Father Time May be Ultimate Reason Jones Finally Did It

Jerry Jones putting Jimmy Johnson in Ring of Honor while they can enjoy it

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Nov 19, 2023 11:10 PM EST

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — There's actually a pretty simple reason Jerry Jones has finally set a date to put his old Arkansas teammate Jimmy Johnson in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. It probably has nothing to do with any grudges or lingering hard feelings.

"One reason for this year is I'm alive," Johnson said amongst laughter from Jones and the entire room Sunday in Carolina. "He's always told me I was going in."

Jones likely just decided to do it Dec. 30 at a home game against the Detroit Lions. It will probably boost attendance, apparel sales and national television exposure on Monday night in an ESPN game that will also be on ABC. You don't even have to have cable to watch. He's come close before.

The reality is neither one of them is getting any younger and they still have a few years to enjoy the honor. While their success and the inevitable breakup after Jones bought the Cowboys in 1989. They had just won two straight Super Bowls. It really was just a bump in the road.

"Frankly, it just felt right," Jones said. "When you're in, you're in and he's always been in." Johnson knew it, too. The pair would laugh when they were together and the inevitable topic came up. It's good publicity, which helps both of them make more money. Jones with the Cowboys and Johnson in his Fox NFL work.

A lot has been said and written about former Arkansas teammates Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson over the last 40 years. Most of it was speculation. Jones finally made the announcement he's putting Johnson in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor on Sunday in Carolina.

The pair were roommates with the Razorbacks on road games because their names were in alphabetical order. They didn't run in the same social circles and weren't sleeping the same dorm room night after night.

When Frank Broyles stepped down in 1976 from the coaching position, he didn't move Johnson up from the defensive coordinator role he held. Instead, Lou Holtz got the job, but a lot of the defensive players still think Johnson should have been.

The Ring of Honor was created for the Cowboys in Texas Stadium by general manager Tex Schramm, who built the marketing image of America's Team in the 1970's. Jones continued it, along with being a one-man committee to select who went into the Ring.

One of his first big positive splashes after a controversial purchase of the Cowboys in 1989 was putting linebacker Leroy Jordan, who quickly moved to the put the Hall of Famer in, probably about 10 years after he should have gotten there. Schramm was holding a grudge from a nasty contract dispute years before over paying him $100,000 a year.

Jones may have held up a few years putting Johnson in the Ring in AT&T Stadium because they were both were a little ticked off awhile over the breakup. They never quit being friends over it, they just basically ignored each other for awhile.

"The two of us were working around the clock, together," Johnson said. "People don't realize the relationship [we have]. Back then, Jerry and I talked every day. Every single day I'd be in his office. And we never really had a disagreement, and that's surprising to a lot of people, but we were always on the same page.

"And probably some of the tension happened there at the end of my career, as far as with the Cowboys, we were so busy going in different directions that we didn't talk as much. My feelings for Jerry have never changed. I love the guy. He's a big part, maybe the biggest part, of my entire career."

Now when the Hogs go there to play Texas A&M next year in what is probably going to be the end of the Southwest Classic there, they can point to that and put the pictures on social media pointing to the success former players have.

Nobody can really dispute that little bit of evidence with one of the highest-profile teams at the largest level. It's just another little bit of the Razorbacks' presence getting some big-time attention, which never really hurts, does it?