TTROY AIKMAN (Ok Sports HOF Inductees)
“Troy is a little bit of California surfer and a whole lot of Oklahoma country,” said his agent, Leigh Steinberg, in 1993. “He’s got that mix. He’s extremely generous and focused on friendship. He has frontier values.”
Born in West Covina, California, Aikman moved with his family to Henryetta, Oklahoma, when he was 12 years old. In high school, he excelled in basketball and earned All-State honors in football and baseball. Even though he lived there only five years, Aikman said in a 1993 interview, “I identified with the people extremely well when I moved there. I thought the small town, rural America values that the people have there were really special. Everything I felt good about, Henryetta had to offer.”
Aikman became an Oklahoma Sooner to begin his college career, but broke his ankle in the fourth game of his sophomore season. OU went on to win a national championship using the wishbone formation. The wishbone was not suited to Aikman’s talents and with the help of Coach Barry Switzer, he transferred to UCLA. He led UCLA to a 20-4 record and two bowl victories in 1987 and 1988, earned consensus All-American honors in 1988, and won the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback. He came in third for the Heisman Trophy, behind Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders.
The No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft by Dallas, the Cowboys suffered a disappointing 1-15 season with Aikman at the helm during his rookie season. However, of six quarterbacks who were the No. 1 picks in the NFL Draft during the 20 years preceding 1990 (John Elway, Terry Bradshaw, Jim Plunkett, Steve Bartkowski, Vinny Testaverde, and Aikman), only Aikman completed better than 50 percent of his passes in his rookie year. “You’re always looking for that quarterback you can build around for 10 years,” said Dallas quarterback coach Jerry Rhome. “He’s that guy. Troy has a good, young arm, has great vision and can scramble when he needs to. He just needs better players around him.”
Rhome’s comments were prophetic. Aikman took Dallas to the playoffs in 1991, earning his first of six straight Pro Bowl selections. In 1992, the Cowboys went to their first Super Bowl since 1978, and Aikman was recognized as MVP of Super Bowl XXVII. Dallas also won two of the next three Super Bowls. Aikman was named the NFL’s 1997 Man of the Year and made his broadcasting debut as a Fox football analyst in June, 1999. He retired from football in 2000, with 32,942 career yards passing, 165 touchdowns and three Super Bowl rings. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.
“He was a professional in every sense of the word. He made our community better. He gave terminally ill children hope. He made Cowboys fans have pride, and he made our football team a champion again. He embellished our beliefs ... that our athletes can be heroes.”
--- Jerry Jones, Owner, Dallas Cowboys
