The Dallas Cowboys won 33-10 on the road against the Carolina Panthers, but the big news of the day happened before the game. Owner Jerry Jones announced that Jimmy Johnson, a Super Bowl-winning coach, will finally be inducted into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor. NBC 5’s Sophia Beausoleil reported on the announcement.
The long-awaited Ring of Honor announcement has happened.
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones, during a pregame news conference Sunday ahead of a matchup against the Carolina Panthers, told reporters that Hall of Fame head coach Jimmy Johnson will be the organization’s next inductee into the Cowboy's Ring of Honor. The announcement was first made on Fox’s national pregame show.
"You're going in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor," said Jones to Johnson as they stood next each other during the pregame show.
Johnson, a two-time Super Bowl winner while with the Cowboys, will become the 24th member of the Ring of Honor. He will be inducted during the game Saturday, Dec. 30 against the Detroit Lions at AT&T Stadium.
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"I'm happy, it feels right," said Jones while next to Johnson during a news conference after the announcement.
"Well, let me just say this, how appreciative I am of Jerry and appreciative of the Ring of Honor, but more appreciative of him bringing me to the Cowboys in '89," expressed Johnson.
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"Surprised, but not surprised, it's long overdue, he should have been in a long time ago," said RJ Choppy, a co-host on 105.3 The Fan.
He said the topic of the announcement will definitely be a talking point on their Monday morning sports radio talk show. Especially as they chat about the possible reasons why it took so long for Johnson to be honored.
"There's no secrets here, Jimmy and Jerry had had quite the divorce," said Choppy regarding the two men's rocky relationship over the years.
Jones, 81, and Johnson, 80, go way back and were college football teammates at the University of Arkansas in the '60s.
Years later, they reunited after Jones purchased the Cowboys and brought Johnson on as the coach. After the Super Bowl wins in1992 and 1993, the former duo had a feud for a number of reasons, egos were apart of it. Something both men addressed on Sunday.
"Had I had the maturity that I have today we might have rolled on past some of that stuff," said Jones as the room chuckled.
"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 toward the end of my career, as far as with the Cowboys, and when we were so busy going different directions, we didn't talk as much. But my feeling for Jerry has never changed, this may be strange, but I love the guy. He is a big, big part, maybe the biggest part, of my entire career and I'm very appreciative of that," said Johnson.
Johnson will be inducted on Dec. 30 during half-time when the Dallas Cowboys host the Detroit Lions.
Former star quarterback for the Cowboys, Tory Aikman, who played under Johnson for two of his three Super Bowl wins wit the team posted on Instagram a picture of him with Johnson, Jerry Jones, Charlotte Jones and Jerry Jones Jr.
Aikman, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Cowboy's Ring of Honor, wrote a caption that said, "Ring of Honor Bound: Congratulations Jimmy. Can’t wait to celebrate you and all you meant to our 90s success on December 30th!"
Read the rest of the story from The Dallas Morning News here.
