Cowboys owner Jerry Jones offered a friendly note on this week’s retirement of Jimmy Johnson.
Johnson, who coached the Cowboys to two Super Bowls, announced Monday that he is retiring from his broadcasting job at Fox. Jones, who feuded with Johnson after the two parted ways following their second Super Bowl, referred to Johnson as a “friend” in a statement released by the Cowboys.
“From the time we were in college until the time we were holding up those Super Bowl trophies, I knew Jimmy Johnson could be anything he wanted to be, and he has,” Jones said. “Some of the most exciting times in my life I shared with Jimmy, and I cherish them. As one of the most gifted people I’ve ever been around, Jimmy has blazed a remarkable, unique trail that is now deeply embedded into football and broadcasting history. Congratulations on your incredible career Jimmy, and I wish you well in your fourth quarter my friend. You will always be a winner!”
Jones and Johnson were college teammates at Arkansas, and when Jones bought the Cowboys he quickly fired Hall of Fame coach Tom Landry and hired Johnson away from the University of Miami to take his place. It worked on the field, as the Cowboys built a 1990s dynasty, but away from the field their relationship soured, and Johnson ultimately left the Cowboys in March of 1994, three months after winning his second Super Bowl in Dallas.
For many years after that the two were rivals, but their relationship thawed to the point where Jones inducted Johnson into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor in 2023. And now Jones is wishing Johnson farewell from football, with fondness.
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