You won’t see Jimmy Johnson on Fox’s NFL studio show Sunday — he’ll be rebuilding his home in the Florida Keys that was severely damaged by Hurricane Irma.
“I spent 20 years getting this place just how we dreamed it,” an emotional Johnson told the Sun Sentinel. “And for it all to be gone in a day …”
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Johnson, the former NFL and college football coach turned TV analyst, decided to ride out the storm at his job with Fox in Los Angeles. He arrived at the studio around 3:30 a.m. last Sunday to watch hurricane coverage on the news, but once he saw photos of his property, he decided to return to Florida rather than stay in L.A. any longer. He and his wife, Ronda, got back to Florida on Wednesday.
While the Sun-Sentinel writes that like most Keys residents, the “tears haven’t stopped” for the Johnsons, Jimmy considers himself lucky and is sympathetic toward the less fortunate. None of his loved ones were hurt in the storm, his house and guest house did not sustain any structural damage, his two power boats were moved to safety, and he can stay in a room above his restaurant in Key Largo, which was not damaged.
“Don’t feel sorry for me,” Johnson said, per the Sun-Sentinel. “I can rebuild. I have the money. I feel bad for people who lost their house and don’t know what to do. Those are the ones to feel sorry for, the ones who need help right now.”
Despite the threat of catastrophic storms, Johnson has no plans to move from the Keys.
“The happiest I’ve ever been in my life is right here,” he said. “And it will be that way again.”