DALLAS — It’s taken 30 years, but Jimmy Johnson is finally going into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.
"Well deserved and about time,” said Darren Woodson, former Cowboys safety.
The former head coach left the Cowboys in 1993 just having won two Super Bowls. And while several players from that championship team made it into the ring, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wouldn’t give Johnson the honor.
"You can’t have a true Ring of Honor with Coach Johnson not being in it. It blemishes everything,” said Michel Irvin, former Cowboys Wide Receiver.
Johnson took over the Cowboys after Jones fired legendary coach Tom Landry, upsetting fans.
"He was probably one of the only coaches that could come in and fill the shoes of Tom Landry, because those were some big shoes to fill,” said Woodson.
Their coaching styles couldn’t be more different while Landry was stoic and measured, Johnson was loud and passionate.
"He was tough, and he would get in your face,” said Woodson.
Woodson remembers Johnson’s most iconic moments after the 1993 NFC Championship game.
"Everybody did a hell of a job and all I have to say is, 'How about them Cowboys!'” said Johnson at the time.
"And even when I hear it today, I still put myself in that locker room, the feeling, the goosebumps and winning that big game,” said Woodson.
For Irvin, his relationship with Jimmy was special. Johnson began coaching him in college just after Irvin had lost his father to cancer.
"He wasn’t just a coach. He was everything a father, a mentor. He was a friend,” said Irvin.
Irvin says Johnson stood by him even when he found himself in trouble and needed a father figure.
"My father had left and gone to eternity, but he stood in the gap,” said Irvin.
He said Johnson taught him not only about football but life.
"He made sure we used football and didn’t just let football use us. That was the key,” said Irvin.
And in the end, he says, Johnson took a chance on players and didn’t give up on them.
"Great coaches will always reach down inside the kids and pull out the kings, and Coach Johnson was great at that,” said Irvin.
So, as Johnson enters the Ring of Honor, players say it was their honor to play for him.
