Jimmy Johnson went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the Class of 2020.
With the ultimate honor to Johnson’s name, some wondered whether the former Cowboys head coach even cared whether he went into the team’s Ring of Honor. He did and does.
Johnson will take his long-awaited, and as Jerry Jones himself said, “rightful place,” on the AT&T Stadium facade next to Darren Woodson at halftime of Saturday night’s game between the Cowboys and Lions.
“I don’t think anybody can ever imagine what this means to me,” Johnson said in a pregame news conference. “This was a special time in my life. This was something that paid dividends for me for the rest of my life. It’s something that I’m extremely proud of. We took over the worst football team in the NFL. The worst. Three straight losing seasons and a 3-13 record [in 1988]. Not only did we win Super Bowls, but we were able to put together the team of the ‘90s. So, obviously I’m very proud of it, and I’ll be proud to have my name up in this stadium.”
Jones has been roundly and rightfully criticized for waiting so long to put Johnson in the team’s Ring of Honor, but the Cowboys owner said it always was a matter of when, not if.
Jones said former team president Tex Schramm, who himself is in the Ring of Honor, told Jones after Jones bought the team that the Ring of Honor needs to be exclusive. Johnson will become the 24th member of the Ring of Honor, the fourth non-player.
“What he wanted to be is someone who had really made a serious stamp for the franchise, not necessarily the won-loss record, [but left a mark on] the franchise,” Jones said. “It turns out there’s only one other coach, and that’s of course Tom Landry, and there’s actually only three there today who aren’t players. The point is: Jimmy is that, and he did make that kind of difference for the franchise. Obviously, a great coach and a great manager of the team, and so all of that is I think reflective in a lot of ways with the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame. Jimmy, you now and forever more and rightfully so are in the Cowboys Ring of Honor.”
Johnson won back-to-back Super Bowls in the 1992 and 1993 seasons during his five-year tenure with the Cowboys. The relationship, which dated to the men’s playing days together at Arkansas, had a contentious ending before the 1994 season.
The bitterness festered for years before Cowboys executive vice president Charlotte Jones, Jerry’s daughter, and Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman helped facilitate a two-hour meeting between Johnson and Jones at The Star in October.
On Nov. 19, Jones announced before Dallas’ game against the Panthers in Charlotte that Johnson would go into the Ring of Honor on Dec. 30.
The two talked like old friends again Saturday, brought back together by what they accomplished, not the reasons for their split.
“I think we’re past who gets credit,” Johnson said, interrupting Jones. “The two of us, working together, made history. When I say working together, we talked every single day. I don’t ever recall — ever — us having a difference of opinion. I can’t ever remember an argument. We were always on the same page. So, the credit needs to go to a lot of people — Jerry, Jimmy, a bunch of assistant coaches, great players. . . . So, a lot of people take credit.”
