Aikman's exit fitting -- class to the end

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By DARRELL FRY

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 13, 2001

DALLAS -- They came, a room full of teammates, friends and reporters, to see him. They came to hear definitively what they knew they would inevitably see.

They came to say goodbye, to reflect wistfully on Troy Aikman's distinguished career. Oddly, Aikman was the only one crying.

He still could have played. Maybe with San Diego or Kansas City, and still beaten the pants off half the teams in the league. After all, he's only 34.

But the smiles all around the Stadium Club at Texas Stadium during his retirement news conference Monday told you this was the right thing for so many reasons. For 12 seasons, this guy was a class act, so why would you expect that to change now?

Everybody likes to talk about Aikman's health, that it is best he walked away before any more screws come loose in his head. It's a valid concern. After 11 concussions, nine in his NFL career, you don't want to tempt fate any more.

But Monday seemed so right because Aikman left the game the way we'll always remember him. Dignified. Skilled. Resilient. And a Cowboy forever.

Remember how sad it was to see Joe Louis hang around the ring way too long? How painful it was to watch Dan Marino that last season? How awkward it was to see Joe Montana in a Chiefs uniform instead of a 49ers jersey?

Now remember how distinctive it was to see Wayne Gretzky retire with his skills very much in tact. Same with John Elway and Steffi Graf. Aikman deserved to go out that way, too. With people still respecting his gifts. With his greatness not far removed. With the only team he has played for standing by his side.

Not lost on the sideline, holding a clipboard. Not serving as a tutor for some young, brash hotshot who will never achieve half the things Aikman did. Not looking silly in some other team's uniform.

"I've seen Danny White retire and Tom Rafferty and Ed Jones and Michael Irvin and Daryl Johnston and Jay Novacek, and you think your time will never come. My time has come," Aikman said, fighting back tears at his news conference. "I'm okay with it, but I also know I can still play."

Troy Aikman leaves as a Cowboy because he was one long before he ever got to Dallas. He grew up in nearby Oklahoma watching the Cowboys during their heyday, when Roger Staubach was a scrambler and Tony Dorsett could run faster than sound and Randy White scared quarterbacks in their sleep.

During his hour-long retirement speech, he recounted the story of how, his senior year at UCLA, he rooted for Green Bay to win its last regular-season game so the Cowboys could get the No. 1 pick in the draft by having the league's worst record.

Aikman even went to the finale at Arizona to urge on the Packers. After Green Bay won, Aikman said he bought a Cowboys cap, hoping Dallas would use that No. 1 pick on him, which it did.

"There was such a history (with the Cowboys)," he said, "that I wanted to be a part of that."

He was and so much more.

Don't let the numbers fool you. Aikman is Hall of Fame material. He isn't among the league leaders in many important career statistical categories, but his greatest talents couldn't always be measured mathematically.

People always have debated whether he was merely a good quarterback on some great teams. But don't buy it. Aikman's productivity was dictated by the system. He didn't throw for 4,000 yards like Marino or Elway or Dan Fouts because the Cowboys didn't need him for that. They had other options. Does the name Emmitt Smith ring a bell?

No, Aikman did what the Cowboys needed him to do: win.

The guy led Dallas to three Super Bowl victories, a feat accomplished by just two other starting quarterbacks in history (Montana and Terry Bradshaw). Thanks partly to his insanely accurate arm, he was part of 90 Dallas victories in the 1990s, which is more than any quarterback in any decade.

Here's the clincher. He was 11-4 in the playoffs and never lost a Super Bowl. Like Michael Jordan, Aikman was at his best when it counted the most. His numbers typically were better in the post-season than the regular season.

Because of that, he'll go down as one of the all-time great ones. A member of the Cowboys' elite Ring of Honor. A lock for the Hall of Fame.

That's the way we should think of him. Just like that, except minus the tears.

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