According to reports, former Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Jimmy Johnson may finally be joining the team’s Ring of Honor.
Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram reported this morning, per a source, that Johnson could be among the next group of inductees to the franchise’s version of the Hall of Fame.
The other potential candidates mentioned were former scouting guru Gil Brandt from the Tom Landry era and Tight End Jay Novacek, who won three Super Bowls in Dallas in the 1990s.
Novacek would join Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Charles Haley, and Darren Woodson as Ring of Honor members acquired during Jimmy Johnson’s brief but historic run as Cowboys coach.
It is that heavy presence of Johnson’s players in the Ring, not to mention the three championships that crew won from 1992-1995, that has long merited Jimmy’s inclusion in the Cowboys’ most exclusive club.
Jimmy was only personally on had for two of three titles, but even that ties him with Tom Landry for Super Bowl wins in Cowboys history. And as many would argue, that 1995 championship team was still running on what Johnson put together.
Jimmy’s place among the Cowboys’ greatest contributors is irrefutable. But whether he’d ever get into the Ring of Honor has always been questioned due to his contentious breakup with team Owner and General Manager Jerry Jones.
Johnson left the Cowboys after the 1993 championship season as he and Jones could no longer have a working relationship. Jerry’s bitterness over the credit that Jimmy got for building the 90s dynasty, and Jimmy’s refusal to pass any of that along to his Jones, led to Johnson’s resignation as egos drove a wedge between friends.
Time appears to have healed the wounds, for the most part. As pictured above, Jimmy was in attendance for Jerry’s 2017 Hall of Fame induction and public comments between them have become far more cordial in recent years.
At ages 75 and 74, respectively, Jerry and Jimmy should close this book while they still can. There is no better way to do than by Johnson taking his rightful place in the Ring of Honor.
Not only will that move bring a resolution to their story, but it will also help Jimmy in his pursuit of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to be recognized on the team level.
Jimmy Johnson belongs with Troy, Emmitt, Playmaker, and the rest who he brought together. He was responsible for the most successful era of Dallas Cowboys football in the team’s history. He also provided the catchphrase that has endured for almost 30 years now, “how ’bout ‘dem Cowboys?”
You can’t tell the story of the Dallas Cowboys without Jimmy Johnson. It’s time to give his chapter a happy ending.
