Regardless of what the score is at the end of Saturday's game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, America's Team will be celebrating the induction of two-time Super Bowl champion Jimmy Johnson into the Ring of Honor. 

While the ceremony won't serve as a time machine to go back in time and fix the relationship between Johnson and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones in the hopes of more Lombardi trophies, it will serve as a band-aid for one of the most frustrating feuds in sports history.

For years now, Cowboys fans have rightfully bashed Jones for letting such a divorce happen. It's the ultimate "what could've been" in franchise history. Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin have wondered how many rings they could've won together in the past, which they've said in public multiple times.

What's gone down in the post-Jimmy era has certainly not helped Jones' standing among Cowboys fans. Although Barry Switzer won the Super Bowl with the team that Johnson built, Dallas hasn't been to an NFC Championship Game since then. Heck, between the 1996 playoffs and the 2020 playoffs, the Cowboys made the postseason in back to back years just once. 

And then there's the tiny little thing about the Ring of Honor. For decades, Jones' refusal to immortalize Jimmy's name in the home of the Cowboys has made everything worse. It has tarnished the team's legacy and for years, it took meaning away from it to the point when DeMarcus Ware's recent induction felt odd more than it did satisfactory. In an article earlier this year, I described Jones' stance on the whole situation utterly pathetic.

That changes on Saturday, even if it will do so too late. In Week 17 of the 2023 NFL season, the Cowboys and its owner will finally make things right. 

But as much as Jerry Jones is the villain of this story, Jimmy Johnson is not without fault

I bring this up not to knock Johnson but to further the meaning of his name going up there in the Ring of Honor. This is an event that not only will help raise Jones' acceptance among fans but also heal a very complicated relationship between these two men.

You see, I often notice a crucial detail of this whole feud be ignored: Johnson shares the blame of this broken duo.

Not to the extent of Jones and I don't mean to exonerate the former oil man here. But Jimmy himself has described the end of the relationship as him walking away instead of him being run out of town. And when looking at this epic clash of egos, there's a lot of events that show how petty the former head coach was as well. Let's recap some of them, shall we? 

• Before their second Super Bowl win, Johnson said he was intrigued about coaching the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, even though he was currently in the playoffs with the Cowboys. I mean, come on, now.
• Following the Cowboys' trade for Charles Haley, which Jimmy orchestrated but Jerry claimed credit for, Johnson told the press that the owner wouldn't be able to recognize the player from the author Alex Haley.
• He once claimed he only spoke with Jerry once a week, knowing fully well that Jerry wanted to be treated as the owner of the team. Former Cowboys scouting director Larry Lacewell told NFL Films Jimmy always knew exactly what he was doing and that the coach had a plan to be run out of town.
• Johnson joked on national TV that Jerry took $20,000 out of $60,000 given to the Cowboys to celebrate their Super Bowl win.
• He even shot down the notion that he and Jerry were close friends in Arkansas, instead letting it be known they were only roomies because the team assigned rooms in alphabetical order.

Finally, objectively speaking, it was Jimmy who decided a Super Bowl-caliber team wasn't worth dealing with Jerry's thievery of merit. I can't blame him for it, and I insist: I'm not trying to knock Johnson here.

But when Saturday's ceremony take place, it's important to keep this side of the story in mind to fully appreciate what it means for both controversial men. It's redemption for them both. This is as close as they'll ever be to a restored relationship. 

Jerry Jones explains odd timing of Jimmy Johnson’s R.O.H. announcement

Makes more sense now.