Jimmy Johnson to enter Hall of Fame, but not in Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor

The bad blood between Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson remains as the latter will enter the Hall of Fame despite not being in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

Tom Landry was the Dallas Cowboys head coach for this beloved franchise’s first 29 years. When Jerry Jones became the new owner of the Cowboys in February of 1989, he quickly replaced the legendary Landry with Jimmy Johnson. Little did anyone know at the time that Jones would be replacing one Hall of Fame coach for another.

Johnson would go on to helm the Cowboys from 1989 until 1993, winning two Super Bowls and setting the team up to win a third championship title in 1995 without him behind the Hall of Fame play of the legendary Triplets, quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin.

Johnson would go on to be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins for four seasons (1996-99) but was unable to duplicate the Super Bowl success he found in Dallas. Although he did take the Dolphins to the playoffs three times. Following his NFL coaching career, Johnson became a staple on FOX NFL Sunday as an analyst.

On Sunday, during the live broadcast of the FOX halftime show for the Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks playoff matchup, David Baker surprised Johnson with the news that he’ll become the 328th person enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Centennial Class of 2020. Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher got the same news the day before on his show, CBS’ The NFL Today.

Jimmy Johnson will enter the Hall of Fame with a career NFL record of 80-64 (.556) during the regular season, and 9-4 in the playoffs, including a 7-1 postseason run while in Dallas. He’ll join five of his former players already in the Hall of Fame. Those players include the aforementioned Aikman, Irvin, and Smith plus defensive end Charles Haley and offensive guard Larry Allen.

Despite the Hall of Fame honor, Johnson has not yet been inducted into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor. And that’s believed to be due to the way things ended between team owner Jerry Jones and Johnson following their ugly divorce in March of 1994.

In an interview with ESPN the Magazine back in 2014, Jones explained why Johnson wasn’t in the Ring of Honor with a single word: Disloyalty. He couldn’t handle the disloyalty. And that rift seems to remain today as Johnson will now enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite not being inducted into the Cowboys’ own Ring of Honor.

According to NFL.com, the full list of new Hall of Fame enshrinees will be revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 15, during NFL Network’s Good Morning Football show.