Troy Aikman

Troy Aikman

Career history
Dallas Cowboys
Stats at Pro Football Reference
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Troy Kenneth Aikman (born November 21, 1966 in West Covina, California, USA) is a former American football quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League, and currently a television sportscaster for the Fox network. He is also a joint owner of the NASCAR Nextel Cup racing team, Hall of Fame Racing, along with fellow former Cowboys quarterback, Roger Staubach. He is considered one of the best NFL quarterbacks of his era, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February 2006. He is referred to as one of "The Triplets" with Cowboys teammates Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith; Irvin was also elected to the Football Hall of Fame in 2007, and Smith's selection when he becomes eligible in 2010 is considered a certainty. He married Rhonda Worthey on April 8, 2000, in Plano, Texas. They have three children: Rachel Worthey (from Rhonda's previous marriage), daughter Jordan Ashley Aikman born August 24, 2001, and daughter Alexa Marie Aikman born July 30, 2002.

Early life

The youngest of three children, Aikman was born in West Covina, California on November 21, 1966, and lived in Cerritos, California until age 12, when his family moved to a farm in Henryetta, Oklahoma. In Things Change, an account of his life written for kids, Aikman recounted that he thought his athletic career was over, but, to his surprise, it was just beginning. He made All State in both football and baseball, and his high school, Henryetta High School, retired his football jersey. In high school he was also involved in the Future Business Leaders of America, the influence of which can be seen in his business ventures.

College career

Oklahoma Sooners 1984-1985

Although drafted by the New York Mets, Aikman chose to pursue football and attended the University of Oklahoma under head coach Barry Switzer.

In 1985, his first season as a collegiate starter, Aikman led the Sooners to wins over Minnesota, Kansas State, and #17 Texas in the Red River Shootout before hosting the Miami Hurricanes and his future head coach Jimmy Johnson.

On October 19, in front of a sellout crowd of 75,008 at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Miami's Jerome Brown broke through the offensive line and sacked Aikman on the Sooner 29-yard line and broke his ankle. Aikman, who had been six of eight passing for 131 yards, would be lost for the season. Switzer and offensive coordinator Jim Donnan were forced to switch back to the wishbone offense under freshman quarterback Jamelle Holieway. The team went on to win the 1985 National Championship by beating Penn State in the 1986 Orange Bowl. With Holieway established as the starting quarterback at OU, Aikman decided to transfer to UCLA.

UCLA Bruins 1986-1989

Switzer oversaw Aikman's transfer to UCLA, a program under Terry Donahue that was more conducive to a passing quarterback. He had to redshirt one year due to college transfer rules but went on to lead the Bruins to a 20-4 record over two seasons.

As a Junior, Aikman led the Bruins to a 10-2 record and the 1987 Aloha Bowl, where they beat the Florida Gators 20-16.

As a Senior, Aikman won the 1988 Davey O'Brien Award as the nation's top quarterback, a first for UCLA. He was a Concensus All-American, the UPI West Coast Player of the Year, the Washington DC Club QB of the Year, a finalist for the 1988 AFCA "Coaches Choice" Player of the year award, and he finished third for the 1988 Heisman Trophy. UCLA matched the victory total from the previous season under Aikman, going 10-2 and losing only to USC and Washington State. The season culminated with a 17-3 Bruin victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks in the 1989 Cotton Bowl. He finished his career as the number two career passing leader in UCLA history.

College statistics

		Team				Rushing				Passing				Total Offense
Year	Team	W	L	T	G	Car.	Yds.	Att.	Cmp.	Int.	Pct.	Yds.	TD	Plays	Yds.	TDR
1984	Oklahoma	9	1	1	4	12	18	20	6	3	.300	41	0	32	59	1
1985	Oklahoma	10	1	0	4	49	93	47	27	1	.574	442	1	96	535	1
1987	UCLA	9	2	0	11	73	-51	243	159	6	.654	2354	16	316	2303	18
1988	UCLA	9	2	0	11	69	86	327	209	8	.639	2599	23	396	2685	24
TOTAL	4 NCAA Seasons	37	6	1	30	203	146	637	401	18	.630	5436	40	840	5582	44

†Injured in 1985
‡Redshirted in 1986
Statistics from Official NCAA Publication "NCAA Football's Finest"

Professional career

Aikman was the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft, held by the Cowboys. The proud franchise had fallen on hard times, going a woeful 3-13 in 1988. On February 25, 1989, new owner Jerry Jones shocked the sports world by firing the beloved Tom Landry—the only head coach the Cowboys ever had, replacing him with Johnson, who, to no one's surprise, took Aikman in the draft.

Johnson did not develop Aikman slowly but instead threw him into action immediately. Meanwhile, Johnson spent the entire season shuffling the depth chart trying to find players talented enough to build a winning team. As a result, Aikman was constantly trying to adjust to the styles of different players. Then in middle of the season, the team's only Pro Bowl player, running back Herschel Walker, was traded for several veteran players and draft choices. Although the trade turned out to be successful in the long run, it was devastating to the team in the 1989 season.

Aikman started his first game with a 0-28 shutout loss against the New Orleans Saints. The following week against Atlanta, Aikman threw his first touchdown pass, a 65-yard completion to Michael Irvin, but the Falcons intercepted two of his passes and won the game. The next few weeks were not any better. The Washington Redskins sacked him four times, intercepted two passes, and held him to only six completions in his first home game. Then the Giants came to Dallas and only allowed Aikman to complete one pass before knocking him out of the game with a broken finger, which sidelined him for five games. During that time, the Cowboys ended up winning their only game of the year. But when Aikman returned, he showed the league why he was worthy of being picked with the first overall choice. In a close game against the Phoenix Cardinals, he threw for NFL-rookie record 379 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown pass that gave Dallas a 20-17 lead with 1:43 left in the game. But the Cardinals came back on their next drive to win the game. With the exception of a 17-14 loss against Miami, the Cowboys never came close to winning another game for the rest of year, and were finished off with a 20-10 loss to the Green Bay Packers in their final game with Aikman throwing 4 interceptions.

Aikman finished with an 0-11 record (155 of 293 for 1,749 yards, 9 TDs, 18 INTs) as the Cowboys went 1-15. Fans and sportswriters, still reeling from Landry's firing, publicly disparaged the team's "savior." But things were going to get better sooner than most people expected.

Aikman proved resilient, and in 1990, led the Cowboys to the brink of the playoffs, started off the year by scoring his first rushing touchdown with 1:58 left in the fourth quarter to lead his team to a 17-14 opening day win over the San Diego Chargers. He also started having more help from his teammates, as Johnson showed an uncommon ability for evaluating talent, selecting Emmitt Smith with one of the draft picks from the Walker trade, and going on to build an offensive line and a defense that would rank among the league's best. Dallas was 7-7 with two weeks to play before Aikman suffered a season-ending injury. Dallas would lose its final two games, but Aikman had shown his potential for success in the NFL. His first two seasons had been a rough adjustment. He had thrown 36 interceptions and was sacked 58 times, but had shown his reliability when the game was on the line, leading his team to victory with fourth quarter scoring drives in six different games. In those six fourth quarter rallies, he had completed 71.1% of his passes for 456 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions.

In 1991, the Cowboys made it to the playoffs and Aikman was selected to the first of six consecutive Pro Bowls. In 1992, Aikman set career highs in completions (302), passing yards (3,445) and touchdown passes (23), and led the Cowboys to Super Bowl XXVII at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena against the Buffalo Bills. Aikman completed 22-of-30 passes for 273 yards with 4 TDs as Dallas obliterated Buffalo, 52-17. He was named Super Bowl MVP.

The next year, with Aikman having one of his best seasons posting a 99.0 passer rating, Dallas defeated the Bills again for a second straight Super Bowl title. It was widely expected that the team might win the Super Bowl at the end of the 1994 season, becoming the first team to win three consecutive titles. However, Jones and Johnson began having disputes regarding their own personal responsibility for the team's success. Jones fired Johnson and hired Barry Switzer, a former college teammate of Jones' when the two were at Arkansas. Despite the turmoil, the Cowboys almost returned to the Super Bowl but were beaten, 38-28, in the NFC Championship game by the San Francisco 49ers.

The 1995 Cowboys bounced back, going 12-4 and culminated in a record-tying fifth Super Bowl win (on January 28, 1996) beating the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Aikman threw for over 3,300 yards in the regular season.

In 1997, Aikman became the first quarterback in Dallas history to have three straight 3,000-yard seasons. However, the team missed the playoffs. Switzer suffered the first losing season of his coaching career. His off-the-field woes exacerbated a bad situation, and Switzer quit following the season.

Revolving-door personnel changes plagued the Cowboys for the rest of Aikman's tenure. His pass protection failed him repeatedly as the team, stymied by the salary cap, began a decline. On December 10, 2000, Washington Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington hit Aikman with such force that his head literally bounced off the turf, leaving a dent in his helmet; it resulted in Aikman's 10th concussion and would end his career. The Cowboys finished the season 5-11.

After he was waived a day before he was due a $7 million/7-year contract extension, Aikman asserted he could still play but found no interested teams. He announced his retirement on April 9, 2001. He ended his career as the Cowboys' all-time leading passer (32,942 yards). His 90 wins in the 1990s is the most by any quarterback in any decade.

NFL Statistics

Passing

YEAR	TEAM	G	GS	Att	Comp	Pct	Yds	YPA	Lg	TD	Int	Rate
1989	Dallas Cowboys	11	11	293	155	52.9	1749	6.0	75t	9	18	55.7
1990	Dallas Cowboys	15	15	399	226	56.6	2579	6.5	61t	11	18	66.6
1991	Dallas Cowboys	12	12	363	237	65.3	2754	7.6	61	11	10	86.7
1992	Dallas Cowboys	16	16	473	302	63.8	3445	7.3	87t	23	14	89.5
1993	Dallas Cowboys	14	14	392	271	69.1	3100	7.9	80t	15	6	99.0
1994	Dallas Cowboys	14	14	361	233	64.5	2676	7.4	90	13	12	84.9
1995	Dallas Cowboys	16	16	432	280	64.8	3304	7.6	50	16	7	93.6
1996	Dallas Cowboys	15	15	465	296	63.7	3126	6.7	61	12	13	80.1
1997	Dallas Cowboys	16	16	518	292	56.4	3283	6.3	64t	19	12	78.0
1998	Dallas Cowboys	11	11	315	187	59.4	2330	7.4	67t	12 5	88.5
1999	Dallas Cowboys	14	14	442	263	59.5	2964	6.7	90t	17	12	81.1
2000	Dallas Cowboys	11	11	262	156	59.5	1632	6.2	48	7	14	64.3
TOTAL	12 NFL Seasons	165	165	4715	2898	61.5	32942	7.0	90t	165	141	81.6

Rushing

YEAR	TEAM	G	GS	Att	Yds	Avg	TD
1989	Dallas Cowboys	11	11	38	302	7.9	0
1990	Dallas Cowboys	15	15	40	172	4.3	1
1991	Dallas Cowboys	12	12	16	5	0.3	1
1992	Dallas Cowboys	16	16	37	105	2.8	1
1993	Dallas Cowboys	14	14	32	125	3.9	0
1994	Dallas Cowboys	14	14	30	62	2.1	1
1995	Dallas Cowboys	16	16	21	32	1.5	1
1996	Dallas Cowboys	15	15	35	42	1.2	1
1997	Dallas Cowboys	16	16	25	79	3.2	0
1998	Dallas Cowboys	11	11	22	69	3.1	2
1999	Dallas Cowboys	14	14	21	10	0.5	1
2000	Dallas Cowboys	11	11	10	13	1.3	0
TOTAL	12 NFL Seasons	165	165	327	1016	3.1	9

Stastical notes

Career

• 4,715 passes attempted
• 2,898 passes completed
• 32,942 passing yards
• 165 passing touchdowns
• 141 passes intercepted
• 33.4 passing attempts per interception

Post-season records and statistics

• 11-5 record in the post-season
• 502 passes attempted
• 320 passes completed
• 3,849 passing yards (240.5 ypg)
• 24 passing touchdowns
• 17 passes intercepted
• 89.0 Quarterback rating
• 29.5 passing attempts per interception in the post-season
• 6 Pro Bowls
• 1 Super Bowl MVP award
• 3 Super Bowl victories

Retirement

After his retirement as a player, Aikman joined Fox's NFC telecasts as a color commentator for the 2001 season. A year later, he was named to the network's lead announcing crew, teaming with Joe Buck and Cris Collinsworth. Aikman received an Emmy Award nomination for his television work in 2004, he and Buck worked Fox's broadcast of Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005.

Aikman also hosts a weekly sports radio show which airs on Thursday from 5 to 6 p.m. ET on Sporting News Radio, and appears weekly during the football season on the Dunham & Miller morning show on Dallas sports talk radio station 1310 The Ticket. He was a public spokesman for Acme Brick throughout his career and now owns a Ford dealership in Dallas. He is also the chairman of the Troy Aikman Foundation, a charity to benefit children that has recently focused on building playplaces for children's hospitals.

Aikman, once named the most eligible bachelor in Dallas by Texas Monthly, married former Cowboys public relations operative Rhonda Worthey in 2000 after dating country singer Lorrie Morgan and rumors of dating Sandra Bullock and Janine Turner. There were also rumors of Aikman being gay, whether true or not, one of them directly from Cowboys coach Barry Switzer. Soon afterward, Aikman's dating beautiful women and his "search for the perfect woman" became more high-profile.[[1]]

[2] Troy and Rhonda have two daughters, Jordan and Alexa.

In 1999, he was ranked No. 95 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

On September 19, 2005, at halftime of the Cowboys-Redskins game (broadcast on Monday Night Football), Aikman was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor with his longtime teammates Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith. On August 5, 2006, Aikman was one of six players inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. When he accepted the honor, he commented that he was merely a beneficiary of the Cowboys' system and being paired with subsequent Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, and likely Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.

Hall Of Fame Racing

In late 2005, Aikman together with another former Cowboys quarterback, Roger Staubach, established Hall of Fame Racing with Terry Labonte and Tony Raines co-driving the #96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series in 2006.

Statistics

Career

• 4,715 passes attempted
• 2,898 passes completed
• 32,942 passing yards
• 165 passing touchdowns
• 141 passes intercepted
• 33.4 passing attempts per interception

Post-season records and statistics

• 11-5 record in the post-season
• 502 passes attempted
• 320 passes completed
• 3,849 passing yards (240.5 ypg)
• 24 passing touchdowns
• 17 passes intercepted
• 89.0 Quarterback rating
• 29.5 passing attempts per interception in the post-season
• 6 Pro Bowls
• 1 Super Bowl MVP award
• 3 Super Bowl victories

External links

• Pro Football Hall of Fame profile
• Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor profile
• Troy Aikman at IMDb
• Template:Pro-football-reference

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