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Q & A with Jimmy Johnson Posted: Wednesday September 25, 2002 5:45 PM
Last Sunday former Cowboys and Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson, 59, ended his self-imposed two-season football exile, emerging from his oceanfront spread in Islamorada, Fla., to rejoin Fox NFL Sunday after a seven-year absence from the show.
JJ: To try not only to be an analyst but also to tell some of the experiences from nine years of coaching in the NFL and from two Super Bowls. SI: Who is your favorite singer from your hometown of Port Arthur, Texas: Janis Joplin or the Big Bopper? JJ: Janis. We went to school together, and I knew her. SI: You have a yacht named Three Rings. Is there a silver lining in your not winning a Super Bowl with the Dolphins, because you could keep the name? JJ: Nah. If I had won another Super Bowl, I would have just changed it to Four Rings. SI: Which running back did more to help you win two Super Bowl rings: Emmitt Smith or Herschel Walker? JJ: I've got to go with Emmitt. Herschel Walker gave us some draft picks, but if you don't pick the right players, those draft picks aren't worth much. SI: Who has better hair, you or Howie Long? JJ: The flattop went out many, many years ago, so I've got to go with me. SI: You're partial to tomato clowns, a tropical fish. Have you ever called a player a tomato clown? JJ: I've called players tomatoes, but not tomato clowns. SI: It looks like Jerry Jones has had some work done over the last few years. Who is the better-looking guy between the two of you these days? JJ: [Laughs.] I'll leave that to public opinion. SI: You had the nickname Scar Head in high school and Jimmy Jumpup in college. Do you have any nicknames now? JJ: After winning a couple of Super Bowls, I finally got some respect, and people started calling me either Coach or Jimmy. SI: Do you think Terry, Howie and Jimmy can be as good a threesome as Troy, Emmitt and Michael? JJ: Well, maybe we'll be the triplets of television. SI: If you had to take one former player with you into a dark alley, who would it be? JJ: I've always been a team guy, so if I had to go into a dark alley, I'd take the whole team. SI: You're a big follower of the stock market. If the market was a football team and it performed as the market has over the past two years, what would you say about it? JJ: I would say they've got to get some young players and start building it back up. SI: What's more fun, catching a dolphin or coaching a Dolphin? JJ: I enjoy fishing, but I also enjoyed coaching those Dolphins. SI: What's a worse feeling, losing a game, or having the fishing line snap before you can pull a big one onboard? JJ: There's no question there; losing a game. That's probably one reason why I'm not coaching right now. I took losses pretty hard. It got to where it was wearing on me and my family. SI: If there was a Hall of Fame for dogs, do you think that your Teacup Yorkie, Buttercup, should be inducted? JJ: Yes. I put Buttercup right there with Rin Tin Tin and Lassie. She has such a great personality. We treat her just like a kid. That dog has been in more resorts, on more planes, and in more press boxes and suites than any dog around. SI: You used to room with Jerry Jones before road games at Arkansas. If you had to room with someone at Fox the night before games, who would it be? JJ: I'd have to go with [Fox Sports chairman] David Hill, because he's my boss. SI: Do you and Barry Switzer still have restaurants in Oklahoma City? JJ: Yes, we both do. SI: Whose restaurant is more successful? JJ: I'm not sure. Mine is more of a sports bar. SI: You don't know, head-to-head, whose is doing better? JJ: No, I've never been in his. SI: It's been written that you are incapable of saying "I'm sorry." Are you sorry you agreed to this interview? JJ: [Laughs.] No, it's actually been pleasant. —Pete McEntegart Issue date: Sept. 30, 2002
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Jimmy Johnson. Bob Rosato
