|
 Troy
Aikman: His Thoughts on 'The Legacy'
He's not done yet: Cowboys QB says championships will be his
legacy
By Ed Werder
Dallas Morning News
(July 16, 1996)
DALLAS (KRT) - Troy Aikman has always said championships were
more necessity than indulgence with the Cowboys. 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 Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana, with four each, have won
more. But in a one-hour interview this past week, Aikman insisted
his pursuit of becoming the first five-ring quarterback is not
the most compelling reason he plays.
"While the perception is that I'm not having any fun playing,
the fact is the only reason I'm playing is because I still enjoy
it," said Aikman, whose stoic facade is as legendary as his
competitive fire.
The Cowboys report to training camp in Austin on Wednesday. They
can 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,"
he said. "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. If we won four
and we had the chance to win five, something nobody has done as
a quarterback, that would be meaningful."
Aikman also provided a surprising response to how much credit
Barry Switzer, a frequent adversary, deserves for the team's Super
Bowl XXX triumph.
Following are Aikman's thoughts on that and other noteworthy topics:
GREATEST TEAM EVER?
"To put that kind of burden on this football team is unfair.
Every year we've had something. Could we win back-to-back Super
Bowls? Could we be the first team to win three straight Super
Bowls?
"It's always, 'If you do this, then you can be this.' I think
it's time for this football team to have the chance to just play,
without thinking about its place in history. 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. I think we have as good a chance as any since I've
been here to win another Super Bowl."
ON BARRY SWITZER:
"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 is, just like I view Jimmy's role for what it
was. Yeah, I think Barry deserves some credit."
THE RACISM CHARGES:
"Last year was a very difficult period. It was tough on
our football team. It wasn't just me. The problems we had last
year, I think the way that it has been written and talked about,
it became a situation where I think people thought I was isolated
from how everybody else felt.
"I don't feel that was the case. I was maybe the most vocal,
and therefore I was maybe singled out more. But I'm really interested
in putting that behind me. There were some unfortunate things
said, some untrue things, and that affected me a great deal."
COULD ANY QB WIN WITH THIS TEAM?
"That perception bothers me because you could say that
about any player on our team. You could say that about Terry Bradshaw.
You could say that about Joe Montana. There is a reason teams
have won multiple Super Bowls, and it is because they're talented.
"I don't think that should detract from players when you
consider them on an individual basis. The important thing to me
is that my teammates, coaches and those I play against recognize
my impact on the game and what I do for this football team."
THE HALL OF FAME:
"It's not a given. I don't know that I've played long
enough. If this was my 15th year and I didn't accomplish anything
more, then maybe I could count on it. But right now, I think the
voting looks at consistency over a long period of time. I really
pride myself on being consistent week in and week out and from
year to year. I want to be one of those players where everybody
knows what they're getting."
THE IMAGE CRISIS:
"Right now, I would probably say the Cowboys generally
are not considered a class organization. It is obviously a concern
of mine, and it has been since I came into the league.
"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. It is important to me to play for a football team
that wins with class, and it is important that when you lose,
you lose with some dignity.
"We've won three Super Bowls, and everybody thinks we've
done it strictly on talent. I don't really believe that. We have
a lot of people here with good character, and I don't know that
the public believes that. But I do."
ROLE MODELS:
"I don't think the way I'm asked to conduct myself should
be different than anybody else. Everybody wants to talk about
us being good role models, and I agree with that. But I think
everybody has that responsibility. You see your kids more than
I do, so you're going to have more influence on them, even though
I might impact them.
"Nobody wants to be responsible for something that is not
right. So when parents have shortcomings and their children grow
up to be less than model citizens, they want somebody else to
blame."
ON JERRY JONES:
"The way he has worked the finances of the team under
the salary cap and kept players here has been very admirable.
He has made very solid football decisions. I wouldn't say they
have all been great decisions. But I think, by and large, he has
made decisions that have given our football team a chance to win.
"All the team owners are committed to making money. But there
are some, like Jerry and Eddie DeBartolo, who are also committed
to winning, and there are not a lot of them out there. They would
all tell you they want to win. But they're not committed to doing
what it takes to win."
THE INTERNET:
"I spend a lot of time on there with E-mail, because I
hate talking on the phone. I communicate with family, friends
and business associates with E-mail. I've done shopping, bought
gifts. I've gotten a lot done, and I'm kind of fascinated with
the whole computer thing.
"I don't spend a whole lot of time talking on there. I'm
usually trying to accomplish some task, and there's a lot of information,
so it has been very educational."
LIFE AFTER FOOTBALL:
"At one time, that was a real intimidating question for
me, because I didn't know what I would do. If I had gotten hurt
my second or third year in the league, I don't know what I would
have done.
"Now, it's not as much of a concern, not because of playing
longer and making more money. But I've become involved with some
things off the field that I feel very secure with."
STARDOM:
"I like knowing that I've reached some level of success
in what is important to me. Beyond that, the things we've done
with the foundation have meant a lot, and I've met a lot of great
people. Beyond that, it means very little."
ON DISCIPLINE:
"It is important to me. It is me. I was raised with discipline.
It is part of my makeup. I like being around disciplined people.
That doesn't mean you have to be strict or uptight. But I like
being around people who are committed to things and dedicated
to seeing things through.
"It's important to me for people to take their jobs seriously.
That's not to say you can't have fun with it. But there has to
be some commitment there."
ON BEING A COACH:
"It would be hard for me to be a coach, because I would
be awfully demanding. Things athletically came naturally to me,
and then I worked to improve. But I never had to work that hard
at fundamentals, and I just grasped things very easily. I think
of coaches as being teachers, and I don't know how good I would
be because I never really had to be taught a lot of things."
THROWING THE FOOTBALL:
"Unless I'm getting hit when I'm throwing, I really expect
to complete every ball, and when I don't complete a ball I had
time to throw, it is very frustrating to me. I've always had that
ability to put the ball where I wanted it to go, whether it was
football or baseball. Now golf, that's another thing."
PERFECTIONISM:
"I don't like the term perfectionist. I think perfectionist
has a connotation or image of being very strict, inflexible and
uptight. I don't really consider myself that way.
"I'm a neat person at home. I like things in their place.
But I realize I have limitations, weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
So I'm not a perfectionist. But, if you're talking about football,
I want to be as good as I can be on every play. And I've never
left a game feeling I played as well as I could have."
LEADERSHIP:
"It is important for the success of a football team to
have a player at the quarterback position who teammates respect.
While the position naturally lends itself to producing a leader,
there are quarterbacks out there who are not leaders for their
football team, because they're not respected by their teammates."
MODERN FOOTBALL:
"With the salary cap, you have to choose whether you want
to have an offensive football team or a defensive football team.
A lot of teams have chosen offense. I still believe defense wins
championships."
THE FUTURE:
"I want to play as long as I can without suffering long-term
effects. I want to be able to do things with my kids, and I want
to continue to play golf when I'm 50 years old. So there are things
I don't want to jeopardize.
"But right now, I still enjoy football too much to walk away
from it. If you're not having any fun, the money is not worth
it to me. In 1989, and we were 1-15, and I was 0-11 as a starter,
I made more money than I thought possible, and I wasn't having
any fun. It wasn't fun to get your brains kicked in every week.
And if the team is not committed to winning, then it goes back
to having fun. I cannot go through the motions and compete unless
I feel like everybody is competing for a common goal."
WHAT KEEPS HIM PLAYING:
"I like the competition of football and what the competition
brings out in people. I'm really drawn to the team aspect of football.
Winning three Super Bowls has been rewarding not because we won
three Super Bowls but because of the people I've shared that with.
"People always ask me what I most remember about the first
Super Bowl we won. The thing I remember most was seeing everyone
who was on the team when we were 1-15, when nobody thought we
could play, and seeing us as world champions and how excited everybody
was. I have a picture of that at my house. Just winning for the
sake of winning is not fun for me. It's the people I win with."
X X X
(c) 1996, Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune
Information Services.
|
