CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's finally happening: Dallas Cowboys coaching legend Jimmy Johnson is heading to the club's Ring of Honor.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, alongside the two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Johnson, announced the decision Sunday on the FOX pregame show, ahead of the Cowboys' game against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte, N.C.
Jones said Johnson will be inducted on Dec. 30, when the Cowboys play the Lions at AT&T Stadium. That game will air on WFAA at 7:15 p.m.
When Jones made the announcement, he initially said, "December 30th, 1923."
"I hope it's 2023!" Johnson said.
"What'd I say?" Jones said laughing. "It is 2023. I want to get this real clear."
Johnson will be the 25th member of the Cowboys' revered Ring of Honor, but he'll be only the second head coach, joining Tom Landry.
Jones said in 2021, at Johnson's Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony, that Johnson would be added to the Cowboys' Ring of Honor. But the 2021 and 2022 seasons passed without Johnson formally being added to the Ring of Honor, and when Jones was asked again about Johnson's inclusion this year, he gave no specific date on when Johnson would be added.
And before Sunday, there was no indication that Johnson's addition to the Ring of Honor would be coming anytime soon. Then Jones and Johnson were spotted together on the sidelines at Bank of America Stadium, before a press conference was called for shortly before kickoff.
"I really thought it was time, and I wanted to do it this year," Jones told reporters in the press conference. "Frankly, it just felt right. Certainly, there was a little awkwardness that was happening for not doing it that I guess I anticipated, but I didn't really anticipate it. So I wouldn't want that to linger any longer at all."
Johnson coached the Dallas Cowboys to two Super Bowl championships, in 1992 and 1993, but he and Jones had a falling out, and Johnson left the Cowboys after the second title season.
The Cowboys would go onto win a third Super Bowl in 1995 under new coach Barry Switzer, though Johnson has often received much of the credit for Dallas' dynasty of the 90s.
Still, Johnson said Sunday, "my feeling for Jerry has never changed."
"This may be strange -- I love the guy," Johnson said. "He is a big, big part, maybe the biggest part, of my entire career."
Johnson later coached the Miami Dolphins from 1996-1999. He's currently an NFL analyst for FOX.
Johnson, who was a teammate with Jones at the University of Arkansas, had coached at Oklahoma State and the University of Miami before making the jump to the NFL with the Cowboys. His record in Dallas was 44-36 over five seasons, the last two of which ended in championships.
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