Jimmy Johnson finally takes his rightful place

It was a moment 30 years in the making and 18 long years overdue.
On Saturday night – during halftime of a wild 20-19 victory over the Lions – the Dallas Cowboys inducted Jimmy Johnson into the Ring of Honor.
You just knew the Cowboys wouldn’t dare lose on Jimmy’s big night. Although there was cause for concern in that final minute.
He joins Tom Landry (1993) as the only head coach in the Ring. Tex Schramm (2003) and Gil Brandt (2018) are the only other non-players inducted.

Jimmy Johnson celebrates with Troy Aikman (background), Michael Irvin (left), and Emmitt Smith (right) after saying “How About The Cowboys” during his induction on Saturday into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor.

Johnson becomes the 24th inductee into the Ring since Bob Lilly became the first at Texas Stadium on Nov. 23, 1975.
Most Cowboys’ fans would say that Johnson should have gone up with Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin in 2005. The Cowboys still called Texas Stadium home then.
It would have been special for Johnson to be honored on the same field he won two Super Bowl on along with the Triplets.
Still, the moment long-delayed finally became reality on Saturday and it was nothing short of glorious.

How About Them Cowboys

You knew, you just knew, there was no way Johnson was walking off that field without saying it. And he brought the stadium down when he did.
His speech at halftime had everyone in earshot ready to suit up and run through a brick wall for him.
And now you know why he succeeded in both Dallas and at the University of Miami.
He is still a master motivator. Still a capable leader of men.

Jimmy Johnson walks the field at Tempe Stadium in Tempe, AZ prior to a Dallas Cowboys game against the Phoenix Cardinals in 1992. (Photo by Richard Paolinelli)

And gracious too, a trait he put on display all day Saturday leading up to that halftime speech.
Earlier, a reporter had asked a question about the cause of the rift between Johnson and Jerry Jones.
“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.”
Is it revisionist history on Johnson’s part? Absolutely.
He was a lot more gracious on Saturday than I might have been.
The truth is that the Cowboys became the Dynasty of the 90s because of Jones’ money. For that he deserves full credit.
But the team doesn’t win three Super Bowls in four year with Johnson assembling the players he wanted and molding them into champions.
One might note that Dallas wins four, if not five, Super Bowls in a row if a certain owner could have kept his ego in check.
But we’ll take Johnson’s example of grace to heart and not belabor that point.
The bottom line is, Johnson has finally been honored the way he should have been and I for one am glad to have seen it.

So Who Goes Up Next?

It’s not an official rule, but in my mind, a coach has to have a Super Bowl win on his resume to even be considered.
That being said, it shouldn’t be Barry Switzer. His Super Bowl victory has a Jimmy Johnson-sized asterisk beside it.

Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo releases a pass against the Washington Redskins on December 22, 2013

So which player is next? Tony Romo is probably going to end up in the Ring, but if he goes up then Danny White has to go up first.
White got Dallas to three consecutive NFC Championship games. Romo never played in a single one.
Miles Austin should get some consideration. As should Sean Lee as well as Terence Newman on the defensive side.
But there’s one more name from the distant past that I’d like to see go up next.

Clint Murchison Jr.

Without the efforts of the Cowboys’ first owner, Clint Murchison Jr., there would be no Dallas Cowboys. It might have been many years later before a Dallas franchise would have landed in the NFL.
We might even be talking about the AFL’s Dallas Texans as the NFL’s first team in Texas instead when the two leagues merged in 1970.
Because, without the Cowboys taking over the town, the Texans stay in Dallas instead of becoming the Kansas City Chiefs.

Cowboys owner Clint Murchison Jr. stands in front of the Cowboys plane with the Cowboys’ star receiver Bob Hayes. (Dallas Morning News photo)

Murchison used cunning and guile to sway two key opponents to a Dallas franchise in the late 1950s.
And blackmail to get the owner of the Washington Redskins to switch his vote to yes.
Murchison acquired the rights to the Redskins’ fight song. He then informed the owner of the team that he could no longer play the song at the games.
Unless…
I don’t know about you, but sticking it to the Redskins like that is more than a good enough reason to make Murchison the 25th name on the Ring of Honor.