Jimmy Johnson, a former coach of the Dallas Cowboys has joined their ring of honor 30 years after a horrible split with manager Jerry Jones.
They worked as coach and owner to win consecutive Super Bowls with the Cowboys.
The bottom line is Johnson is joining Tom Landry as the only coach alongside the 19 players and two executives in the exclusive group of one of the NFL’s storied franchises.
Johnson was welcomed by the Hall of Fame “Triplets” who headlined his Super Bowl teams — quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and receiver Michael Irvin — for the ceremony at halftime of Saturday night’s regular-season home finale against the Detroit Lions.
“Thank you, Jerry Jones, for bringing me to the Dallas Cowboys,” Johnson told the crowd.
Johnson capped his acceptance speech with a dramatic pause as he walked up to Irvin, turned, and offered his famous catchphrase, “How ‘bout them Cowboys!”
“You can say whatever you want to about my human reaction or frailties,” Jones said before the game. “I say this today, he’s there because it’s the right thing. He was always going in the ring of honor, whether I put him in or my kids put him in.”
In 1989, the Cowboys went from 1-15 – the year Jones bought the Cowboys and hired Johnson after firing the only coach Dallas ever had in Landry. There was a tussle about who got credit for the surprising turnaround.
“I think we’re past who gets credit,” Johnson said. “The two of us, working together, made history. When I say working together, we talked every single day. I don’t ever recall us having a difference of opinion.”
After two years away from football, Johnson returned with the Miami Dolphins in 1996 and led them to the playoffs the last three of his four seasons. But they never get past the divisional round.
Now Johnson’s name will be inside AT&T Stadium along with Landry, who led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl titles in the 1970s and is fifth on the career list with 250 regular-season victories.
“I don’t think anybody can ever imagine what this means to me,” said Johnson, who won the 1987 college national championship at Miami. “This was a special time in my life. This was something that paid dividends for me for the rest of my life. We took over the worst football team in the NFL. Not only did we win the Super Bowls, but we were able to put together the team of the ’90s.”
