INDIANAPOLIS – Jimmy Johnson may make his way into the Cowboys' Ring of Honor at some point, but doesn't sound as if Jerry Jones plans to add him in the near future.
The Cowboys' owner and general manager touched on a variety of topics Thursday evening at the NFL Combine. Among them was that question about the Ring of Honor – a topic that no doubt relates to Johnson's induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
"Regarding Jimmy, we have such a big year ahead of us with Jimmy, and his celebration," Jones said. "I want that to be the focus, period."
Johnson was announced as part of this year's Hall of Fame class back in January. He'll be inducted this summer. Jones made him the second coach in Cowboys history in 1989, and he helped lead the franchise to two Super Bowl championships, winning 52 games in five years.
Of course, Johnson departed abruptly in 1994, bringing an end to a contentious relationship and setting the stage for Jones to hire Barry Switzer. The nature of that relationship has prompted speculation about why Johnson is still not in the Ring of Honor, even though he'll soon be enshrined in Canton.
To that, Jones had a ready response about the Cowboys' other Hall of Fame coach.
"If everybody says 'Is that the right order of things?' Well, Coach Landry was in the Hall of Fame before the Ring of Honor," he said. "Here we've got the two greatest coaches in history of the Cowboys. So they can go in the same order."
