He Wore a Star With Distinction ... and Sometimes Saw Them

Troy Aikman needed two tries to find the right college, two seasons to win multiple NFL games, and, as a result of several concussions, saw double for part of his pro career.

But when it came to putting him into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, voters didn’t think twice.

Aikman, former star quarterback for UCLA and the Dallas Cowboys, will be enshrined today with fellow Class of 2006 members Warren Moon, John Madden, Harry Carson, Rayfield Wright and the late Reggie White. The ceremony takes place in Canton, Ohio.

“I’ve been working on my speech and I barely get through it by myself without having the emotion of being there at the moment,” Aikman said. “And so I know it’s going to be a very emotional weekend for a lot of reasons.”

In a way, it’s remarkable Aikman has gotten this far, considering his bumpy starts in college and the NFL. His college career at Oklahoma ended after he suffered a broken leg and the Sooners went back to a wishbone offense. He transferred to UCLA, where he led the Bruins to a 20-4 record and victories in the Aloha and Cotton bowls.

To prepare for the Cotton Bowl, the Bruins practiced at Texas Stadium, home of the Cowboys. It was late December 1988, and legendary Dallas coach Tom Landry went to a UCLA practice, along with player-personnel executive Gil Brandt, to take a look at the UCLA quarterback.

“After the practice, I said, ‘Coach, do you want to come back tomorrow to look at him again?’ ” Brandt recalled. “He said, ‘No, I’ve seen enough. He’s our choice.’ ”

And Aikman was, becoming the first pick in the 1989 draft. But turbulence followed. Jerry Jones bought the team in early 1989 and, in a wildly unpopular move, fired Landry and hired University of Miami coach Jimmy Johnson.

Johnson then made the decision that summer to choose Steve Walsh, his quarterback with the Hurricanes, in the first round of the supplemental draft. The message was not lost on Aikman or his agent, Leigh Steinberg.

“To have the first pick in the supplemental draft as your backup, a guy who’s your peer, was obviously unsettling for Troy,” Steinberg said. “Troy was never oblivious to the nature of the peril. But he showed incredible courage, stoicism and grit in the face of it.”

That wasn’t enough to quiet the many critics who thought Aikman should be replaced, especially after the Cowboys went 1-15 in 1989. The quarterback privately wondered if the talent level at UCLA was better than that of his new team.

But in 1990, with the help of rookie running back Emmitt Smith, Aikman led the Cowboys to the brink of the playoffs. Dallas reached the postseason the next year, and was on its way to winning three Super Bowls in four seasons.

A turning point for Aikman was the hiring of Norv Turner as offensive coordinator in 1991. Theirs wasn’t a typical coach-player relationship; they were more like big brother and little brother. Turner will introduce Aikman today on the steps in Canton.

“He came at a time when I was a young quarterback going into my third season, had struggled my first few years and needed some guidance,” Aikman said. “I needed somebody to kind of show me how to do it.... And he did that. He put it together for us.”

Aikman went on to make six Pro Bowls, break or tie 47 Cowboys passing records, and rise to stardom in Dallas and beyond. When he went grocery shopping, he went after midnight at a round-the-clock market. When he went to movies, he’d enter the darkened theater after the trailers had started. And as for a quiet night out for dinner, well, that just didn’t happen.

“The line of people asking for autographs was endless,” Steinberg recalled. “It was virtually impossible for him to get through a meal without the food getting cold.”

Although he’s the first Cowboys player from his era to reach the Hall of Fame, Aikman is quick to point out it wasn’t a virtuoso performance. He was surrounded by great players, among them the two other so-called “Triplets,” Smith and Michael Irvin.

“That moniker for us is something I was always proud of,” Aikman said. “I was proud to be part of that group and with those guys, and our relationship is very strong. It was when we played. It still is to this day.”

Aikman, who retired in 2000 and has become a top television analyst at Fox, said he has few regrets when it comes to his football career.

Well, there is one.

“The only athletic regret I can think of is that at UCLA I failed to get our team to the Rose Bowl,” he said. “And that’s the only thing I look back on and think, ‘Wow, I wish I would have been able to do that.’ ”

It was on that Rose Bowl field, however, that his Cowboys won the first of those three Super Bowls.

As he stood on the turf before kickoff and watched the military jets overhead, Aikman began to hyperventilate. He didn’t catch his breath until after Dallas’ first offensive series. The nerves didn’t show; the Cowboys trounced Buffalo, 52-17.

After the game, as they rode in a limousine from the Rose Bowl to the team hotel in Santa Monica, Steinberg told him: “Just think, you’re going to have a Super Bowl ring on that finger.”

Said Aikman: “I won’t be satisfied until I have one for every finger.”

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Class of 2006

In addition to Troy Aikman, the NFL Hall of Fame will welcome five new members today:

HARRY CARSON: New York Giants linebacker led team in tackles in five different seasons.

JOHN MADDEN: Coached Oakland Raiders to Super Bowl XI championship.

WARREN MOON: Passed for 49,325 yards in 17 NFL seasons, fourth all-time.

REGGIE WHITE: The late defensive lineman retired as NFL’s career sacks leader with 198.

RAYFIELD WRIGHT: Offensive lineman played in five Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys.

Source: profootballhof.com