The two were talking and joking as if there had never been a cross word between them, acting like the events that shook the franchise to its core 29 years earlier were simply an ego-fueled fever dream that never happened.
What mattered was the moment. Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson were together again to make amends and announce the coach who led the Cowboys to two Super Bowl championships would take his long-awaited place in the club’s prestigious Ring of Honor.
The warm, conciliatory image Jones and Johnson presented that November afternoon in Carolina wasn’t just for the cameras. It continued as the men watched the game against the Panthers from the Jones family suite.
At one point, Johnson took a break from swapping stories and turned to Charlotte Jones, who was sitting nearby.
“These are two very happy men,” he told her.
She already knew.
“I don’t think either one of them stopped smiling," the Cowboys executive vice president said of that day. “I think there was a great sense of relief, a bit, you know, we made it to this point. And here we are. Doesn’t this feel good to be happy together?
“I think both of them shared that equally."
Johnson’s induction into the Ring of Honor at the half of Saturday night’s game between the Cowboys and Detroit Lions will close one of the more acrimonious chapters in franchise history. Including Johnson’s name on the wall at AT&T Stadium won’t erase the painful memories or keep the players and coaches of those teams from wondering what could have been if the two had put aside their differences and stayed together for longer than five years.
But the time for recrimination and litigating the past to determine fault is done. Jones and Johnson both accept responsibility. In the twilight of their careers, they are comfortable celebrating their accomplishments together as the current team strives to reach those heights.
“Those are the guys that laid the foundation for the success of the Cowboys," said head coach Mike McCarthy, who spent time with Johnson and Troy Aikman on his predecessor’s fishing boat in the Florida Keys earlier this year.
“Growing up a Cowboys fan, knowing the history, knowing everything that he [Johnson] accomplished, honestly in a short time," quarterback Dak Prescott said. “Yeah, overdue. Just glad that it’s happening.
“I know halftime will be special for those that get to watch and everybody that will be there, really all of Cowboys nation."
A weight lifted
Jones turned 81 in October. He loves to say he doesn’t have time to have a bad time.
Johnson is 80. He doesn’t enjoy big celebrations the way Jones does. Those who know him best — many began arriving in town for Saturday’s game late in the week — talk about how uncomfortable he’ll be with elements of the event.
What Johnson appreciates is the public recognition of his impact. What he looks forward to is spending time with the assistants, players and others who sacrificed so much to achieve the Cowboys success in the early 1990s.
An ironic aspect of the Jones-Johnson dynamic that cast a pall over the organization in those final, fateful months is that two men who are so affable and relish the relationships the sport forges made those around them so uncomfortable by not appreciating and protecting such a special time.
“I think we’ve all been a part of this journey over the years to get to this point," Charlotte Jones said. “The starts and the stops and all of that.
“I think seeing them come together and rehash all of the greatness they had together and share all of those incredible memories, I certainly think from today’s perspective they understand how unique and rare those moments were."
Johnson has said people never fully understood his relationship with Jones. How could they, when Jones and Johnson have often struggled to understand it themselves?
The two were always cordial face-to-face and appeared to genuinely enjoy each other’s company after the split. Johnson attended the party for Jerry and Gene’s 50th wedding anniversary. Whenever they would bump into each other at a game or an event for Fox, where Johnson works, they would yuck it up, tell stories and become the life of the party.
Fox broadcaster Terry Bradshaw is one of Johnson’s closest friends. He’s been struck by how relaxed Johnson and the Cowboys owner are together when he sees them in Canton, Ohio, at events for the Hall of Fame. You would think they’re brothers.
Like brothers, the two love to push each other’s buttons. It’s almost as if they can’t help themselves.
Johnson would have a great time with Jones at a function then take a shot at him on TV a week or two later. Jones would become nostalgic after spending time with someone he’s known since the age of 18 then compulsively go out of his way to point out something about Johnson that got under his skin when he wasn’t around.
It’s a pattern both men have repeated time and again. The two finally decided continuing to bicker was asinine.
“It takes two people to get to all of that muck in between, and it takes two people to get to that outcome that you saw," Charlotte Jones said. “That was a great thing to witness. It was a great thing to be a part of and a great thing to leave the past in the past, celebrate the moments that they had together then appreciate each other.
“There was a lot of relief in that and I think there was great communication. It just shows you when you stop communicating with somebody, everybody else fills the void and everybody else’s perception, everybody else’s story, everybody else’s jab, everybody else’s everything takes over the situation.
“If you fail to communicate, you fail to appreciate what you have."
The Cowboys were the NFL’s team of the 1990s, winning three titles in four years. Johnson was only around for the first two, but no one disputes the foundation he laid for the third.
“I think the missing ingredient to all of us was the fact Jimmy wasn’t recognized,” said Darren Woodson, a member of the Ring of Honor and finalist for the upcoming Pro Football Hall of Fame class. “You close a chapter to what was so special in the early ’90s.
“Look, he’s been so deserving for so long. It’s been obvious. I knew at some point this was going to happen, but it wasn’t on our time.
“It had to happen this way."
Why now?
Jones held a news conference at The Star in August to announce DeMarcus Ware would be inducted into the Ring of Honor. He fielded two or three questions from the media about why Johnson had yet to be inducted.
Staying around afterward to chat with reporters, Jones was peppered with questions about his exclusion of Johnson. Jones would later tell associates he was taken aback by the exchange and began to wonder if keeping Johnson out had unfairly diverted the spotlight from those who were being honored.
Why continue to tarnish the memory of what the two accomplished together by delaying the inevitable? Standing next to Johnson at November’s announcement, Jones conceded the coach’s absence made it awkward for others.
“I felt that way when I was going in," Woodson said. “I did. Honestly."
Woodson joined the Ring of Honor in 2015. The Triplets — Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin — went in together in 2005. Charles Haley joined them in 2013. Woodson was the last member of those title teams.
“It was emotional, but I always felt like, ‘Damn, there’s still that missing piece,"' the safety said. “I know Troy felt the same way. Has forever.
“It’s been a topic of conversation. Emmitt the same way. ‘Thank God I’m going in, this is big, but there is a huge piece to cap this puzzle off.’
“That’s Jimmy."
Jones and Johnson bumped into each other at SoFi Stadium before the Cowboys game against the Chargers on Oct. 16 because the Fox analyst was staying over in Los Angeles for a few days to shoot a commercial. Sensing an opening, Charlotte Jones and Aikman brokered a meeting between Jones and Johnson to take place at The Star later that month.
It lasted for several hours. The Hall of Fame quarterback and Charlotte Jones sat in on the meeting with the two strong-willed men.
Détente was achieved. An invitation was extended. Aikman, who will be part of Saturday’s broadcast for ABC and ESPN, will leave the booth a bit before halftime to be part of the ceremony.
The induction will be broadcast live. A Netflix camera crew will capture the event for the documentary the streaming service is doing on Jones and the Cowboys.
It’s been suggested that project is what persuaded Jones to relent and let Johnson take his rightful place in the Ring of Honor.
“No, I don’t think it has anything to do with the documentary." Charlotte Jones said. “That is going to basically tell the story of the last 30 years. I don’t think that has anything to do with the why and the now.
“I think as Jerry said in the press conference, ‘I always knew we would do it. I just didn’t know when."'
Why now? Johnson joked in November because he’s still alive.
The combined 161 years between the two begs the question of how much longer they could keep their feud alive.
“I think, quite honestly, if you look at both of them, they can really appreciate what the fourth quarter means now," Charlotte Jones said. “When you look in the mirror, you want to be around to celebrate the accomplishments. I think that’s really important for both of them.
“I think that really is what brought them together to say, ‘Hey, we need to do this now. We need to bury the hatchet that created the divide and realize that what we had was special, what we did was special.
“’Let’s celebrate that one more time."’
The celebration unfolds Saturday over the course of the afternoon and evening at AT&T Stadium. A party with roughly 200 invited guests kicks it off before the game.
“This is very appropriate, the time to nail it," Jerry Jones said.
“It was always going to happen."
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