Troy Aikman is one of the greatest quarterbacks in Dallas Cowboys' franchise history, and there's nothing we can say or do to change that. Three Super Bowls, six Pro Bowls, and a Super Bowl MVP later, he was the engine that ignited one of the greatest NFL dynasties of all time during the 1990s.
However, Aikman nearly stained his legacy with Cowboys fans. While appearing on the New Heights Podcast with Travis and Jason Kelce, the Hall of Fame signal-caller told a hilarious story where Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles attempted to get him to come out of retirement and sign with them.
The 59-year-old retired in 2000, but this was two seasons later in 2002, while he was getting his start as an NFL broadcaster with Fox Sports. He noted that he was in the middle of a broadcast in San Diego, and got a call from Reid during halftime about playing after Donovan McNabb broke his leg.
“He said, ‘Hey it’s Andy.’ I said, ‘Andy Reid?’ He says, ‘You heard what happened [to McNabb] didn’t you?’ I said ‘Yeah, we just did a game break on it.’ He says ‘Well, I wanna talk to you.’ I said ‘Andy, I’m in the middle of a broadcast.’ And he says, ‘I know you are. I need you to call me after the game.’
So I called him after the game, and he was selling me on why I should come out of retirement and go sign with the Eagles and play for him. Obviously, I didn’t do it.”
Former Dallas Cowboys QB Troy Aikman says the Eagles tried to recruit him out of retirement
As we all know, Aikman turned Reed down, just for the Eagles' backup, Koy Detmer to get hurt the very next week against the San Francisco 49ers. Then they turned to third-stringer A.J. Feely, who won five straight games, but when McNabb returned, they were able to get to the NFC Championship.
Thank goodness he said no. It would've been weird to see a Cowboys legend not just wear another uniform, but play for the Eagles. That would have left a bad taste in the mouths of the entire state of Texas. That's some level of villainy that you only see being accomplished in movies.
At this point, Aikman was retired, but he would've only been in his late 30s. But this was back when players decided to retire at a reasonable age. It's not like this would've been him pulling a Philip Rivers, as Kelce noted, or even playing as long as Tom Brady did, but returning clearly didn't interest him.
Perhaps it was just the idea of playing for an NFC East rival that felt off to him, but at least he knew the value of his legacy in Dallas (as well as his desire to preserve it). I'm sure he would've fared well for an Eagles team that was the top seed in the NFC when McNabb went down, but thankfully, we don't live in the universe where he returned.
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