Troy Aikman’s run from school standout at UCLA to three-time Tremendous Bowl winner, NFL Corridor of Famer and broadcaster has been well-documented.
What most folks don’t know is that Aikman almost stayed in his childhood house of Oklahoma and never with the Sooners.
Aikman just lately talked with Ryen Russillo on his podcast about his recruitment journey. Whereas he would finally go on to play for each Oklahoma after which UCLA, it was almost Oklahoma State the place Aikman ended up.
“I had always planned on going to Oklahoma State,” Aikman mentioned. “They were running the pro-style offense, and Oklahoma was still in the wishbone even though they said they were going to the I with Marcus Dupree and they were going to throw the ball. That’s why they were recruiting me.”
On his journey to Stillwater, Aikman advised Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson that he was going to Oklahoma State. Aikman made it recognized his complete senior 12 months that he was going to be a Cowboy however determined to nonetheless take his official go to to Oklahoma.
Johnson tried speaking Aikman out of it, however he determined to go and benefit from the spectacle. Aikman admits he received caught up in it.
“Because I came from such a small high school, I wasn’t certain that I could play quarterback at that level,” Aikman mentioned. “I wasn’t assured to say that I used to be adequate to compete at that stage however I was adequate to play someplace. Whether or not it’s security, tight finish, lineman, I’ll determine it out and begin someplace.
…I additionally wished to win. At Oklahoma State, you weren’t going to win the convention, and also you definitely weren’t going to win a nationwide title. At Oklahoma, you had the prospect to do all that.”
Aikman finally selected Oklahoma and, after every week, mentioned he knew he may play quarterback at that stage. He spent two seasons at Oklahoma earlier than transferring to UCLA in 1987.
Following two standout years with the Bruins, the Cowboys chosen Aikman with the primary choose within the 1989 NFL Draft.
Oct 24, 1987; Pasadena, CA, USA: UCLA Bruins quarterback Troy Aikman (8) in motion towards the California Golden Bears in the course of the 1987 season on the Rose Bowl. (Lengthy Pictures-USA TODAY Sports)
Together with not attending to play with two future NFL Corridor of Fame working backs in Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders, Aikman additionally said that he turned down Jimmy Johnson twice earlier than the 2 lastly paired up in Dallas.
“He recruited me again to Miami when I was leaving Oklahoma and I turned him down twice,” Aikman mentioned. “If I had signed with Oklahoma State, I would have never played for Jimmy because right after National Signing Day, Jimmy became the head coach at Miami. I don’t feel so bad for turning him down because he wasn’t going to be there anyway.”
Popping out of school, Aikman heard rumors of an oil man from Arkansas shopping for the Cowboys and that he was going to rent Johnson as their subsequent head coach.
He would go on to play for Johnson and Barry Switzer, his former coach at Oklahoma, earlier than calling it a profession in 2000.
“It’s just been one big groundhog day for me for most of my athletic career,” Aikman joked.
Watch the total interview beneath:
