#Dallas cowboys 1989 roster upgrade#

Johnson believed Jones was infringing on his role and often cited his contract, which he believed spelled out that he had control of football operations.

Was it a Johnson trade or a Jones trade? It depends on whom you asked. In total, the trade involved 18 players and picks, and after more trades with other teams, the Cowboys used those selections to draft Smith, Woodson and Russell Maryland. The deal was a surprise because the running back was the best player on the Cowboys, but the club had a long-term plan. The catalyst of the Cowboys' Super Bowl run was trading Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings in 1989. They were losing $1 million a month off the field.Īt their old Valley Ranch offices, Wannstedt remembered Jones and Johnson being around 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Cowboys were a bad team at the end of the Landry era, including a 3-13 record in 1988. TO UNDERSTAND HOW the relationship between Jones and Johnson deteriorated, you have to understand the beginning. 'Finally, that's all I can say,' said Johnson's longtime assistant and close friend Dave Wannstedt. He will join the coach he replaced, Landry. Johnson will be inducted into the ring of honor - next to the players he coached: Michael Irvin, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson and Charles Haley. That changes Saturday at halftime of the Cowboys' game against the Detroit Lions (8:15 p.m. One physical barrier has remained between them: the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. They appeared at different reunions of those Super Bowl teams, as well as Arkansas functions. Their relationship would ride peaks and valleys, even as friends, coaches and former players tried to bring them back together. Over the years, Johnson and Jones took turns needling each other from afar. A year later, they won another.Īnd then it was over. After winning one game that first season, the Cowboys won their first Super Bowl in 1992. In 1989, when Jones bought the Cowboys and Texas Stadium for $140 million, he immediately fired Tom Landry and named Johnson coach. Jimmy Johnson became one of the best college football coaches in history, winning a national championship at the University of Miami. Jerry Jones became a success in the oil and gas industry. Numerically, they were next to each other, too. They roomed together on their road, more because of alphabetical order than a particularly close relationship. They were teammates at Arkansas, winning a national championship in 1964. In Dallas Cowboys history, maybe even NFL history, you don't need their last names. Why Jerry Jones put Jimmy Johnson in Cowboys Ring of HonorįRISCO, Texas - Jerry and Jimmy.

#Dallas cowboys 1989 roster upgrade#

You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browser