Troy Aikman: A Football Life

[drawandstrike]

The entire film is here:



This is the saddest NFL moment I can ever remember. Wonder if it's dawning on Jerry in that sideline clip what he'd done to Troy?

 

[MileyDancer]

I'm a dad of 3 girls ... it's a piece of cake.

I see you're swimming in estrogen at your house.

 

[J_Allen]

Yes he was, this gives you an idea of why a lot of old timers like myself have such disdain for jeri, Troy concurs imo

That is one of the saddest videos I've ever seen. I feel terrible for Troy. It literally makes me sick.

 

[Thomas82]

Hopefully all of that is gone.


The Cowboy identity has always been about having a strong run game and having a passing game that feeds off of it.

Our mission should be to never change from that.

From now on every Dallas team needs to be built around OL, explosive RB, and solid QB play.

I agree 100%!!

 

[lukin2006]

That was a great episode...

 

[drawandstrike]

That is one of the saddest videos I've ever seen. I feel terrible for Troy. It literally makes me sick.

Troy could see where the team was going with Jerry as the GM and no Jimmy Johnson around to restrain him.

He kept his mouth shut for years and not until this documentary was made did he publicly speak about how Jerry literally forced him to hang it up. "I didn't want to be a part of it any more."

 

[Stash]

I remember even back then the sunshine and Kool-aid drinkers were trying to defend Switzer. But anyone who had clear eyes could see he was along for the ride. When Jimmy left, the disciple left with him. And the Cowboys were no longer a mistake-free team they were under Jimmy.

I remember it all too well too. They wouldn't hear of the dysfunction going on, or the issues Aikman had with Switzer's style at that time. It was nice to see those sideline comments from Troy that confirmed all of that. And it should be an eye opener to anyone who has tried to deny that it happened.

Troy Aikamn is my all-time favorite Dallas Cowboy. I see him as an example of someone who made the effort to always do things 'the right way' and to the best of his ability, no matter what it was. And I think that his leadership and work ethic went a long way toward this team winning those Super Bowls and becoming the dynasty that they were.

Like Michael Irvin said, if they had more players with the commitment that Troy had, they undoubtedly would have won even more championships.

 

[Stash]

Troy could see where the team was going with Jerry as the GM and no Jimmy Johnson around to restrain him.

He kept his mouth shut for years and not until this documentary was made did he publicly speak about how Jerry literally forced him to hang it up. "I didn't want to be a part of it any more."

That was the first I had ever heard of that, I had always heard that it was back issues that ended Troy's career.

Hearing that now makes the 'battle of egos' that was happening after their success even more saddening, because not only did it hurt both Jones and Johnson and cost this team more championships, it also ended the career of one of the greatest players of all time.

 

[tyke1doe]

I remember it all too well too. They wouldn't hear of the dysfunction going on, or the issues Aikman had with Switzer's style at that time. It was nice to see those sideline comments from Troy that confirmed all of that. And it should be an eye opener to anyone who has tried to deny that it happened.

I think the most telling commentary was when he (Aikman) was saying (yelling) that not anyone from the head coach down was trying to instill discipline or hold anyone accountable (I paraphrase). That was a statement for the ages.

I'm convinced had Jimmy stayed or we got a disciplinarian like Jimmy we would have run off five straight Super Bowls. San Francisco and Green Bay couldn't beat us with Jimmy, the Triplets and Haley. But as is frequently the case, our collapse didn't come from outside but from within.

Ah, what could have been. Sigh.

 

[Stash]

I think the most telling commentary was when he (Aikman) was saying (yelling) that not anyone from the head coach down was trying to instill discipline or hold anyone accountable (I paraphrase). That was a statement for the ages.

I'm convinced had Jimmy stayed or we got a disciplinarian like Jimmy we would have run off five straight Super Bowls. San Francisco and Green Bay couldn't beat us with Jimmy, the Triplets and Haley. But as is frequently the case, our collapse didn't come from outside but from within.

Ah, what could have been. Sigh.

I totally agree. On all counts. Their own success was ultimately their undoing.

 

[noletime95]

I watched the episode and really enjoyed reading this thread with everyone's reactions. Great stuff.

When I moved to Tampa and Dallas came to town, I finally had a few bucks to get good seats close to the field. In the past when traveling to see the Cowboys, it was cheap hotels and the cheap seats through the Super Bowl years (my college years). Troy was already my favorite Cowboy, but my appreciation for him grew significantly in a game where Dallas lost decisively to a good Tampa team and Troy didn't put up numbers. The guy took shot after shot and kept delivering catchable balls, hitting his check downs and, yes, expressing some frustration with various teammates. You could tell several Buc players (Brooks, even Sapp), had lots of respect for Troy when they'd help him up after drilling Aikman to the ground before delivering the ball.

He played his tail off and really had no chance to win. And that was well past his prime, yet he played at a very high level on 12/3/2000 against a really good defense.

 

[Satchel89]

He was a little salty about how some people dismissed him because he didn't put up big stats. And he didn't end up with huge stats and he had a right to be salty. It was a totally different game back then. He didn't have to throw it 35 and 40 times a game like Big Ben and Drew Brees do now. I liked the 90's when teams were allowed to play defense. Aikman had a big time arm. He was fun to watch and I know he wasn't mobile but he didn't have to be and he could make some big time throws. But it comes down to his post season performances. He was good when it mattered most.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

We should have drafted Randy Moss.

I agree I wanted him badly.

The thing is, with his immaturity level, and how he was he likely wouldn't be the Randy Moss we all know now. He would have been in Dallas, partying all the time, and getting into trouble with Irvin. It likely wouldn't have been the Hall of Fame career that Moss had by not coming to Dallas.

That's a sad thing to say but that's how it would have been with this team, at that time, for a guy like Moss.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

As for the show....it was awesome. Probably my favorite one I've seen thus far. It was just damned good.

I've always respected Troy. He's always been one of my all time favorite Cowboys but this episode made me respect him and what he was for this franchise even more.

To see some of that footage from after Switzer was there...heartbreaking. To see how Troy was struggling with how a once proud, well oiled machine, was just falling apart is just sickening. To think that this guy had to endure that (and this makes it even worse then when it was actually happening) and had to endure being booed by the damned idiot fans....damn.

I remember watching the team decline and how much it sucked watching that but I wasn't as into the behind the game stuff then, as now, without social media and I wasn't online all the time reading about things. I never knew, during that time, just how awful things were behind the scenes for the Cowboys.

It's a terrible way for them to have ended that whole run.


I've always said that the extremely over inflated egos of Jerry and Jimmy absolutely robbed people of something truly special and this A Football Life absolutely cements that thought for me. Those two clowns, who couldn't put their enormously stupid egos aside for the better of the entire team is just flat out disgusting and they should both be extremely ashamed of themselves.

 

[DenCWBY]

I remember it all too well too. They wouldn't hear of the dysfunction going on, or the issues Aikman had with Switzer's style at that time. It was nice to see those sideline comments from Troy that confirmed all of that. And it should be an eye opener to anyone who has tried to deny that it happened.

Troy Aikamn is my all-time favorite Dallas Cowboy. I see him as an example of someone who made the effort to always do things 'the right way' and to the best of his ability, no matter what it was. And I think that his leadership and work ethic went a long way toward this team winning those Super Bowls and becoming the dynasty that they were.

Like Michael Irvin said, if they had more players with the commitment that Troy had, they undoubtedly would have won even more championships.

 

[yimyammer]

I agree I wanted him badly.

The thing is, with his immaturity level, and how he was he likely wouldn't be the Randy Moss we all know now. He would have been in Dallas, partying all the time, and getting into trouble with Irvin. It likely wouldn't have been the Hall of Fame career that Moss had by not coming to Dallas.

That's a sad thing to say but that's how it would have been with this team, at that time, for a guy like Moss.

So true, things were an absolute mess across the board at that time. Cris Carter was better suited to be a mentor to Moss than Irvin & Dallas chaos' at that time.

 

[J_Allen]

To see some of that footage from after Switzer was there...heartbreaking. To see how Troy was struggling with how a once proud, well oiled machine, was just falling apart is just sickening. To think that this guy had to endure that (and this makes it even worse then when it was actually happening) and had to endure being booed by the damned idiot fans....damn.

It's very sad. To see something that great being dismantled piece by piece is heartbreaking. The machine was on it's last legs in 1995. It had nothing left after the Super Bowl. The next round of free agency and poor drafting finally killed it.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

It's very sad. To see something that great being dismantled piece by piece is heartbreaking. The machine was on it's last legs in 1995. It had nothing left after the Super Bowl. The next round of free agency and poor drafting finally killed it.

The hiring of Switzer started the decline but the moment that I felt absolutely put the final explosion to all in place was the signing of Deion.

I know it didn't kill it instantly but it was the time bomb that fully destroyed what had once been built there. His lack of dedication, lack of commitment to hard work, and his BS way of just making it seem like working out, lifting weights, and doing all the other things that are needed to be great seem like they were meaningless absolutely set a terrible example for a lot of the younger talent on the team. Especially younger defensive players who were looking to this guy as their mentor.

As Moose has said before on some stuff, "Deion could simply shake his leg and be ready to go play at a high level but the other guys, the ones following his lead, weren't talented enough to do that and get away with it and it showed." That mentality killed them.

It's the exact mentality that made Jerry Rice hate having him on the team and having him part of it all when Deion was with the 49ers.

 

[J_Allen]

The hiring of Switzer started the decline but the moment that I felt absolutely put the final explosion to all in place was the signing of Deion.

I know it didn't kill it instantly but it was the time bomb that fully destroyed what had once been built there. His lack of dedication, lack of commitment to hard work, and his BS way of just making it seem like working out, lifting weights, and doing all the other things that are needed to be great seem like they were meaningless absolutely set a terrible example for a lot of the younger talent on the team. Especially younger defensive players who were looking to this guy as their mentor.

As Moose has said before on some stuff, "Deion could simply shake his leg and be ready to go play at a high level but the other guys, the ones following his lead, weren't talented enough to do that and get away with it and it showed." That mentality killed them.

It's the exact mentality that made Jerry Rice hate having him on the team and having him part of it all when Deion was with the 49ers.

There is no doubt be was a cancer and a terrible example. I've heard stories about how if a coach said or did something he didn't like, he told them to call Jerry's extension. There hasn't been a more lazy, effeminate, primadonna in the NFL.

But...I highly doubt we win Super Bowl XXX without him. Was he worth the last Super Bowl? No. There was nothing enjoyable about that Super Bowl and I don't think Jerry deserved it. He didn't have a thing to do with it outside of overpaying for that clown.

So there, I said it. They can have Super Bowl XXX back.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

There is no doubt be was a cancer and a terrible example. I've heard stories about how if a coach said or did something he didn't like, he told them to call Jerry's extension. There hasn't been a more lazy, effeminate, primadonna in the NFL.

But...I highly doubt we win Super Bowl XXX without him. Was he worth the last Super Bowl? No. There was nothing enjoyable about that Super Bowl and I don't think Jerry deserved it. He didn't have a thing to do with it outside of overpaying for that clown.

So there, I said it. They can have Super Bowl XXX back.

Well I don't think I'd give the Superbowl back, I'm greedy like that as well.

But I do agree that he wasn't necessarily worth the trouble. I don't know that we couldn't have won it without him. He didn't play until half way through the year, or more than half way, and I think when he did start playing (After baseball) Dallas was already 8-1 or 8-2. I don't really feel like we couldn't have won without him. It might have made SF more of a problem if he'd stayed there but I don't know if he would have made a difference in them losing to Greenbay or not. He might have. I just don't know.

He was a great player. I take nothing from him on that but he was a clown of a person who thumbed his nose at hard work and dedication. He always did even going back to college. Which is why one of my favorite stories about him ever is the one where the Noles were beating the Canes pretty good and Michael Irvin was still out there playing hard, still blocking hard, and Deion mouthed off to him that he needed to settle down because the game was over.

Michael went on to roast them for 2 TDs after that and the Canes came back to win.

Deion never had that hard work, get all you can out of what you've got mentality. He was lazy. Which has always bugged me to no end because as great as he was it's always made me think, and ponder, how great could he have been if he'd worked as hard as a Jerry Rice, or a Michael Irvin, or a Troy Aikman.