Aikman on why he retired

[ColoradoCowboy]

I own THREE jerseys. All 3 played every single down of their careers with the Dallas Cowboys. I hurts to not have an Emmitt Smith or a Jason Witten, but that's how I roll: Cowboys vs Everyone Else.

 

[amame25]

I take it thats a yes

deflection. Nice

 

[DuncanIso]

Too many concussions.

 

[JayFord]

I watched all of Aikmans Prime and after

It was time…he was getting beat in the head too much

 

[GMO415]

Could see him and some other players in an eagles uniform, even some fans on here!!

Coog never disapoints.

 

[gimmesix]

After the 1996 season, the last time Dallas won, Aikman was 24-28 over the next four seasons.

Aikman was on the 18th hole of his career ready for the clubhouse.

A good example of why won-lost records should not be held only against the quarterbacks. He may have been cooked in the end from the concussions, but it's hard for me to believe the quarterback whose team won the Super Bowl at the end of the 1995 season was cooked in 1997. He had more TD passes that year than he'd had in any of his previous years except 1992. The next year, he had his fourth-highest QB rating. (The three highest were our Super Bowl years.) His completion percentage dropped those final four years as the weapons around him got worse, the protection got worse and the scheme changed.

An opposite example of that is Peyton Manning. He was cooked his last year Denver, but won a Super Bowl because the team around him was so strong. He had the second worst completion percentage of his career (only behind his rookie year) and had 9 TDs and 17 ints., but the team was 7-2 in his starts and then 4-0 in the postseason when he completed just over 55 percent of his passes and had 2 TDs to 2 ints.

 

[Established1971]

Aikman stopped playing because he was cooked. If any team actually wanted him to play they would have offered him legit money and he would have played.

Aikman sought out a starting QB gig. He did not get one. That really tells you everything you really need to know.

exactly
the mistake the org made was not getting his successor ready.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

exactly
the mistake the org made was not getting his successor ready.

And that's the way it's been ever since. Romo and Dak were just accidents

 

[SuspectCorner]

Aikman is on record saying his back issues forced him to retire, not the concussions. Either way, watching him in the 2000 season was sad. You could tell his skills eroded beyond salvaging.

And his protection had eroded as well. Troy was not my idea of ‘nimble’ when forced out of the pocket - he generally was slow of foot and tended to remain too … well… erect while running. Anybody remember Aikman getting blasted by Washington LBer Arrington while trying to roll to his right seeking the endzone? OUCH!

But give Troy a count of three in a clean pocket … dude was a surgeon.

 

[BaybeeJay]

I think the most interesting part of this is that he intended to keep playing and would have if Norv Turner had signed him in San Diego, then he almost got Miami. What stands out to me was Aikman was driven away from the Cowboys organization because of their bad decisions.

The part that made me cringe was that he got an offer to play for the Eagles. Thank God he turned that one down. That would have been really sickening to see him in an Eagles uniform. I've cringed when I saw Cowboys players in another team's uniform as follows:

John Niland in an Eagles uniform.
Calvin Hill in a Washington uniform.
Herschel Walker in an Eagles uniform.
Ken Norton Jr. in a 49ers uniform.

Thank God I was spared seeing Aikman in an Eagles uniform.

Smart guy. This is a dumpster organization.

 

[atlantacowboy]

Then you aren't reading the same things I am.

What part of anything I said refutes that? Where did I say a word about stats? You're putting words in my mouth and clearly having an issue with reading comprehension. What part of "great" don't you understand? Do you think he could still go out and lead a team to the Superbowl? Then what I said stands. He was great until he wasn't.

Ok. Maybe I read to much into your comment. I didn't realize you were making such an obvious , stupid point. What player was not great "until he wasn't"? You could paint the entire HOF with that wide of a brush.

 

[morat1959]

And that's the way it's been ever since. Romo and Dak were just accidents

Romo and Dak accidents?