Age: 25 (Nov. 21)
3rd
season in pro football & with Cowboys
College: UCLA
Height: 6’4” Weight: 218
Prelude:
Aikman
started off in college at Oklahoma and was starting quarterback as a sophomore
until breaking his ankle four games into the season. He transferred to UCLA
where, after sitting out a year, he passed for 5298 yards and 41 touchdowns and
led the Bruins to a 20-4 record with two bowl victories and received consensus
first-team All-American honors as a senior in 1988. The Cowboys chose Aikman with
the first overall pick in the ’89 NFL draft and he took over the starting job,
showing great toughness with a rebuilding 1-13 team and missing time with a
broken finger. A drop-back quarterback with a strong arm, Aikman continued to
develop in 1990 and passed for 2579 yards until suffering a late-season
shoulder separation that required surgery.
1991 Season Summary
Appeared in 12
of 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 363
[16]
Most
attempts, game – 42 vs. Washington 9/9, at Detroit 10/27
Completions –
237 [14]
Most
completions, game – 31 at Green Bay 10/6
Yards – 2754 [16]
Most yards,
game – 331 at Detroit 10/27
Completion
percentage – 65.3 [2, 1st in NFC]
Yards per attempt
– 7.6 [4]
TD passes – 11
[16, tied with seven others]
Most TD
passes, game – 3 vs. Washington 9/9
Interceptions
– 10
Most
interceptions, game – 3 vs. Philadelphia 9/15
Passer rating
– 86.7 [6]
300-yard
passing games – 1
200-yard
passing games – 8
Rushing
Attempts – 16
Most
attempts, game - 3 (for 9 yds.) vs. Washington 9/9, (for -5 yds.) vs. NY Giants
9/29
Yards – 5
Most yards,
game – 9 yards (on 3 carries) vs. Washington 9/9
Yards per
attempt – 0.3
TDs – 1
Pass
Receiving
Receptions –
1
Yards – -6
Yards per
catch – -6.0
TDs - 0
Scoring
TDs – 1
Points – 6
Postseason: 1
G (NFC Divisional playoff at Detroit)
Pass attempts
– 16
Pass
completions – 11
Passing
yardage – 114
TD passes – 0
Interceptions
– 1
Rushing
attempts – 2
Rushing yards
– 0
Average gain
rushing – 0.0
Rushing TDs –
0
Missed one
postseason game due to injury
Awards & Honors:
Pro Bowl
Cowboys went 11-5
to finish second in the NFC East and qualifying for the postseason as a Wild
Card. Won NFC Wild Card playoff over Chicago Bears (17-13). Lost NFC Divisional
playoff to Detroit Lions (38-6).
Aftermath:
The best was
yet to come for Aikman and the Cowboys as the team won three of the next four NFL
Championships. Aikman passed for 3445 yards and a career-high 23 touchdowns in
1992 and capped the year by being selected as the Super Bowl MVP. He was chosen
to six consecutive Pro Bowls and was a steady, solid leader as well as
consistent performer in an offense where he was often overshadowed by RB Emmitt
Smith and WR Michael Irvin. But he had five 3000-yard passing seasons and
averaged over seven yards per pass attempt six times. The team went into
decline and concussions became an issue, forcing Aikman’s retirement in 2000.
Overall, he completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 32,942 yards and 165
touchdowns and, in the postseason, threw for another 3849 yards and 23 TDs while
the Cowboys won 11 of his 16 starts. Aikman was inducted into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame, Class of 2006.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
I always felt Troy Aikman to be a little overrated as a QB. He certainly was talented, threw pretty spirals, and was a very accurate passer, but most of his success came playing for a Dallas team stacked at every position, particularly the offensive line, the biggest in the NFL at the time. He didn't seem as impressive at carrying the team and winning games by himself, like QBs like Joe Montana and Dan Marino had to at times, and was never fully tested to his limits. Rather, he seemed to function as a very valuable cog in a well-oiled machine, which slowly started to break down as the rest of the team regressed from their peak in the mid-90's.
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