest was done a little bit by chance, a lot by Pearson, Jerry Jones and the players themselves. The true point of origin to this story started in the fall of 1973.

The irony is that 88 was not Pearson’s first number with the Dallas Cowboys.

Pearson signed with the Cowboys in 1973 as an undrafted free agent from the University of Tulsa. Before his first preseason game with the Cowboys, at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, the team equipment manager handed Pearson a jersey to wear. He had no say in the matter.

“I went to (defensive lineman) Harvey Martin and I said, ‘I’m cut. They gave me No. 13,’” Pearson said.

The “Original 88” was originally actually No. 13. Pearson’s first jersey was not 88. The Original 88 could have been wide receiver Ron Sellers.

Sellers wore No. 88 in the 1972 season, but was traded to the Miami Dolphins in 1973 in exchange for wide receiver Otto Stowe. Stowe didn’t want No. 88; his idol was his former teammate, Paul Warfield, who wore No. 42.

Stowe couldn’t have No. 42, so he went with No. 82.

When Pearson learned he was going to make the team, he was told he could pick a jersey number. He did not exactly have a big buffet of choices.

“I only wanted it because it was the best available,” he said. “(Tight end) Billy Joe Dupree was 89. Golden Richards, God rest his soul, he had priority so he took 83. Billy Truax had 87. 81 was ‘meh,’ and the same for 85. I thought 88 had a nice ring to it.”

Ground zero for the Cowboys “88 Club” started only because Drew Pearson thought that No. 88 had a nice ring to it, and of the small number of other options that existed it was the best available before the start of the 1973 season.

After Pearson retired following the 1983 season, there was not a next No. 88 until the Cowboys selected University of Miami wide receiver Michael Irvin with the 11th overall pick in the 1988 draft.

Former long time Dallas Cowboys director of public relations, Rich Dalrymple, spelled some of out this evolution a lengthy email back in 2020.

“(Former Dallas Cowboys team president) Tex Schramm wanted to jazz up (Michael) Irvin’s draft selection a little by giving him the 88 jersey that was made famous by Drew Pearson,” Dalrymple wrote. “Irvin was just the second wide receiver ever drafted in the first round by the Cowboys in club history to that point, and the flashy kid from the University of Miami seemed more than a qualified candidate to pass on the legacy of being a celebrity star wide receiver for the Cowboys.”

Jerry Jones had a former teammate at the University of Arkansas who wore No. 88 on their national title team in 1964, Jerry Lamb. Jerry made No. 88 a thing, and those who have worn it have made it into a club, a podcast and a brand.

But it really all started with No. 13, and a trade of Ron Sellers to the Miami Dolphins.