Cowlishaw: 20 years after Jerry & Jimmy split, new spin on why Johnson left 'Boys

Cotton

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Jerry Jones’ jealous fit might have given Jimmy Johnson excuse to leave, but coach was likely a short timer

Tim Cowlishaw wtcowlishaw@dallasnews.com
Published: 29 March 2014 06:58 PM
Updated: 29 March 2014 07:19 PM

One man sought peace. The other craved power. Since both ultimately achieved those goals, the 20th anniversary of the Jimmy Johnson-Jerry Jones breakup could be cause for celebration if not for that one sticking point.

In the discussion of great football teams, the Cowboys have become irrelevant in Jimmy’s absence.

And as much as he takes some measure of delight in Jones’ struggle to win without him, Johnson was in no mood to discuss what happened on March 29, 1994, when I called him in south Florida on Friday morning.

“What anniversary is this one?’’ he said, laughing. “They’re always having some kind of anniversaries down there ... I guess because they don’t go to Super Bowls anymore.’’

Shots. Fired.

Johnson talked about recent fishing trips with old pals. He talked about his new Hawker 800 XP that will whip him across the country this season for Fox NFL Sunday appearances in Los Angeles.

He did not want to talk about the Cowboys.

“Do you want to know how many times Jerry or Stephen have called me in 20 years for advice or to ask about a player? Zero,” said Johnson. “And yet they call [Larry] Lacewell.’’

Drops the mic.

People ask me if I think that, on those rare occasions that Jones and Johnson are thrust together, their laughs and smiles are genuine, if they are privately friends who just happen to enjoy the public sparring. I say I believe the opposite to be true.

Jones remains tormented by the fact that Johnson gets not just all the credit for those two Super Bowls, but the third one as well — two years after he left Valley Ranch with Jones’ $2 million check in his pocket. Johnson’s feelings of disrespect are not even thinly disguised.

Cowboys fans maintain their team would have been the only franchise to win three straight Super Bowls had Johnson stayed for the 1994 season. My guess is that players and Johnson would have been at each other’s throats by midseason (they were nearly ready to mutiny for some of his tirades late in ’93). I also think the presumption of a third Dallas victory dismisses how good those 49ers were that season.

Johnson is the most unreflective man I have ever met, so if you’re wondering if he has spent 15 minutes pondering this topic, bet the under.

When he came to Dallas, he didn’t worry about replacing Tom Landry. When he moved on to Miami, filling Don Shula’s shoes was the least of his concerns. When Johnson takes on a task, he plows straight ahead and casts aside all thoughts and people he finds irrelevant. That includes a wife when he came to Dallas.
Jones helped him out of that situation, too, giving him $1 million to pass on to his ex-wife in settlement. It has rarely if ever been discussed how that contributed to Johnson’s departure here. Five years and two Super Bowl rings into his time in Dallas, Johnson had become underpaid as a head coach at $1 million per season.

What the public didn’t know was that Jones was collecting all the money from Johnson’s weekly coach’s show and other ancillary revenue because of that original $1 million divorce payment.

People love to beat up on Jones for letting Johnson get away. There’s no question his determination to start meddling in football affairs (Jones didn’t do that in the first few years, no matter what he insists) pushed Johnson toward the door.

But Johnson never coached anywhere more than five years. He is a man who grows bored quickly. And the one thing neither Jones nor Johnson could control was the toll exacted by the team’s success.

As Cowboys beat writer in 1992 and 1993, I would regularly go out with Johnson for a few beverages and off-the-record talks after he taped his TV show on Thursday nights at the Channel 4 studio. Near the end of the ’92 season, when the team was blowing through the NFC East and seemed headed — at the very least — for an NFC Championship showdown with the 49ers, Johnson was unusually despondent.

When I pressed him on it, he explained that he knew this was all about to end. He said when he jogged that day with Dave Wannstedt and Tony Wise, he realized this was one of the last times they would be together after years at Oklahoma State, the University of Miami and the Cowboys. Wannstedt would get a head coaching job out of this and he would take Wise with him, and Johnson said he knew Norv Turner would not be far behind.

The prospect of winning a Super Bowl moved him less than the understanding that his few close friends in life would be leaving him.

If Johnson had to build a new staff, he didn’t want to do it in Dallas where anything short of Super Bowl victory would hang in the air like defeat. He wanted a fresh start with the expansion team in Jacksonville, which was as close as he could get to his beloved south Florida at the time. But while he had riled his owner by talking about the Jacksonville job days before a big regular-season finale in New York (Jones had the right to be ticked off over that), Johnson could not manipulate his way out of his contract to get to the Jaguars.

I asked Johnson about the draft a few days before the fateful owners’ meetings in Orlando, where it would all start to unravel after Jones’ “500 coaches could win a Super Bowl here’’ comment. This was six weeks after the Super Bowl. Johnson said he hadn’t looked at tape on a single player.

This wasn’t a coach thinking about history or legacies. This was a man in search of the nearest fire escape.

In the end, Jones didn’t fire Johnson and he didn’t push him out the door. He merely cracked it open and Jimmy — as is his nature — shoved his way on out, into the land of palm trees and sand, not looking back then or now.
 

junk

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I don't really blame Jerry for Jimmy leaving. He wanted to leave anyway, I think that is obvious.

I do blame Jerry for wanting the credit and for imposing himself on football decisions. He still hasn't learned he sucks at it 20 years later.

The comments to start out the article were hilarious though.
 

Clay_Allison

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I don't really blame Jerry for Jimmy leaving. He wanted to leave anyway, I think that is obvious.

I do blame Jerry for wanting the credit and for imposing himself on football decisions. He still hasn't learned he sucks at it 20 years later.
Agreed. His obsessive need to reclaim credit from Johnson by doing it his way over the last 20 years has been the real problem.
 

Simpleton

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Cowlishaw isn't one to stump for Jones so I believe this.

And Jerry's maniacal/egotistical/self-righteous need to be respected as a "football man" is one reason I have hope for Stephen when he takes over, because he doesn't have that built in chip on his shoulder.
 

L.T. Fan

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When I posted about this a few weeks back some thought I should be tried for blasphemy. From my vantage point I knew Johnson wanted out and he baited Jones into making it happen. It not something Jones haters want to hear but it's true.
 

p1_

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When I posted about this a few weeks back some thought I should be tried for blasphemy. From my vantage point I knew Johnson wanted out and he baited Jones into making it happen. It not something Jones haters want to hear but it's true.
What do you think was behind his desire to leave?
 

boozeman

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What do you think was behind his desire to leave?
That is the crux if it. He wanted away from the lunatic.

Besides, it just wasn't any fun for him anymore. All of his buddies like Turner, Wannstedt and Ackles had moved on anyways.

They both wanted it to happen, but Jones bears the brunt of the blame for making the environment miserable and the years of dysfunction that have been the result.
 

boozeman

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The end of Jerry and Jimmy

March, 29, 2014


By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com


This has been a year of anniversaries around the Cowboys.

It's the 25-year anniversary of Jerry Jones buying the team and today is the 20th anniversary of the departure of coach Jimmy Johnson after two Super Bowl titles.

Jones was asked about his thoughts on the anniversary.

"It's so funny," Jones began. "In the NFL, and I'll show you guys one of these days, the agreement and show you guys the dynamics behind the agreement, ya'll need to see that. Somebody start saying that in the NFL that the ultimate decision maker is not the owner, they need to come read the rules of the NFL. If it so happen, the GM is the owner, and then you got the coach, then the ultimate decision maker is obvious and that's by the bylaws of the NFL."

One of the biggest disputes between Johnson and Jones was who deserved credit for the success of the franchise. They both deserve it, but the egos of the pair were too much to overcome.

"So if it came down to a you know what contest between me and a coach because of that agreement of something written down or something perceived to have been written down, it's not worth the paper it's written on," Jones said. "On who makes the call, relative to the owner, if that were an issue. But the piece of paper is not even an issue. The most ridiculous thing that others knew about a trade before I did, when they couldn't make a trade, until I made it. Period. No such thing. You couldn't make a draft pick, it was ridiculous."

Tim Cowlishaw, who covered the Cowboys during the Jones-Johnson era for the Dallas Morning News, does a radio show on ESPN Dallas affiliate 103.3 FM. Cowlishaw said he tried to get Johnson on the radio on Friday afternoon to speak about the breakup.

Johnson declined.
 

Genghis Khan

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When I posted about this a few weeks back some thought I should be tried for blasphemy. From my vantage point I knew Johnson wanted out and he baited Jones into making it happen. It not something Jones haters want to hear but it's true.


Jimmy wanted to leave because of Jerry. and it happened sooner than Jimmy was planning because of Jerry.

so yeah, torches and pitchforks for Jerry.as per usual.
 

L.T. Fan

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Jimmy wanted to leave because of Jerry. and it happened sooner than Jimmy was planning because of Jerry.

so yeah, torches and pitchforks for Jerry.as per usual.
Jimmy had a fondness for Florida. You notice he hasn't relocated after he moved back.
 

L.T. Fan

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That is the crux if it. He wanted away from the lunatic.

Besides, it just wasn't any fun for him anymore. All of his buddies like Turner, Wannstedt and Ackles had moved on anyways.

They both wanted it to happen, but Jones bears the brunt of the blame for making the environment miserable and the years of dysfunction that have been the result.
Granted Johnson didn't like his circumstances with Jones but that just made him want to get out and back to Florida that much more.
 

jsmith6919

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The end of Jerry and Jimmy

March, 29, 2014


By Calvin Watkins | ESPNDallas.com


This has been a year of anniversaries around the Cowboys.

It's the 25-year anniversary of Jerry Jones buying the team and today is the 20th anniversary of the departure of coach Jimmy Johnson after two Super Bowl titles.

Jones was asked about his thoughts on the anniversary.

"It's so funny," Jones began. "In the NFL, and I'll show you guys one of these days, the agreement and show you guys the dynamics behind the agreement, ya'll need to see that. Somebody start saying that in the NFL that the ultimate decision maker is not the owner, they need to come read the rules of the NFL. If it so happen, the GM is the owner, and then you got the coach, then the ultimate decision maker is obvious and that's by the bylaws of the NFL."

One of the biggest disputes between Johnson and Jones was who deserved credit for the success of the franchise. They both deserve it, but the egos of the pair were too much to overcome.

"So if it came down to a you know what contest between me and a coach because of that agreement of something written down or something perceived to have been written down, it's not worth the paper it's written on," Jones said. "On who makes the call, relative to the owner, if that were an issue. But the piece of paper is not even an issue. The most ridiculous thing that others knew about a trade before I did, when they couldn't make a trade, until I made it. Period. No such thing. You couldn't make a draft pick, it was ridiculous."

Tim Cowlishaw, who covered the Cowboys during the Jones-Johnson era for the Dallas Morning News, does a radio show on ESPN Dallas affiliate 103.3 FM. Cowlishaw said he tried to get Johnson on the radio on Friday afternoon to speak about the breakup.

Johnson declined.
I'm going to love it if we ever win another sb and this delusional hick still doesn't get credit :lol
 

Clay_Allison

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That is the crux if it. He wanted away from the lunatic.

Besides, it just wasn't any fun for him anymore. All of his buddies like Turner, Wannstedt and Ackles had moved on anyways.

They both wanted it to happen, but Jones bears the brunt of the blame for making the environment miserable and the years of dysfunction that have been the result.
Jimmy never really stayed anywhere for long, and he didn't jump back into coaching for several years because he only wanted to coach in Florida. I think he'd have been on the way out regardless of what Jones did.
 

ravidubey

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Jimmy wanted to leave because he's Jimmy. Jerry is a glory-craving meddler out of his depth.

This shit has been rehashed so many fucking times it's ridiculous.

Will there be 25 or 30-year retellings? Jesus, in 50 years will they still be talking about this shit?
 

p1_

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Jimmy wanted to leave because he's Jimmy. Jerry is a glory-craving meddler out of his depth.

This shit has been rehashed so many fucking times it's ridiculous.

Will there be 25 or 30-year retellings? Jesus, in 50 years will they still be talking about this shit?
Dude,

You know why it comes around. It was a gd dynasty when Jimmy was here. And for the 20 years that have followed, it has been unmitigated shite, save for the one season after Parcells departed. The sports world stands in awe
of what was and could have been. The end of a dynasty and the onset of middling mediocrity, just what we have today. Now and forever...
 

L.T. Fan

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Dude,

You know why it comes around. It was a gd dynasty when Jimmy was here. And for the 20 years that have followed, it has been unmitigated shite, save for the one season after Parcells departed. The sports world stands in awe
of what was and could have been. The end of a dynasty and the onset of middling mediocrity, just what we have today. Now and forever...
All true but the point was that Johnson wanted out. The war cry however has been Jones ran him off. Both became incorrigible individuals over who thought they were the main cause for the success of the "dynasty". Truth is each had a part. Johnson with his coaching skills and Jones with his resources that allowed the organization to acquire what was needed. The marriage failed over two colossal egos. Both are equally to blame. Just get it right and take it for what is became. Johnson wanted out and Jones accommodated him.
 

BipolarFuk

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The thing is is that teh Jer, if he is the best owner in sports, should have been doing anything and everything to keep Jimmy happy.

Reach arounds, hookers, blow, a Florida like beach in Jimmy's back yard. Whatever the fuck it took.

I bet Bob Craft gives Bill Belichick rimjobs to keep him happy up there all these years.
 

Clay_Allison

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The thing is is that teh Jer, if he is the best owner in sports, should have been doing anything and everything to keep Jimmy happy.

Reach arounds, hookers, blow, a Florida like beach in Jimmy's back yard. Whatever the fuck it took.
Move the team to Florida? Because that's what it would have taken, I think.
 

p1_

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The thing is is that teh Jer, if he is the best owner in sports, should have been doing anything and everything to keep Jimmy happy.

Reach arounds, hookers, blow, a Florida like beach in Jimmy's back yard. Whatever the fuck it took.

I bet Bob Craft gives Bill Belichick rimjobs to keep him happy up there all these years.

I think this should have at least been Jerry's approach.
 
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