It took a Netflix documentary deal and a two-hour meeting organized and mediated by Troy Aikman, but Jerry Wayne is finally putting Jimmy Johnson into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. Where he belongs. Where he has belonged since the day Jerry ran him off less than a month after winning back to back Super Bowls in March of 1994. Jerry introduced Jimmy as the Cowboys coach when he bought the team in February 1989, telling us that Johnson as coach would be worth more than five number-one draft picks. He was right. Following that second consecutive Super Bowl championship, Jerry told reporters that any of 500 coaches could win a Super Bowl with his team. He was wrong. So, so, so very wrong.

It’s hard to explain this to anybody younger than 40, but in 1989 the Cowboys had suffered three straight losing seasons and Cowboys fans were losing their minds. It had been six years since Dallas had played in an NFC Championship game. Unheard of. This wasn’t going to cut it. Something drastic had to happen.  The Dallas Morning News conducted a readers poll asking if Tom Landry, the architect of five Super Bowl teams, the legend who engineered 20 consecutive winning seasons, should be fired. From the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, the Cowboys had never gone more than two seasons without playing in the conference championship game. Yes, it was time. Nobody thought otherwise.

We hated the way Jerry did it, but we all knew Landry needed to be let go. So he was. And Jones brought in the anti-Landry to replace him.

Jimmy made his mark on the Cowboys. He took Dallas from 3-13 and 1-15 to championship dynasty in five years. He gave us the asthma field, personally ignited the Cowboys-Eagles rivalry, and engineered the Herschel Walker trade. He was self-deprecating about his helmet hair and cherub cheeks and he brashly told Galloway to “put it in three-inch headlines!”

Jimmy didn’t invent “How ’bout them Cowboys!” He just took what he heard Cowboys fans saying all over Dallas, what we and our parents and uncles and grandads had said for decades, and repeated it in front of the national media after beating the 49ers in that first title game. That’s what made it so great, that’s what endeared us to Jimmy, that he picked up on a Dallas thing and adopted it himself.

Jimmy Johnson gave the Cowboys their swagger back. He put them back at the top of the NFL and kept them in front of the national attention. By winning. By setting incredibly high standards. By refusing to accept anything less than everything.

It’s a blasted shame that it all ended when it did and the way it did. The worst part is how Jerry has kept Jimmy out of the Ring of Honor all these years. I hate that it took a Netflix deal to make this happen. I hate that Jerry is going to use tonight’s halftime ceremony as the ending to his ludicrous self-serving film. When Jerry and Jimmy announced before the Carolina game that the date had been set for Johnson’s induction, it felt like watching a hostage negotiation video. They each heaped praise on the other and swore they never disagreed about anything–and the Netflix cameras rolled. It’s poetic, I guess. For the man who cares much more about the production and the entertainment and the sponsorship dollars than he does winning championships, how else could this have happened?

I’m anxious for it to just happen. Let’s just get this over with and make it official, finally. Knowing what we know about Jerry, I wouldn’t be shocked if they pull back the curtain on Jimmy’s name tonight and it’s in a 9-point font. Or if Jerry surprises everyone by unveiling Barry Switzer’s name right next to Jimmy’s. Jerry will find some way to royally mess this up tonight.

But once Jimmy’s name is up there where it belongs with Landry and Staubach and Lilly, with Aikman and Irvin and Emmitt, I’ll have some closure. We can all finally close the book on the Dallas Cowboys as we knew them, a public trust in which we could be proud, a football franchise that put winning first and represented all of Texas, something big and great that brought us together, something excellent we could brag about. Jimmy understood that and wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Congratulations to Jimmy Johnson on a long overdue honor. He has always belonged in the Cowboys Ring of Honor.

Peace,

Allan

The Cowboys woke up yesterday morning in first place in the NFC East and in the driver’s seat with the #2 seed and at least one home playoff game. Then they had to play a football game against the Bills in Orchard Park. After being demolished 31-10 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicates, Dallas finds itself looking up at the Eagles in the division and holding the #5 seed. That means they’re the road team in the playoffs. And that is not good for the Cowboys.

Dallas is a completely different team on the road. The Cowboys are 3-4 on the road this season, average 18 points per game lower on the road than they do at home, and still haven’t beaten a team with a winning record away from AT&T Stadium. Two of the three teams they’ve beaten on the road have fired their coaches. The Cowboys have the number one offense in the NFL, blowing out scoreboard lights and racking up huge numbers against the league’s worst teams in Arlington. But they can’t compete when they’re playing a good team on the road.

Buffalo hasn’t looked this good all year. From the opening snap, they smashmouthed the Cowboys up and down the field. They ran for 266 rushing yards, mostly up the middle, mostly through gigantic holes and weak arm tackles. Fifty rushes for over five yards per carry. James Cook? Unstoppable.

By the way, the next time any team wins the coin toss before a game with the Cowboys and decides to give Dallas the ball, that team should be banned from the league for egregious stupidity. Philly tried that against Dallas last week and paid dearly. Buffalo won the toss yesterday, took the ball, scored on their first drive, and ran the ball down the Cowboys’ throats the rest of the game.

This Cowboys team is built to score first and then defend against the pass while the opponent plays catchup. Their strength is their pass rush, but it’s rendered useless if the other team’s not passing. Those quick DBs can cover receivers, but they’re no good tackling a 260 pound running back on a power sweep. If the opponent scores first, the Cowboys are lost.

Ten times this year a Cowboys opponent has run the ball fewer than 28 times and lost. Four times the Cowboys opponent has run the ball more than 28 times and won. The Cowboys record is 10-4. Yes, you can run the ball right at these guys. And you can bet the Dolphins will this coming Sunday.

All that is reason for concern for Cowboys fans who have been saying, “No, this really is the year!” for the 28th straight season now. But this home/road thing is also a major problem. It’s hard to keep calling yourself America’s Team when you can’t play outside your own state.

Peace,

Allan