Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 16, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (right) talks with former quarterback Troy Aikman before the game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
Hall of Fame quarterback-turned-broadcaster Troy Aikman didn’t hold back when discussing the Dallas Cowboys‘ three-plus-decade Super Bowl drought, and he places the blame squarely at the feet of owner Jerry Jones.
Aikman, who recently took on a consulting role with the Miami Dolphins in addition to his job broadcasting Monday Night Football alongside Joe Buck, sat down for an interview with Dale Hansen and talked about the team’s fall from grace.
The former star quarterback led the franchise to Super Bowl victories in 1992, 1993, and 1995. But since that point, Dallas hasn’t even reached the NFC Championship Game, let alone play in the Super Bowl.
Troy Aikman Is Astonished By The Dallas Cowboys’ Fall From Grace
“I didn’t think it was the last one that I’d be a part of. I thought we would certainly win another one,” Aikman said about the 1995 Super Bowl.
“It’s hard to fathom. It really is. Because we see it, we talk every year about parity, and we’ve seen teams go from last to first, and teams that have not been historically very good, they still make a run, they make it to a championship game or a Super Bowl, and yet for the Cowboys that hasn’t happened. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly why.”
Why has Dallas been floundering for three decades? Aikman puts it down to the way that Jones has been running the franchise.
“Cowboys fans deserve better,” he said. “I do know that. This is the Cowboys, the flagship franchise, and the fact that the Cowboys in 30 years have not made it to a championship game, let alone a Super Bowl, it’s hard to fathom.
“To me, you have to make changes in how you’re doing it, if for three decades you haven’t made an NFC Championship Game. It’s just unacceptable”
Troy Aikman Credits Jimmie Johnson For 1990s Dynasty
While Jones will happily take the credit, the majority of NFL fans know that Dallas’ loaded 1990s roster was largely built by Hall of Fame coach Jimmy Johnson.
Jones then fired Johnson when he asked for more control of team personnel decisions. Barry Switzer came in and won the last of three Super Bowls in the 90s. But the team hasn’t been close since.
“He knows why we won with Jimmy Johnson, and I believe the reason we won is because every player in that locker room felt, and I think knew, that Jimmy was calling the shots, that Jimmy was in control of their destiny. So, if you didn’t do what you were supposed to do by Jimmy’s standards, you were held accountable,” Aikman said.
“He was a great evaluator of talent; he drafted those players, he built those teams, he was a tremendous general manager. I say general manager; he was a tremendous evaluator of talent, and in many ways he was the de facto general manager. I think he was probably better in that role than he was even as a head coach, as good as he was there.”
Unless or until Jones accepts that reality, Cowboys fans can continue more of the same moving forward.