Sunday, July 14, 1996

Aikman legacy to be pro football championships

Associated Press
(July 14, 1996)

DALLAS- With individual passing records likely out of Troy Aikman's reach, the Dallas Cowboys quarterback says his legacy will be pro football championships.

Having won three Super Bowls in his seven pro seasons, Aikman is in position to make a play for another title he covets: the greatest championship quarterback in NFL history.

Only Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw have won more, with four each. The Cowboys, who report to training camp in Austin on Wednesday, could become the first team to win four Super Bowls in a five-season span.

"Unless something dramatic changes, I won't have the chance to challenge individual passing records, Dan Marino-type records," Aikman told The Dallas Morning News.

"So my legacy in this league is always going to be championships and Super Bowls, and I'm comfortable with that. The opportunity to win four is meaningful to me," he said. "If we won four and we had the chance to win five, something nobody has done as a quarterback, that would be meaningful."

In the interview, Aikman said he was concerned about the team's image and the turmoil of the past year. But he was positive about the team's new challenges, including the possibility of winning back-to-back Super Bowls or even three straight.

"There will be time when we're done playing to put this team into historical perspective. I want us to have the chance to simply play, play hard and see what happens," he said. "I think we have as good a chance as any since I've been here to win another Super Bowl."

Aikman also had praise for coach Barry Switzer as well as Jimmy Johnson, who coached the Cowboys to their second successive Super Bowl title in 1993 and now hopes to take the Miami Dolphins to a bowl game.

Of Switzer, Aikman said, "I say this very honestly: I think he deserves as much credit as whatever credit Jimmy might have gotten. I view Barry's role for what it was. Yeah, I think Barry deserves some credit."

Aikman said the past year has been a tough one for the Cowboys.

"I want to be proud of the reputation and the image we have as a football team, and I think right now we're going through a tough period," he said.

The quarterback said discipline is an important part of his life.

"We have a lot of people here with good character and I don't know that the public believes that. But I do," he said.

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