Jerry Jones once again deflected when asked about putting Jimmy Johnson in the Ring of Honor

A few months ago here at BTB we went through the annual tradition of saying that Pro Football Hall of Fame Coach Jimmy Johnson deserves to be in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. You know, the coach who coached the Cowboys to back-to-back Super Bowl wins in the 1990s.

The case for Jimmy is beyond obvious. What he did for the franchise, the visionary way with which he did it, his résumé speaks for itself. In fact Jimmy’s résumé is so sterling that he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame last summer, a fraternity far more elite than the Cowboys own method for honoring franchise greats (no disrespect intended).

This week as Cowboys brass was celebrating the City of Dallas being selected as a host city for the 2026 World Cup (meaning action will take place at AT&T Stadium) Jerry Jones met with the media and discussed a variety of things. Obviously he noted how the team is coming along with training camp about six weeks away, somewhat teased the throwback uniforms coming into play soon, and he was also asked about the Ring of Honor.

Being more specific, Jerry was actually even asked about Jimmy’s potential enshrinement in the Ring of Honor and despite his own word from last summer declined to offer any detail of substance (as transcribed by Mark Lane):

WHAT ABOUT THE RING OF HONOR?

“Nothing determined out there at all. That’s something that I’ve never really decided upon almost until a week or two before I do it.”

REALLY?

“Really. No, I’ve never been something that’s had a long tail to it thought process. Obviously the people are qualified are career qualified. So, that is a career process. But as far as the timing of any individual that will ultimately in that Hall of Fame, I don’t have that.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT JIMMY JOHNSON GETTING IN

“I understand that. I really understand that would be a part of the question, but the answer is I don’t have a timeline.”

Despite literally mentioning the timeline of “a week or two before he does it” Jerry Jones said he does not have a timeline for Jimmy Johnson entering the Ring of Honor. Why not?

In the lead-up to the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game last year on FOX’s pregame show Jerry specifically took a moment (during a weekend that was supposed to belong to Jimmy) and outright declared that Johnson would one day enter the Ring of Honor. Jimmy, aware of the awkwardness due to how long it has taken, joked and even said “while I’m alive?!” to which everyone on set giggled and moved on.

Here is that exact moment immediately followed up by Jerry’s latest comments.

It has been a year. And even then we were still two decades overdue.

Invariably Jerry will take another opportunity in the near future (perhaps at the opening ceremonies out in Oxnard) to re-light this flame and will again proclaim that Jimmy Johnson will enter his team’s Ring of Honor.

Enough with the empty words. It is time for a real answer here.