Both Johnson and Jones live to be recognized

By Don Pierson / Chicago Tribune (Oct. 24, 1996)

(KRT) - There are four better NFL games this week, but no better story than Miami vs. Dallas because Jimmy Johnson vs. Jerry Jones strikes at the essence of football's ego, power, greed, prestige, jealousy and revenge.

True conflict thrives upon such values. Neither Johnson nor Jones will wear a helmet when the Cowboys and Dolphins collide Sunday in Miami, but a helmet would defeat the purpose: These are men who live to be recognized.

They parted company as coach and owner of the Dallas Cowboys in March of 1994 because neither ever quite agreed on where each job stopped. Besides, all those J's left the public confused about which man was which and exactly where the laurels for building a dynasty should fall.

Owner Jerry said 500 coaches could have won the two Super Bowls coached by Jimmy, who decided one visible owner was one too many.

Although both men started this week's inevitable downplay in press appearances Tuesday, their differences remain.

They still can't agree on whether Johnson quit or was fired.

"It was a decision I made. I decided I wanted to go ahead and part company and move to south Florida. I was pleased with the decision at that time and pleased right now," Johnson said.

Jones points out that a $2 million payoff would be an unusual gesture had Johnson quit on him.

"There's nothing you could trade me for those five years we had together and what we went through and how it worked out. There's nothing you could give me to have one more day of it," Jones said.

If their two heads were better than one, they are now obsessed at proving they never really needed each other.

"Candidly, there might not have been 500, but we know there's at least one of them," Jones said.

That Jones and the Cowboys won last year's Super Bowl with Barry Switzer as coach was incentive enough for Johnson to leave the comfort of the Fox television studio and follow legend Don Shula in Miami, where he again sang the praises of owner Wayne Huizenga on Tuesday.

"Wayne has been absolutely fantastic. He is so sincere about the people who work for him. He knows them, he takes care of them, he lets them do their job," Johnson said.

It was a direct hit on Jones, whose relationship with Johnson totally unraveled at a 1994 NFL owners' party when Jones proposed a toast at a table that included some people Jones had fired.

Both men sugar-coated their feelings on Tuesday and tried to deflect the spotlight to the players in a game between two 4-3 teams trying to stay in division races.

"My relationship with the owner and coach have nothing to do with this game," Johnson said. "I vowed to myself I wasn't going to let my emotions enter into it."

Johnson also repeated his contention that Jones is "the greatest businessman I've ever known in my life."

Jones said: "Jimmy inspired me. He brought out the best in me. We have a competition this Sunday. I'm not about to tarnish what we did for five years. If I did that, I couldn't look in the mirror. Both teams have a lot at stake and you can't drum it up any more than that. I'm glad to have Jimmy back in the NFL. Nobody likes sizzle and entertainment like I do and Jimmy brings that to the NFL."

More telling sentiments are expressed in "Hell-Bent," a book by Skip Bayless that quotes Jones on firing Johnson: "You have gangrene in the finger, you cut it out." And Johnson on Jones: "My girlfriend knows more football than Jerry Jones."

Switzer is just one of the subplots in this feud.

"Barry and I were assistant coaches together under Chuck Fairbanks (at Oklahoma 1970-72). I think Barry has done a good job in Dallas," Johnson said in answer to a question about their relationship.

But Johnson went on to make it clear that Switzer is benefiting from a foundation laid by Johnson, and he included Jones in the assessment.

As college coaches, Switzer holds a 5-3 edge, but Johnson wanted it known "we were able to resolve that issue" of revenge when the Miami Hurricanes won the 1987 national championship by beating Switzer's Oklahoma Sooners.

Said Switzer: "A victory means more to me than who it's against. Jerry and Jimmy aren't going to be out on the field playing and, thank God, I won't either."

Relationships among obstinate personalities are hardly unique in the NFL, and often produce winning results. Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan came close to a fistfight at halftime of a 1985 game in Miami, which turned out to be the only game the Bears lost. Bears founder-owner-coach George Halas endured, sometimes encouraged, friction among assistant coaches. Assistant coaches of the Buffalo Bills got into a fistfight one Super Bowl year.

Neither Ditka nor Ryan won it all after parting, however, something Jones has done and Johnson wants to do. It drives them.

As in any relationship, there are misconceptions. Although Johnson wondered why Jones wanted credit for making certain personnel decisions, he said Tuesday he didn't want anyone to think he was meddlesome. "Jerry was very good in that way," Johnson said.

Another misconception that will no longer burden either was that they were ever close friends, as they were often portrayed as teammates and roommates on the 1964 Arkansas national championship team. As Johnson once said, they were roommates because of the alphabet and they rarely saw each other because their lifestyles clashed.

"I was usually getting up about the time Jerry was getting in," Johnson said.

(c) 1996, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.