Why Jerry Jones put Jimmy Johnson in Cowboys Ring of Honor - ESPN

FRISCO, Texas — Jerry and Jimmy. Jimmy and Jerry.

In Dallas Cowboys history, maybe even NFL history, you don't need their last names. You know them. You know their story. At least most of it.

They were teammates at Arkansas, winning a national championship in 1964. They roomed together on their road, more because of alphabetical order than a particularly close relationship. Numerically, they were next to each other, too. Jimmy wore No. 60. Jerry wore No. 61.

Jerry Jones became a success in the oil and gas industry. Jimmy Johnson became one of the best college football coaches in history, winning a national championship at the University of Miami.

In 1989, when Jones bought the Cowboys and Texas Stadium for $140 million, he immediately fired Tom Landry and named Johnson coach. After winning one game that first season, the Cowboys won their first Super Bowl in 1992. A year later, they won another.

And then it was over. Egos. Hurt feelings. Perceived disloyalty. A $2 million goodbye. Just like that.

Over the years, Johnson and Jones took turns needling each other from afar. Their relationship would ride peaks and valleys, even as friends, coaches and former players tried to bring them back together. They appeared at different reunions of those Super Bowl teams, as well as Arkansas functions.

One physical barrier has remained between them: the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

That changes Saturday at halftime of the Cowboys' game against the Detroit Lions (8:15 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN).

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. He will join the coach he replaced, Landry.

«Finally, that's all I can say,» said Johnson's