Aikman trades football for microphone
   by Chris Taylor, editor-in-chief

    All dynasties must eventually come to an end, and earlier this month the Dallas Cowboys dynasty officially ended.

    The unthinkable finally happened.

    Troy Aikman retired. Aikman had been released by the Cowboys in March because of his large salary and injury concerns.
Too many concussions made keeping Aikman a risky proposition. Aikman wanted to continue playing football.

    He waited as teams filled their starting quarterback positions. His last chance was possibly to play for the Kansas City Chiefs.

    However, they were not interested in employing his services because of his eroding skills and numerous concussions.

    That made Aikman’s retirement inevitable.

    It is actually better this way. It’s better that he retired as a Cowboy rather than play out the end of his career for some other team.

    This is really how it should have been. Aikman should have been given a hero’s farewell, not unceremoniously cut and seeking employment.

    Aikman helped lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowls in four years in the early ’90s. He retires as the quarterback with the most wins in any decade with 90.

    Aikman was often criticized during his career for not showing emotion and for being a perfectionist.

    People often described Aikman as having ice water in his veins. These qualities are what made him great.

    He was cool, calm and collected under pressure and rarely made mistakes.

    One thing you could say about Aikman is that he rarely cost the team a game by throwing stupid interceptions.

    Aikman was such a perfectionist, and he demanded the same effort out of all the players around him.

    That kind of effort might have been one reason why he was never completely happy when Barry Switzer ran the team with his laid-back style.

    Aikman never seemed to buy into Switzer’s coaching. Obviously, he was embarrassed by what his teammates did off the field.

    I always enjoyed watching Aikman during the Cowboys’ Super Bowl runs.

    I always considered him nothing more than a robot built to win Super Bowls because that’s what he did.

    Aikman and the team had the same attitude during those times. They believed that any season in which they didn’t reach and win the Super Bowl was a failure.

    We as fans enjoyed it to death, but then we became spoiled and expected their greatness to last forever.

    Aikman’s next step is apparently to become a sports broadcaster, which I’m sure he’ll be great at also. After that, he is almost sure to be a Hall-of-Famer.

    He may not have the statistics, but he has the credentials: three Super Bowl wins, impeccable character and a desire to win.

    I am going to miss Troy. Was he the best quarterback ever? No, but he was close, and he will never be replaced.

    Jerry Jones signed Tony Banks as Aikman’s replacement. Jones apparently thinks that Banks is the answer.

    If Tony Banks is the answer, it must have been a pretty stupid question.

    But, this is now the future of the Cowboys after such a glorious past.

    Aikman’s retirement leaves Emmit Smith as the last of the superstars that helped propel Dallas to greatness.

    Smith’s goal before he retires is to break Walter Payton’s career rushing record. Smith is only about 1,500 yards away from breaking the record and will do it without Aikman.