Back-to-back victories by the Dallas Cowboys at the Super Bowl in 1993 and 1994 mask the fact that Jimmy Johnson, the team’s legendary former coach, knew as much about losing as he did about winning. In 1989, his first season in Dallas, Johnson’s team had only one win and fifteen losses! However, this overwhelming losing season was still not as humiliating as his first year as a high-school defensive coach, when his team finished the season with no wins and ten losses.
Johnson said about that first season in Dallas, “We had the worst team in the NFL, but I wouldn’t accept anything but being in the Super Bowl.”
Johnson kept a positive attitude. If a running back had the ball, he shouted, “Protect the ball,” rather than “Don’t fumble.” To his field-goal kickers he’d say, “Make this,” not “Don’t miss.” After a loss, he’d spend his post-game time plotting the next win, rather than second-guessing what had gone wrong.
The Cowboys responded and improved. It took four seasons of hard work, but then Super Bowl rings were on their fingers.
From Fortune (May 1, 1995) pg. 32.
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