Dallas Cowboys: Thank you, Jerry Jones, for getting this right

The Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers played this past weekend in the NFL Hall of Fame Game. While watching the Fox Sports broadcast, Cowboys Nation was given one of the best surprises it could ask for outside of team success.

During his segment on the show, Jerry Jones informed Jimmy Johnson that he would be inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

This gesture by Jerry Jones can finally close the chapter on a painful chapter in the history of the Cowboys. They both came together to produce one of the most incredible runs in the league’s history, but ego got the best of both of them. Since Jerry was the owner, he was able to terminate the relationship, and many blame him for prematurely ending a dynasty.

Although the Cowboys were able to win one more Super Bowl under coach Barry Switzer, it was evident the loss of Jimmy had altered the organization’s momentum. Jerry spent many years trying to show he could do it without Jimmy. There have been very few times where Jerry has admitted mistakes along the way, but this is a clear indication that’s he’s humbling himself.

While Cowboys Nation will never forget, it is definitely time to move on. However, before we move on, let’s take a stroll down memory lane of Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson and what he and Jerry were able to do together. Jimmy and Jerry played college football together at the University of Arkansas and were on the same 1964 National Championship team.

Shortly afterward, in 1965, his college coaching career began as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech University. It culminated at the University of Miami, where he won a National Championship in 1987 by defeating the Oklahoma Sooners coached by the same Barry Switzer who would succeed him in Dallas. Jimmy would coach one more season at Miami before the new Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered him the opportunity to succeed Tom Landry as the head coach of America’s Team.

In the Twitter link above, Jimmy said that Jerry told him a couple of days before he was hired,

"“If we pull this off, we can make history.”"

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Johnson’s tenure in Dallas would last for 5 seasons, starting with a 1-15 record his initial season, but after drafting Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith to go along with the previously drafted Michael Irvin, his teams won Super Bowls in seasons four and five. After that, the Cowboys were on top of the NFL world, and there was no end in sight.

That all came crashing to a halt on Tuesday, 28 March 1994, when Jimmy and Jerry walked away from the relationship. Here is Tim Cowlishaw’s report a couple of days after it was over. Some argue he was fired, and others that he quit, but either way, it was over. That relationship remained publicly bitter for a long time, so the gesture by Jerry this past weekend was amazing to see.

All Dallas Cowboys fans believe we left some Super Bowls on the table in the 90s and will never forgive either one of them for allowing things to deteriorate to that point.

However, if they can resolve their differences, then as fans, let’s do the same. Congratulations Jimmy!

• Published on 08/11/2021 at 12:54 PM
• Last updated at 08/12/2021 at 12:55 PM