No Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor Entries Again This Year

Dallas Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones surprisingly announced this week that there wouldn’t be any Ring of Honor inductees again this year. You would have thought given the Cowboys much anticipated move into their new palace Cowboys Stadium, at a cost of over $1 billion, that at least one new franchise great would grace the ring this upcoming season.

In fact since the Cowboys inducted Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin (The Triplets) in 2005 there have not been any new Cowboys enshrined. 

The Ring of Honor was first created in 1975 as a ring inside the former Cowboys’ home Texas Stadium to honor past franchise greats. Pro Football Hall of Famer Bob Lilly was the first Cowboy awarded with the Ring of Honor distinction in November 1975. 

There are currently 17 members of Ring of Honor, but I thought given the Cowboys national persona and former title of “America’s Team” that more players would have received the honor. 

In the past, Ring of Honor inductees were solely chosen by former president/general manager Tex Schramm, but now Jones has the final word on the honor.

Some say the reason that so few players have received the honor was that Schramm placed such a high value on the character of the inductees.

Here is the list of current ROH inductees:

74 Bob Lilly — Nov. 23, 1975

17 Don Meredith — Nov. 7,1976

43 Don Perkins — Nov. 7, 1976

54 Chuck Howley — Oct. 30, 1977

20 Mel Renfro — Oct. 25, 1981

12 Roger Staubach — Oct. 9, 1983

55 Lee Roy Jordan — Oct. 29, 1989

HC Tom Landry — Nov. 7, 1993

33 Tony Dorsett — Oct. 9, 1994

54 Randy White — Oct. 9, 1994

22 Bob Hayes — Sept. 23, 2001

GM Tex Schramm — Oct. 12, 2003

43 Cliff Harris — Oct. 10, 2004

70 Rayfield Wright — Oct. 10, 2004

8 Troy Aikman — Sept. 19, 2005

88 Michael Irvin — Sept. 19, 2005

22 Emmitt Smith — Sept. 19, 2005.

 

Some people that I believe should get a look for the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor are:

Former RB and Assistant Coach Dan Reeves

Former player personnel executive Gil Brand

Former Defensive End Ed “Too Too Tall” Jones

Former defensive back Charlie Waters

Former defensive back Deion Sanders

Former head coach Jimmy Johnson

Former receiver Drew Pearson

Former special teams ace and assistant coach Bill Bates