Sort of off topic: about Troy Aikman

[lewpac]

Troy was supposed to live up to his 1st pick overall billing. Of course he still deserves all the credit he gets. But at the time he was supposed to be the best QB prospect since Elway.

Romo has so far exceeded anybody's expectations being an undrafted FA from a tiny school. Having said all that, I loved Troy and absolitely love Romo now.

Until Romo performs in the playoffs like Troy did (and I believe he will), it's waaaaay premature to be having this conversation.

"Back & forths" on subjects like this is like having the unending debate of who the greatest heavy weight champ is. It's unending because we'll never know for sure. The usual names are from different era's and generations, never fought on another, etc...............so it's all relative.

That said, Troy Aikman is one of, if not THE most prolific passer in playoff history. His numbers are off the charts, far exceeding his regular season stats. THAT is the single biggest glaring thing about Troy Aikman. The stuff that they can't measure at the combine or be sure of on draft day. The leadership and big-game results that you want from any QB. Like Montana................nothing about Montana, not his arm, his legs, his size, etc............nothing "measurable" was extraordinary about the guy. But come playoff time..................................

Romo also doesn't have the coaching or mentoring that Aikman did in Jimmy Johnson and Norv Turner. Nothing even close. THAT, more than the O-line he has or the players around him, will be part of the measure of what Tony Romo is or will become.

Their personalities and style of play are also measurable different. No "cooler" cat you'll ever find than Aikman. There were no surprise's with Troy. Nothing "exotic" or dramatic. Romo is his exact opposite. He's exiting and talented, but unpredictable and is prone to turn a coach or two gray overnight. He's given me more than a few near-strokes already. Aikman is more like Johnny Unitas, Romo is more like Favre or Tarkenton.

Finally, winning three rings in this day and time is unrealistic. Free agency, salary caps, coaching carousels, etc..................too much instability in the league now. I know, I know, Brady did it and Manning's run is pretty close to Brady. Even (cough-cough) McNabb, but theyre the exceptions. Nowadays, your one, maybe two and done. Troy played toward the end of the old days in the NFL, where the team you assembled REMAINED THAT TEAM. Romo is already on his second wave of running backs, a semi-revamped offensive line, and is entering into a new day of receives to throw to.

I think if you wanted to compare Dallas QB's from Merideth through Aikman, that's one thing. Since free agency and salary caps and other parity measures kicked in (the mid-90's), it's fairer to compare Romo to the rabble we've has since Troy (Carter through Bledsoe). And, BY FAR, Romo is the best of that lot. BY WAAAAAY FAR!!!!! Not even close IMO.

Romo's gonna' get a ring. I'll put money on that. Hopefully this year. Maybe 2011, maybe 2013............who knows? But I honestly think he'll get at least one Championship. But to hold him up to the likes of Troy Aikman is a tough road to hoe. It's patently unfair to Romo, not so much that he doesn't have the talent or intangibles that Troy had. But the "era" in which he's playing....................

 

[Aikmaniac]

Because he seems to suck as a coach. How many players can't coach a lick in whatever professional sport they belong, despite 'knowing' what their players can do? We are a long way off from the Norv Turner days....

I'm willing to give Garrett one more season after the swagger he showed in his first year. Sure, teams had him figured out, but let's give him the offseason to see if he can revamp.

 

[dbair1967]

Aikman didn't look great with Coslett, so how could he look great with Garrett...

Aikman never played under Coslet.

Jack Reilly was the OC in Aikman's last season.

 

[CantonBound08]

...at least at this point in Romo's career, is that when things were not going as planned, guys were not playing up to the level they should, Aikman would get in there faces and make it happen.

Troy tiene los cajones muy grandes!!!!

 

[THUMPER]

There is a reason why Troy Aikman was a 1st ballot HoFer, the guy was flat out GREAT!

 

[Bizwah]

Romo's a gunslinger...fun to watch.

Troy was a surgeon. Like a surgeon (no Weird Al references please) you really didn't notice how calmly he's slice up the opposition when needed.

 

[Aikmaniac]

I wish Troy would get as much respect from fans league-wide as he does here.

 

[irvin4evs]

Said it many times... Romo can't carry Troy's jock strap. That's not a knock on Tony; it's a testament to how good Aikman was. Even after being the absolute prototype QB and the #1 overall pick who won three Super Bowls, Troy is still probably the most underappreciated great player of the last 20 years.

I agree with all of this. I would have no problem taking Aikman over any other QB ever after seeing some of his old-time performances again. The numbers of today's QBs makes it easy to forget how great the original football players were, despite less fantasy sports conspiring from owners and league management.

It's funny--watching him play makes Steve Young look a bit like a turd.

 

[GOLDENCHILD1688]

I don't know if Aikman could make it behind this offensive line.

Thats one of the great things about Romo imo.

i dont know if aikman could make it with garrett calling the plays

imagine troy back there forced to scramble every other play as he watch his recievers going out deep on every play

garrett would have fans calling for aikman head and calling him overrated

while people would be saying irvin aint the same player and lost a step lol

 

[CantonBound08]

The sad part about it is that people were calling for Aikman's head toward the end of his career, but he really did not have anyone to play catch with. The team was a shell of what it had been.

Aikman was the one that made the offense click. He held everyone to a higher standard, and as ABQCOWBOY mentioned above, Romo just doesn't seem to be the type of person to say "I don't give a crap how big you are, or who you are, you need to get your stuff in gear". Aikman had the respect of the whole team (except maybe "Prime Time"), and he seemed to ooze absolute confidence. Romo does not lack in confidence, but I don't think he will ever be the leader that some want him to be.

Now, some will argue that Romo could not be the head honcho of the huddle so long as T.O. was here. I would tend to agree with them. I think the same thing could be said of Eli Manning. They didn't seem to look to him for leadership (my perception) until Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey were either not on the team or at least not in the huddle. However, you could also say that Romo just didn't have the cajones to tell Owens to shut up. Maybe he did, I don't know. I wasn't there, but he doesn't seem to have that in him. I hope he proves me wrong.

 

[CantonBound08]

i dont know if aikman could make it with garrett calling the plays

imagine troy back there forced to scramble every other play as he watch his recievers going out deep on every play

garrett would have fans calling for aikman head and calling him overrated

while people would be saying irvin aint the same player and lost a step lol

I dunno. I saw Romo sit on the ball too long a few times as well. He would then throw the ball behind the receiver, etc. It isn't all Garrett's fault. I think one of the DMN writers mentioned earlier that the 90's Cowboys offense was extremely predictable, but it didn't matter because they could execute it anyway.

There is no reason for this team not to be able to execute. I like Romo, but there were times when he was just trying to get rid of the ball and made some really really bad decisions. It is easier said than done, but there were times last year when Romo just needed to eat the ball rather than trying to force it into a certain spot *cough*Pitt game *cough*.

I think we will do better next year. I think we will miss Owens to some degree, but I think the running game will be a huge help to us. However, we won't go anywhere until Romo can protect the ball.

 

[CantonBound08]

My apologies. This thread is about Aikman.

You are right Aikman was awesome. Extremely accurate, fantastic leader. I wish he could have played many more years.

 

[ReturnToGlory]

First of all, please don't insult Aikman by comparing him to Brady. Aikman never cheated!

The difference between Aikman vs. Elway, Montana, Brady, Marino or even Staubach.

Aikman dominated from the first play, so the game was over by halftime. Never needed a dramatic comeback. Watch him in his prime, where most of the games were done by Madden, and every game Madden goes on and on about Aikman completing 8 or 9 of his first 10 passes.

In today's mediocre league, if only Romo prepared half as much as Aikman...

The reason Romo has a poor start each game is his preparation. He thinks that he can feel a defense out and work on the fly. (listen to some of his postgame interviews.) That will never work against a top notch defense or in a high pressure game.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Told this story several times here, but always love dusting it off when the 1993 NFC Championship game comes up.

For the two years 1992 and 1993 I had a job that put me in contact with a few Cowboys. I saw Alvin Harper almost every week. The guy was very accessible and would stand and talk for a few minutes everytime I saw him.

If you recall, Aikman got injured when a defensive lineman kneed him in the crown of the helmet. He left the game because of a concussion.

Bernie Kosar came into the game.

Harper had run a couple of deep slants that day for Aikman and Kosar threw one pretty quickly, I believe.

When Harper came back to the huddle Kosar told him he had been watching the cornerback, and the guy was ready to jump the route.

The next time the play was called Kosar told him in the huddle he was throwing to Harper's back shoulder and to be ready.

Harper caught it and was off to the races.

Harper told me that story the Tuesday after the game.

As a side note, Harper stayed in town after the SB that year. he was shopping his talent around the league, eventually winding up in Tampa Bay.

They guy was just a regular fella for two years. After the back-to-back SB he became a different guy.

He no longer had time to talk. And whereas he was cordial and gracious, he became rude.

No biggie. Life is tough for everyone. So he may have had a reason. But I always think of Irvin, who I saw almost as much, and success, and failure never changed the guy. He was always ready to talk Cowboys.

Super Bowl rings or Public defendant.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

agree 100%

he's the most underrated superstar player I think I've ever seen.

Aikman was a first ballot HoFer. What should they do? He is already enshrined perhaps they should start a church in his name.

 

[jay cee]

Aikman was great, but Staubach was the greatest Cowboys qb imo. I still have hope that Romo may be able to place himself in the conversation by the time his career ends.

To do so, he is going to need help from his coaches and teammates like Staubach and Aikman had.

Just like someone said earlier, Aikman did not look so good when he did not have good players around him.

IMO, Romo has good enough players around him, but it just seems as if the team does not have the discipline that it takes to get to the next level.

I really hope they turn it around this year.

 

[Apollo Creed]

Troy is also a very bright guy, he understands football as good or better than anyone else - and he has really developed as an announcer.

His relationship with Irvin is interesting considering they were on totally different ends of the spectrum and found common ground in how hard they worked. You can tell they really had a great friendship on and off the field. It was about respect with that team, everyone felt like they were fighting to earn it and not let their teammates down.

Hopefully as this team matures, and we get a better HC - Tony will start to develop that even keel Aikman-esque attitude. There is no room to being a flake in this league, especially with the Dallas media. So Troy's advice to Tony regarding perception, was spot on.

I'm glad Jerry gets input from guys like Troy, especially a guy that calls so many games in our division.

 

[The30YardSlant]

Troy Aikman was one of the best pure passers of all-time. Was he THE greatest QB ever? No. Did he have more around him than almost any other QB in history? Yes. However, without Aikman, I highly doubt we win 12 playoff games and 3 Superbowls in the 90s. We probably would still have been a great team and won a title, but wouldnt have had near the total body of work. His accuracy was the catalyst behind our offensive success. Teams had to respect the quick slants, outs and comebacks because of his accuracy and couldnt afford to blitz often. This helped Emmitt and the O-Line immensely. I remember watching games in which the opposing defense rarely if ever blitzed because they knew Troy would pick them apart

 

[boyzjunkie]

Are you guys kidding? Wake me up when Romo wins his third superbowl. Or his first even.

 

[rcaldw]

Are you guys kidding? Wake me up when Romo wins his third superbowl. Or his first even.

It is insanity, but get used to it. I swear, I don't think some of the guys who comment in a thread like this know a darn thing about football.

"Aikman didn't look too good when he didn't have good people around him"

I mean, what do you even say to that?

1. Aikman was the #1 overall draft pick in the 1989 draft. I wonder why? Because he wasn't talented in his own right?

2. Aikman produced not only what you wanted from a #1 pick (A Super Bowl Championship), he did it times 3.

3. He could have put up numbers with anyone who has ever played the game. He chose instead to be a team player which is exactly why Jimmy Johnson says he was the greatest team player he had ever been around.

4. As it has already been noted, there were years when he was throwing to guys named Stepfret. Enough said.

5. He has the immense respect of the guys who played with him, and that speaks volumes.