Before the deal came to fruition, Johnson used an unconventional method to develop a trade plan. He didn’t sit in his office and sift through depth charts. He apparently went on a jog with trusted members of his coaching staff.
Wannstedt felt good about his defense’s chances against the Joe Montana-led Kansas City Chiefs in a Week 7 matchup. Johnson wasn’t on the same page as he jogged with members of his inner circle.
“He says, ‘I don’t know if we’re going to win another game.’ I said, ‘No, we’re feeling pretty good.’ He says, ‘All I’m thinking right now is how I’m going to get to Texas A&M or the Arkansas job because we’re going to be fired and we’re all going to be going somewhere else,'” Wannstedt recalled. “Then somebody said, ‘Who do we have on our team that anybody really wants?'”
Wannstedt said he was trying to stay optimistic about the team, so he began throwing out names to consider for trades. Troy Aikman came up, but Johnson immediately shot the idea down. Walker was the next name that came up. Johnson briefly considered the positives that would come with trading Walker. About four hours later, Johnson was ready to move the running back.
“Jimmy came down into my office, it was like 4 or 5 o’clock. This is like four hours later. Same day. And said, ‘I think we’ve got a trade. I think we’re getting Herschel Walker, we’re making a trade with the Vikings,'” Wannstedt said. “By 6 o’clock that night, he had the thing done. It was the players with the picks and I ain’t going to get into all the fine line about it, but there was a lot of things involved in it. That’s how it happened, on one of our jogs. Within four hours, Jimmy had this thing done. It was remarkable. It truly was.”
The rest is history. Dallas used the draft picks it acquired from Minnesota to land franchise icons like Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson. Johnson’s team went 1-15 in 1989, but found success throughout the 1990s. As Cowboys head coach, Johnson posted a 44-36 record and won Super Bowl titles in the 1992 and 1993 seasons.