The ice is finally melting between Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson.
The longtime Cowboys owner said Thursday night during the Fox Hall of Fame game pregame show that Johnson will finally be added to the team’s Ring of Honor.
Added Johnson, who was sitting next to Jones when the announcement was made, “While I’m alive?”
Johnson will get a bigger honor this weekend; he’ll officially enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Hired by Jones promptly after he bought the team in 1989, Johnson built a franchise that won two straight Super Bowls, and a third after he was pushed out. In early 1994, Jones and Johnson reached an ego-driven impasse, and their partnership ended.
Jones resented the credit Johnson got for building the championship team, although that’s precisely what Johnson did. Jones has tried diligently to create his own championship team without a coach who both cooks the meal and buys the groceries, and it hasn’t worked.
A reflective Jones admitted last night his own fault in the collapse of the relationship with Johnson.
“He’s a great coach and I’m proud to have him as a friend, and proud to have the times that we — we just had a great experience,” Jones said during a press conference at the opening of training camp. “I’ve never been able to know why I f--ked it up.”
Jones is now trying to unf--k it up. Kudos to him for being big enough to do the right thing.