The Dallas Cowboys inducts two-time Super Bowl champion head coach Jimmy Johnson in the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor at halftime of Saturday’s game against the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions.
Johnson and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has one of the most documented relationships in sport. The two were teammates at Arkansas, and Jones hired Johnson away from the University of Miami after purchasing the Cowboys in 1989.
However, the two appeared to have a public falling out once they broke up on March 21, 1994, after Johnson coached Team USA to back-to-back Super Bowl titles during the 1992 and 1993 seasons.
“Terry Bradshaw mentioned to me that when we were in the Hall of Fame together, every time I’m with Jerry we tell old stories, laugh, talk and have great memories because we’re both extremely proud of what we did. were able to do it,” Johnson said ESPN.
“And Bradshaw said to me, ‘Damn, you two, when you get together, it’s like two brothers. There’s a strong feeling between you two.’ That’s why people never really understood this relationship,” he added.
The fences have been mended between Jones and Johnson. From now on, the latter – already a member of the Professional Football Hall of Fame – will be immortalized at AT&T Stadium.
“Well, that’s all I can say,” Dave Wannstedt, Johnson’s longtime aide, told the outlet. “This dynasty that was built there couldn’t have happened without Jimmy and Jerry being together, having this relationship and each making their own deal. The problem is when the overlaps started to arise. produce.”
Johnson’s Cowboys era produced many of the best players in franchise history. His teams included Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Charles Haley and Deion Sanders.
Joining those names is Cowboys Ring of Honor inductee and multiple Hall of Fame nominee Darren Woodson, who believes the team — which won another Super Bowl under Aikman’s college coach, Barry Switzer – could have won more if Jones had held Johnson back.
“But that divorce — or he was fired or he left, I don’t know what it was — but I would say those wounds affected so many people,” Woodson said. “So many guys who were motivated, who wanted to win the Super Bowl. Michael Irvin wanted to f—— win. Myself. Emmitt. Troy, of course. It affected us.
“These wounds never heal because we don’t know the possibilities. There were so many possibilities that we’ll never know. People say, ‘You got three,’ but, damn, you don’t play the game for limit yourself to three. You want more. You always want more and we couldn’t get more because egos got in the way.
Aikman, who has broadcast the best NFL games of the week since 2002, when he teamed with Joe Buck to become Fox’s Game of the Week in America, and was Johnson’s colleague at the network 2001 to 2022.
When Johnson – whom Aikman emphatically declared he favorite instead of Switzer – he was told he was listed as Canton on the Fox studio show, Aikman was watch live from a monitor at Lambeau Field with tears in his eyes. Now he can help show his love and appreciation for Johnson on Saturday.
“We weren’t good the first year,” Aikman recalled of his playing career in Dallas. “We were the worst team in football, but three years later we were winning the Super Bowl and that obviously happened pretty quickly,” Aikman said.
“I think both of them would tell you that they took what they had for granted. I don’t blame either of them. I know a lot of people have opinions on that, but I think the two were at fault and they were both even. But I also know that they were really good together in the way they complemented each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
There will be a reception for Johnson on Saturday before the game, and Aikman will come down from the Disney broadcast booth to participate in the 13-minute halftime ceremony.
“It happened so long ago, and we’ve all gotten older, but I think part of me will look at Jimmy and Jerry at halftime and probably see them as the 46-year-olds they were when Jerry bought the team, and how united they were in their goal and what they were going to achieve.
Jones has repeatedly rejected the idea that he and Johnson had a relationship fractured relationship. Maybe Saturday will end all these conversations.
“I never had a moment where I didn’t appreciate his confidence and his skill level. Ever. I always had that appreciation when we parted ways. I did then. So it was never a problem,’” Jones told ESPN.
