Top Prospect Aikman Remaining in School

The National Football League will draft Sunday, so what does the most coveted college player in America have planned?

An expenses-paid weekend in Manhattan, where he can hold up his new jersey and have his picture taken with Pete Rozelle?

An afternoon in front of the TV set in his agent’s den, with as many mini-cams as can be squeezed between the sofa and the coffee table?

A quick spin through Malibu to look at summer homes?

“As far as I know, I’m not doing anything,” says Troy Aikman, UCLA’s low-key quarterback.

Maybe recovering from the rigors of spring practice. Or studying. Or going down to Fatburger for dinner. Michael’s is going to have to wait. Aikman is staying in school, so it’s the student life for him.

But make no mistake, this fourth-year junior, not Auburn’s Aundray Bruce, whom the Atlanta Falcons have already made the top choice in the draft, is generally considered to be the top player in the country. There were even rumors that the Raiders’ Al Davis was going to pull some kind of end run and land him, which, although a compliment, was unrealistic.

“If Troy Aikman was in this draft, he’d have gone first and been signed before the draft,” said Joel Buchsbaum, Pro Football Weekly’s draftnik.

Ahead of Bruce?

“Are you kidding?” Buchsbaum asked. “A quarterback against an inconsistent linebacker?”

Said personnel director Gil Brandt of the Dallas Cowboys: “I think he probably would have been the first player selected. I have to preface that by saying, when you start to really dissect players, then you start to see their weaknesses. When you look at them until then, you just see the big plays.

“But he’s big, he’s fast, he’s got a great arm, he’s a bright guy. He’s got so much going for him.”

And he’s modest, too. An agent in a coma could have gotten Aikman $5 million for his signature today, but it was only this week that he became aware that not only would he have gone in the first round, he would have headed it.

“That’s flattering to hear,” Aikman said, laughing. “I hope I hear that talk next year at this time.”

He did, however, start hearing that he might be eligible for the draft about the time of the Bruins’ trip to the Aloha Bowl. He wondered about it and consulted Coach Terry Donahue.

“Coach Donahue told me there was no way I could legally do it,” Aikman said. “Unless I decided to sue the NFL or practically got an agent and became ineligible (for college ball).”

Since that time, however, another fourth-year junior, Pitt’s Craig (Ironhead) Heyward, has applied for the draft, been accepted and is expected to go in the first round. Normally a player who is red-shirted, as Heyward was, or who transfers, as Aikman did, isn’t eligible until five years after his class starts school.

The consensus among agents, however, is that the NFL rule would have about as much of a chance in a courtroom as a paper plane in a hurricane. Ironhead’s agent, Bruce Allen, let it be known that he would sue if his client was turned down.

Some NFL hawks, such as Cowboy President Tex Schramm, pressed for accepting the legal challenge, but cooler heads in the league office prevailed. Ironhead was admitted, as Aikman probably would have been.

So, is Aikman sorry now?

“No,” he said. “Even after I found out how simple it would have been, it wasn’t too late--know what I’m saying?

“It was just something I felt wouldn’t be right. When I decided to come to UCLA, I made a commitment for two years. I think leaving would tarnish the game. It would tarnish the college system. With players leaving early like that . . . I realize they have a right to earn money whenever they’re ready to do that. But I think the rules have been set, and players ought to follow those rules until they’re changed.”

Staying has other pluses and minuses.

On the plus side: Dick Steinberg, the New England Patriots’ chief scout, thinks Aikman is better off right where he is for another year.

“He’s really only thrown the ball for one year,” Steinberg said. “It’s kind of like Todd Blackledge. He really only threw the ball very much one year at Penn State. I’m not saying that’s why he never made it, but he might have been better off with another year.”

On the minus side: Who knows what Aikman’s standing will be in a year?

Even disregarding the chances of their being hurt, players’ reputations can drop overnight, let alone over a full season under a microscope. John Elway and Dan Marino began their senior years ranked dead even. Elway was the first pick in the draft, Marino the last in the first round.

But even assuming the worst, there’s a big bag of money out there with Aikman’s name on it. How bad can that feel?

“I’ve always been a down-to-earth type of person,” Aikman said. “It’s encouraging to me, but still and all, if I don’t play well my senior year, or if something happens to me, they’re not going to bank on what’s happened last season. It’s not a guarantee for me. It’s flattering, but at the same time, it’s not going to keep me from working as hard as I would have if I hadn’t known it.

“A lot can happen in a year. It’s just like going into last year--who ever had heard of me?”

They’ve heard of him now. Tell those UCLA defensive linemen in spring drills to be careful, that’s a billion-dollar Bruin they’re rushing.