Kids, don’t be like Jerry Jones or Jimmy Johnson and make this life-altering mistake

Three events have happened in the past few months that indicate all of us need to get our cars, closets, and accounts in order because a giant shark-infested asteroid is heading towards DFW.

The Texas Rangers won the World Series.

Mark Cuban sold the Dallas Mavericks.

Jerry Jones put Jimmy Johnson in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

Tomorrow’s headline: Devil announces Arlington tax payers to fund $3.5 billion air conditioning unit in hell.

On Saturday afternoon, a few hours before the Cowboys hosted the Detroit Lions, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys and his former coach sat next to each other reveling in their friendship as they out-did the other with revisionist history.

These are now two old men whose genuine affection and appreciation for the other could have melted an ice cap. Or, maybe thawed one.

These guys have been friends for decades; why Jerry Jones didn’t even want Jimmy to be in the Cowboys Ring of Honor until his daughter and Troy Aikman finally convinced him to do it only he knows.

“This is a very natural thing to do,” Jerry told Jimmy during the press conference of inducting him in the ring of honor. The ceremony was held at halftime. “Whatever I thought you were you over delivered.”

How Jerry ever forgot this was deliberate.

It’s one of those stupid hard line stances a person believes make sense, only until later do they see how petty (and dumb) they were. Jerry did the right thing, and maybe in the process he finally got over all of this.

They both made the same mistake so many of us do, and we fail to realize it until it becomes a life lesson: Don’t take happiness, a good day, a good week, or winning, for granted. The hard stuff, and bad days, will have their day, so don’t be stupid and not enjoy life when life is good.

Because when life is good for the Dallas Cowboys, it may not quite be heaven but a version of paradise. When life is not good for the Dallas Cowboys, it’s not quite hell because the profit margin is obscene.

The end of the Dallas Cowboys’ dynasty with a win in the 1995 Super Bowl was similar to that of the conclusion of the Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls, in 1998. Or the breakup of The Beatles. Maybe N.W.A. Throw in Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, too.

The demise of the top groups, and teams, usually are the result of the same things.

Ego is not considered one of the seven deadly sins, but pride is. So is envy. Petty should be on the list but “Eight Deadly Sins” doesn’t sound as good as seven.

Even the smartest people usually can’t get out of their own way. They get antsy. Bored. Angry. Fatigued. Distracted.

They can’t see how good they have it. Both Jimmy and Jerry were too young, and full of themselves, to talk their way through it. They may not have had the vocabulary then to navigate themselves, either.

“Sometimes you lose sight of what you can do because of what you have already done,” Johnson said.

The process of inducting Jimmy into the Ring of Honor took far too long, because they are both responsible for building the Dallas Cowboys into the team of the ‘90s, and winning three Super Bowls in four years.

None of that success happens without Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones together. When it comes to the NFL, Jimmy without Jerry was a few ticks over .500 in Miami; books have been written on how Jerry has fared without Jimmy.

“It changed my life,” Johnson said of his tenure coaching the Cowboys.

“And mine,” Jones said.

Forget the ugly end, and what these two did together changed not only their lives but football, and all of North Texas.

Jimmy Johnson changed the way teams were NFL built, and played.

Jerry Jones changed not just the Dallas Cowboys, but the NFL and all of professional sports.

“I think we are past on who gets credit,” Jimmy said. “The two of us working together made history. We talked every single day, and I don’t recall ever having a difference of opinion. We were always on the same page.”

That is probably (definitely) not true, but after 30 years, let them believe their version of history.

It took too long but Jimmy Johnson is in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.

Now, hell can get that air conditioner, too.

This story was originally published December 30, 2023 at 8:08 PM.