Super Bowl LIX may have been the last for Jimmy Johnson at Fox.
The legendary football coach is one of the original members of the network’s Fox NFL Sunday pregame show and a fixture in the sport since the 1980s. After participating in his second Super Bowl in three years, Johnson received a tribute from the network live on the show from New Orleans and left the door open for retirement.
“I was blessed to have great players, great assistant coaches, and great friends,” Johnson said to his colleagues after the tribute video.
LEGEND.
An incredible look at the career of @JimmyJohnson from his time as a player to now 🏈🤩 pic.twitter.com/QGd3QmJxzi
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 9, 2025
Fox made the interesting choice to use primarily animation in the video, with CGI or AI technology used to insert Johnson’s face and voice onto younger versions of his likeness.
The long tribute celebrated Johnson’s national championship as a defensive lineman at Arkansas in 1964, as well as another in 1987 as head coach of the Miami Hurricanes. In the NFL, Johnson added two more rings with the Dallas Cowboys in 1993 and 1994.
Right after the second Super Bowl, Johnson joined the Fox NFL Sunday show alongside Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long. The trio still appears each week of the season together more than 30 years later.
That could change soon as Johnson teased retirement in the pregame segment.
After host Curt Menefee asked Johnson whether this Super Bowl would be goodbye, Johnson responded, “one day at a time.”
“I can truly say because of my family and because of ya’ll, I’ve never been happier than in this time of my life. Happiest I’ve ever been in my life.” @JimmyJohnson ❤️ pic.twitter.com/aaDp7MIPk3
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) February 9, 2025
It’s the same answer Johnson gave Awful Announcing’s Andrew Bucholtz this week in New Orleans when asked about his broadcasting future:
“I used to say ‘One more year,’ and then it got to be, ‘Well, I don’t know,’ and now it’s ‘One more day at a time.’ I never know. I’ll just see how I feel here going into next year.”
At 81, the legendary Johnson has given his life to football. Johnson has spoken openly about the sacrifices he made with his family while coaching, and how he is making up for lost time at his retirement home in South Florida.
Johnson’s longtime friend and cohost Terry Bradshaw said this week he’ll likely retire after Fox’s next Super Bowl, in 2029. But answers on Johnson’s future have been much less specific.
If this is it for Jimmy Johnson, it’s been a heck of a career.
