PALM BEACH, Fla. - Hey, I tried.
I traveled here to Palm Beach for the NFL annual meeting. I arranged an exclusive sit-down visit with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
And I asked. I nudged. I pushed. Hell, maybe I even badgered.
"C'mon,'' I said to the owner regarding the Jones pledge that coach Jimmy Johnson would be inducted into the Cowboys Ring of Honor.'' It's time ...''
Jones' answer? Clever. Provocative. And elusive. Watch here ...
Jerry's response: "We'll be looking at that. Right now, I should have my mind on free agency and the draft. That time of 'when' takes about three minutes.''
Good stuff - even if it's not the answer Cowboys Nation wants. ... especially this week.
It was 28 years ago when future Hall of Fame leaders of the Cowboys - owner Jones and coach Johnson - chose to get a divorce.
It was a tumultuous time full of credit-grabbing and back-stabbing, all leading to Johnson leaving the organization after guiding the team to back-to-back championships.
The tumult, credit-grabbing and back-stabbing still remains all these years later, with Jones and Johnson starting then sputtering then stopping toward full closure.
As an example: Still dangling in the air is Jones’ year-long promise to induct Johnson into the team’s Ring of Honor.
“Haven’t heard a word,” Johnson recently said when asked about the subject.
Johnson left the Cowboys in 1994 after spending five years co-managing the franchise to an incredible turnaround.
The Cowboys went just 1-15 in Jones and Johnson’s first season, in 1989. But Johnson was 43-21 in his next four seasons as head coach.
Along with that came the two Super Bowls, and then another with coach Barry Switzer in town. Johnson moved on to the Miami Dolphins and never matched his Dallas success. The Jones family sped forward as well, but has experienced nothing even close to Super Bowl success.
But since then? A long drought. A lot of pain. And yearly anniversaries to remind Cowboys Nation of glory lost.
And now? Last year, at the start of training camp, Jones said Johnson “will be in the Ring of Honor.''
And Johnson's quip - "While I'm alive?'' - resonates still.
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