Cowboys Under Fire for Surprise Announcement: ‘Very Disrespectful’
Owner Jerry Jones knows how to make Dallas Cowboys news. Jones created headlines by doing a live appearance on “FOX NFL Sunday” to announce Jimmy Johnson’s upcoming induction into the team’s Ring of Honor.
The announcement came minutes before the Cowboys were set to kickoff against the Panthers in Week 11. Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill Jr. labeled the move as “very disrespectful” pondering if the announcement would serve as a distraction.
“This is very disrespectful for the Cowboys to make this announcement at Carolina and at their stadium 20 minutes before kickoff,” Hill tweeted on November 19. “It says the game is not important. I hope the players don’t have the same mindset.”
Hill’s point of view can be debated, but it is hard to argue that the announcement had any impact on the game. Dallas went on to come away with a 33-10 blowout victory over Carolina. There is also a good chance few of the players even knew the Johnson announcement was happening.
Criticism of Jones’ timing for the announcement is fair as the Cowboys owner has pushed the decision on Johnson down the road for years. No one knows how to create headlines quite like Jones.
Making the announcement minutes before a matchup against one of the worst NFL teams does feel a bit orchestrated. Just because something is orchestrated does not make it disrespectful. Johnson will officially be inducted during the Cowboys’ primetime matchup against the Lions on December 30.
“The communication was so good in the early days,” Johnson explained during the announcement on FOX. “The only problem we had was there towards the end we stopped talking a bit. But I tell ya what, we’re talking now and we’re friendly now.”
The Cowboys owner wanted the event to happen in 2023 thus explaining the announcement taking place on the road. Sports Illustrated’s Mike Fisher reported that the Cowboys were close to inducting Johnson on several previous occasions.
“We think it’s important to note that two sources tell CowboysSI.com that such an enshrinement has ‘come close’ to happening twice in the last seven years. … so maybe the bitterness wasn’t as deep as it seemed,” Fisher wrote on November 19.
“… Sources tell us that even as Jerry is the Ring’s ‘one-man committee,’ the Jones family and the organization considered putting Jimmy into the Ring that season before determining collectively that 2017 should be ‘Jerry’s year.’ (‘It’s own special attention.’) That was one occasion of a Johnson honor having ‘come close.’
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