The Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor (RoH) is a ring that currently around

AT&T Stadium AT&T Stadium is a retractable roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the home of the Cotton Bowl Classic ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal c ...

and formerly existed around

Texas Stadium Texas Stadium was an American football stadium located in Irving, Texas, a suburb west of Dallas. Opened on October 24, 1971, it was known for its distinctive hole in the roof, the result of abandoned plans to construct a retractable roof. Th ...

in Irving,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, which honors former players, coaches and club officials who made outstanding contributions to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

organization. In 1993, Jerry Jones said the Ring of Honor "stands for the men who built this franchise and had it called America's Team." The Ring of Honor was created by Tex Schramm and began on November 23, 1975, which was designated in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

as Bob Lilly Day. On that day, the team held the first Cowboys reunion and unveiled Lilly's name and jersey number (74) beneath the press box during half time. As the first honoree, Lilly (who had retired from the NFL in July 1975 after 14 years) donned his Cowboy uniform once more and graciously accepted the honor, along with numerous other gifts, which included a car, a gun and a hunting dog. Also present at the event were Cowboys owner Clint Murchison, president/general manager Tex Schramm and Head Coach

Tom Landry Thomas Wade Landry ( ; September 11, 1924 – February 12, 2000) was an American professional football coach, player, and World War II veteran. Regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he was the first head coach of the Dallas ...

. As the first inductee, Lilly has the distinction of returning to present each new member into the RoH. Only nine players received the honor during the first three decades of the Cowboys existence, making the RoH a coveted achievement, true to the dream envisioned by Schramm, who became the 12th person selected to the Ring of Honor; the award was given posthumously in October 2003, a few months after he died. In 2005, three former Cowboys all-stars were simultaneously inducted during half time ceremonies on ''

Monday Night Football ''Monday Night Football'' (often abbreviated as ''MNF'') is the branding used for broadcasts of National Football League (NFL) games that air on Monday nights. It originally ran on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from 1970 NFL season, 1970 t ...

''. Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, and Michael Irvin, known as "The Triplets", were part of the 1990s Three-Time Super Bowl Championship Cowboys team. Ring of Honor inductees have been chosen by the former president-general manager, Tex Schramm and then by owner

Jerry Jones Jerral Wayne Jones Sr. (born October 13, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman who is the owner, president, and General manager (American football), general manager of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He bought t ...

. Schramm set a precedent by placing a high value on the character of the inductees. There was controversy over the selection of Michael Irvin due to his drug charges. On November 1, 2015 Darren Woodson became the 21st member of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. In 2017, the Ring of Honor was extended when the walkway was built with the former players' numbers in front of Ford Center, Cowboys' indoor practice facility. On November 29, 2018, Gil Brandt became the 22nd member of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. On October 29, 2023, DeMarcus Ware became the 23rd member of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. On December 30, 2023, Jimmy Johnson became the 24th member of the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. In total, the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor includes 20 players, two executives, and two head coaches.

Inductees

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dallas Cowboys Ring Of Honor Dallas Cowboys American football museums and halls of fame Halls of fame in Texas Awards established in 1975 1975 in sports in Texas