‘How bout them Cowboys’: Looking back at the iconic phrase 32 years later

Exactly 32 years ago today, former Dallas Cowboys head coach and current FOX Sports analyst Jimmy Johnson unknowingly gifted the sports world with the now-iconic, fan-favorite question, “How ’bout them Cowboys?”

Let’s take a look back at how the phrase came to be on January 17, 1993:

Setting the scene

Following the Cowboys’ 30-20 NFC Championship Game victory over the 49ers in San Francisco, Johnson entered a locker room filled with stars like Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. Dallas was now one game away from the Super Bowl, and after the double-digit win, a pumped up Johnson delivered congratulations to his team and ended it with the four iconic words — “How ‘bout them Cowboys?” The locker room exploded in cheers, and the rest is history.

The legacy

Johnson, 81, recently shared that the moment was not planned, but more of an impromptu stroke of genius. 

“I was standing on that table … looking at all these players [who are] all excited,” he recalled. “I was stumped. I didn’t know what to say, and I looked [out and] I said, ‘How about them Cowboys?'”

“Little did I know those four words would define my time with the Cowboys. I hear it all the time now.”

The line provided the 1993 Cowboys with all the motivation they needed, as the team went on to become Super Bowl champions, defeating Buffalo, 57-12, on Jan. 31, 1993.

While the line doesn’t fit the current state of the Cowboys, who struggled mightily this season due to injury woes and contract disputes en route to missing the playoffs, die-hard fans will undoubtedly bring it back next season as the team looks to rebound. Dallas is now searching for its next head coach after finishing the 2024 campaign at 7-10, third in the NFC East.

For Johnson, though, he’ll never get tired of hearing the iconic line. His NFL on FOX co-hosts reminded him, “It’s kind of your legacy wherever you go.” Johnson smiled and replied, “Well, how ’bout them Cowboys?”

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