Two teams wanted Aikman after he retired?

[CaptainMorgan]

He also says he retired because the Cowboys were in disarray -- which is strange, since the Cowboys cut him before he retired.

nice job trying to make Aikman look like the bad guy.

fact is, it probably took some convincing by JJ that this was the best thing for the Cowboys and for Aikman and his family, not to mention this was a subpar team during Aikman's last few seasons. Even knowing that it was obvious in Aikman's retirement press conference that he was having a tough time letting it all go.

Age and injuries caught up with him thats all. Doesnt make him any less of a legacy in my eyes.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

nice job trying to make Aikman look like the bad guy.

fact is, it probably took some convincing by JJ that this was the best thing for the Cowboys and for Aikman and his family, not to mention this was a subpar team during Aikman's last few seasons. Even knowing that it was obvious in Aikman's retirement press conference that he was having a tough time letting it all go.

Age and injuries caught up with him thats all. Doesnt make him any less of a legacy in my eyes.

Adam is just saying Aikman was cut, then retired

it's not a slight, all the great ones had to go at somepoint, fortunately Aikman's concussions kept him from tarnishing his legacy like some greats have done

 

[AdamJT13]

nice job trying to make Aikman look like the bad guy.

I'm not trying to make Aikman look like a bad guy. I just find it strange that he claims he retired because the Cowboys were in such disarray, when the Cowboys actually cut him because of his concussions -- before he retired. He retired because nobody initially wanted to take a chance on him that offseason. If some other team had offered him $20 million the day we cut him, he definitely would NOT have retired "because the Cowboys were in disarray."

 

[CoCo]

I'm not trying to make Aikman look like a bad guy. I just find it strange that he claims he retired because the Cowboys were in such disarray, when the Cowboys actually cut him because of his concussions -- before he retired. He retired because nobody initially wanted to take a chance on him that offseason. If some other team had offered him $20 million the day we cut him, he definitely would NOT have retired "because the Cowboys were in disarray."

I think I also recall a story where Aikman was supposedly VERY visibly upset and was yelling at Jerry Jones one time because Jones was telling people that Aikman had retired when the truth was that Jerry released him. Aikman didn't want that fact distorted at that time.

 

[CaptainMorgan]

I'm not trying to make Aikman look like a bad guy. I just find it strange that he claims he retired because the Cowboys were in such disarray, when the Cowboys actually cut him because of his concussions -- before he retired. He retired because nobody initially wanted to take a chance on him that offseason. If some other team had offered him $20 million the day we cut him, he definitely would NOT have retired "because the Cowboys were in disarray."

I see what youre saying but who's to say Aikman wasnt given a choice by Jones after Jones expressed his conerns over Aikman's concussions and back condition?

Aikman may have decided on his own that given the state of the team that it might be the right time to either explore other options if there was any interest or retire a Cowboy?

Honestly I dont know the answer to that but two things were perfectly clear back in those days, one, Aikman was no longer Aikman and the Cowboys we're clearly not a contending team from 97 on.

 

[AdamJT13]

I see what youre saying but who's to say Aikman wasnt given a choice by Jones after Jones expressed his conerns over Aikman's concussions and back condition?

Huh? What other choice was there? Aikman wasn't medically cleared to play. Jerry wouldn't let him play. But Troy wanted to keep playing, so the Cowboys had to cut him.

If the Cowboys weren't in "disarray," what would have changed? Would they have allowed Troy to stick around as the third-stringer and never play, but collect his paycheck anyway?

No matter the state of the Cowboys at the time -- good or bad -- there was no scenario under which Aikman would have been a Cowboy in 2001, because of his health.

 

[adamknite]

When Fiedler got hurt while playing for the Dolphins they were trying to bring him in, but he didn't wanna come in just to play until fiedler got better, then get benched.

 

[GTaylor]

It was San Diego, Norv was their offensive coordinator at the time and he was trying to reunite with him. Not sure if it was Norv or Marty who said no.

 

[CaptainMorgan]

there was no scenario under which Aikman would have been a Cowboy in 2001, because of his health.

but there was a scenario which could have landed him on atleast two other teams?

Even if Troy was still performing at a high level, did we really have the weapons around him to make a run? So why risk his physical well being?

We've all seen the interview that NFL films did with Troy where he said "It becomes a very toemented 16 weeks when the pain from the losses overcome the joys of the wins".

I dont for one second buy that Jerry Jones cut Troy without first consulting with him and both of them coming to a mutual decision, even if it took some coaxing from Jerry. I also believe they both had the best interest of the franchise in mind when they came to that decision.

 

[TheSkaven]

He also says he retired because the Cowboys were in disarray -- which is strange, since the Cowboys cut him before he retired.

So true. Troy was one of my favorite Cowboys (I named one of my sons after him) but when he retired, he really was finished. It wasn't so much the concussions as the back problems. He no longer had any velocity on the ball.

That all being said, those who boo'd him in that last year in Texas Stadium are classless.

 

[Aikbach]

i thought he almost signed with miami when jimmy johnson was there

Jimmy Johnson resigned after his humiliating 62-7 thrashing at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1999 playoffs, he was not coaching in 2000 or in 2001 when Aikman retired.

 

[AdamJT13]

but there was a scenario which could have landed him on atleast two other teams?

Not that offseason. And just because one team won't clear a player medically, that doesn't mean nobody will. Someone might have been willing to let Troy risk brain damage, but Jerry wasn't.

I dont for one second buy that Jerry Jones cut Troy without first consulting with him and both of them coming to a mutual decision, even if it took some coaxing from Jerry. I also believe they both had the best interest of the franchise in mind when they came to that decision.

Again, what other decision could Jerry possible have made? And if Aikman was ready to retire out of frustration, why didn't he retire immediately instead of having to be cut, then wait more than a month to see if anyone else would let him play, before he finally retired? It would have been much more graceful to just retire as a Cowboy without ever having to get cut. Rather, after being cut, Troy stated, " "My desires are to continue to play." The bottom line is, he retired because nobody else would let him play, NOT because of the state of the Cowboys.