Jimmy Johnson joins Cowboys’ ring of honor 30 years after ugly split with Jerry Jones

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones tip-toed around talk of their acrimonious split almost 30 years ago, when they had just teamed as coach and owner to win consecutive Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys.

Whether that breakup was the reason it took Jones so long to put Johnson in the team's ring of honor doesn't matter much at this point to both Pro Football Hall of Famers.

The bottom line is Johnson is joining Tom Landry as the only coaches alongside the 19 players and two executives in the exclusive group of one of the NFL's storied franchises.

Johnson was greeted by the Hall of Fame "Triplets" who headlined his Super Bowl teams -- quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and receiver Michael Irvin -- for the ceremony at halftime of Saturday night's regular-season home finale against the Detroit Lions.

"Thank you, Jerry Jones, for bringing me to the Dallas Cowboys," Johnson told the crowd.

Johnson capped his acceptance speech with a dramatic pause as he walked up to Irvin, turned and offered his famous catchphrase, "How 'bout them Cowboys!" He said it the first time in the locker room after Dallas won at San Francisco in the NFC championship game before the first Super Bowl victory.

"You can say whatever you want to about my human reaction or frailties," Jones said before the game. "I say this today, he's there because it's the right thing. He was always going in the ring of honor, whether I put him in or my kids put him in."

One of the theories behind the abrupt end of Johnson's tenure in 1994 was a tussle over who should get credit for the dramatic turnaround in Dallas.

The Cowboys went from 1-15 in 1989 -- the year Jones bought the Cowboys and hired Johnson after firing the only coach Dallas ever