In keeping coach Jimmy Johnson out of the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor, owner Jerry Jones is reminding Johnson and everyone else that, from the moment Jerry bought the team, it was, is, and will be his show.
And that’s a very important point as it relates to the 30-year-old question of whether Jones gets enough credit for the building of the team that won three Super Bowls in four years. Most attribute the success to Johnson. But it was Jones who bought the team, who owned the team, and who at this point exclusively controls entrance into the supposedly exclusive club for Dallas Cowboys immortals.
In other words, Jerry always had more power, more influence, more relevance than Johnson. Jerry owned the Cowboys. He was the Cowboys. He is the Cowboys.
Jimmy, in contrast, was not. Is not.
And without a rightful spot in the Ring of Honor, Johnson is even farther removed from anything that would underscore his role in the building of the last dynasty of the pre-free-agency NFL.
While on the surface it seems petty and ridiculous (especially with Jones suggesting multiple other coaches not already in the Ring of Honor deserve a spot there, too) for Jones to keep Johnson out, it’s an old-fashioned power play. Jerry has the power. Jimmy does not.
Thus, Jerry always had the power, and Jimmy did not.
Thus, Jerry had a lot more to do with the gloryhole days than Johnson.
