May 30, 2026 • 16 mins
We're covering legendary Quarterback, Troy Aikman! Gronk, Julian Edelman, and Rob Ninkovich discuss what makes Troy Aikman so great and some of their favorite stories.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
So Ninko, this is how it works.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Now, we have a guest.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
Usually I break down two guys, two guys or three guys.
We usually break down and talk about him for ten minutes.
But since you're the guests, we're just going to do
one guy that we're going.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
To break down.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
You have the one guy that you've run guy Okay, Yeah,
And before we get started, I read an AI summary
about the guy just to give a little glimpse of
a who we're going to do.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Here we go, all right?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
And the reason why I read it is because Julian's readings.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
There we go?
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Can we got?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I remember I was.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I knew Ninko was probably going to say that, So
I just wanted to get ahead of.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In front of people. I can't read, can't playball. Hey.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Standing at six foot four inches and weigh two hundred
and twenty pounds, this Hall of Fame quarterback was selected
first overall in the nineteen eighty nine draft, the year
that I was born, and went on to lead his
team to three Super Bowl championships.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
He earned six Pro.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Bowl selections and was the MVP of Super Bowl twenty seven,
cementing his status as a clutch performer in big Moments.
Raised in California and Oklahoma, he starred at UCLA UCLA.
In high school, he was an all state football player
and also a standout shortstop. Since retiring, he's been a
fixture in the broadcast booth and even launched his own
(01:18):
beer in twenty twenty two. Let's get on Troy and Ninko.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I love Troy.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Why did you pick Troy Aikman for the dude that
you want to get all over on?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So I picked Troy Aikman because number one, when you're
a kid, you're influenced by the best teams and the winners. Right.
So when I was a kid, I grew up in Chicago,
the suburbs of Chicago. The Bears sucked, right, they had
Cade McNown and they were just terrible. Remember other uclagain,
So for me, the Cowboys were the team. So I
(01:55):
had like the bedspread and I had the Cowboys like
in the bedroom like all the you know, I had
the border around my room the Cowboys at EMMITTT. Smith
on the wall, Troy Aikman, uh, Michael Irvin. So you know,
for me, I just Johnson, Jimmy Johnson. Uh yeah, yeah,
I mean I didn't have a poster of him, but
he had great hair, still great hair, looking fly so
(02:17):
and he was just like Troy Aikman is just a tough,
tough quarterback. Like he was a guy that would just
take a big lick and just keep going right, just
gritty and uh, you know, I had a chance to
talk to him a couple of times. That beer company
that he's got, I do believe, like he sent me
a whole like beer and stuff was so pumped them,
like Troutman sent me a beer. So what type of beer?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
It's a light bear because if separate from other beers, well,
his beer is a light logger.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
It's very like because he's got like he's a health
conscious guy. Like if you watch his social media stuff,
he's jacked for you know, fifty eight fifty eight. He
looks great. He looks great, does and you know, unfortunately
he had to leave the game a little early because
of the head stuff that he was taking. Sounds like, yeah,
sounds great. Talks well, he does a great job on
(03:02):
television and uh, you know, I think he's one hell
of a dude. You ever meet him. I've never met him,
and maybe one day, maybe I take that back. I
take that back, you know, you do the pregame stuff.
I met him at one of those and I was like,
I think we were in Cincinnati. I think we played
in Cincinnati. That was the game that remember, like we
(03:24):
had that monsoon. It was literally like thirteen Yes, we
had we were coming back. It was the last drive
and we couldn't. We had a we had a fumble.
We created a fumble right there. I think Dev created
a fumble. We got the ball back and we couldn't
and we couldn't. We couldn't throw it, couldn't throw the ball,
like literally it was we got craziest rain We had
the craziest rainstorm right when we got the ball. I
(03:45):
think Vonnie Holliday had a strip sack on Tom.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
I was heard that if you ever met if you
ever met him, what would your first question be to him?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Probably just, uh, you know, how did you How did
you stay so successful for so many years when you
guys were the team, like we were the team, but
that's like the team. And that was in the nineties too,
and they were back to back Super Bowl champions, so
I think it was ninety two ninety three, and then
that was the team that beat up. They killed Buffalo
(04:14):
And I don't know if you've seen the documentary The
Four Falls of Buffalo. Yeah, it's kind of depressing, very sad.
Sad from Buffalo Thenko and oh yeah remember.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But I was so young.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I don't know any of that, Like, ok, I don't
remember any of that one.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
That all happened my last game, which is good, which
is good?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Right?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Do you ever think about the other side, like those guys,
like how terrible that must feel for them? Fred Lena?
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, yeah, anytime I see one of the guys, I
just feel I feel it.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Because Matt Ryan, anytime he does anything, they ask him
about that, and it's like, at a point I would
just be like, shut the fuck up, stupid, like a
hell of a career.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
He made so much money, I mean, through for so
many touchdowns, and all people bring up to him as hey,
like what happened that game versus the Patriots in the
Super Bowl?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
That sucks.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
When I watch those documentaries like the Four Falls of Buffalo,
and I see like some of the guys and now
they're older, and I don't know if you've seen some
older NFL players, but it's pretty depressing, you know, it's like,
holy shit, Like I wish they would have won a
super Bowl. For those guys right now, I'm happy that
we were able to make that happen and win that
football game. But I kind of sometimes have, you know,
(05:22):
a little bit of empathy for those guys that didn't
win a super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Definitely because you lost a super Bowl as well. Yes,
so we know what it feels like to lose a
super Bowl. It's probably one of the worst feelings that
you can feel. And you almost would rather now I
say this, and I don't know if you feel the same.
I almost rather not play that game rather just like
lose the AFC Championship game and then say, oh shit,
next year, we'll get back there. Because when you get
(05:46):
to the super Bowl, and we had it, and not
only was it a shitty loss, it was in Indianapolis that.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Was the worst. Just like who thought, like, oh, let's
have a nice Indianapolis super Bowl. It's gonna be freezing
and there's only one cool steakhouse and there's really nothing
to do here. It's actually a great host city.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I heard though, like for like conventions and shit, for
like the viewer and the fan. If it wasn't freezing
they have hotels.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I've heard. It's a really good like hosting city. Almost
as bad as Minnesota. That was freezing. That was eleven under.
It eleven degrees under. So it makes those like that decision,
let's let's stay there. I build the stadium up. It
was a newer stadium.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I mean this, come on, I was just an Indy,
you know, like you said, they need some warm weather there.
It's all right, you know. They do a decent job
hosting that many people. I was at the Any five hundred,
so there was over four hundred thousand people in the city,
and they had enough hotels, enough restaurants and all that.
But it's kind of run down a little bit. And
uh talking about that Super Bowl game as well. That's
(06:48):
why I got so hammered after the game because I
didn't want to remember anything that happened.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I don't remember anything exactly. I don't remember. They put
a safety video out on like a good chip in
the NFL put it out and they showed the clip
that I actually got concusted. So I'm coming off the
tackle and literally like the second I get off the
tackle's shoulder, Brandon Jacobs is running to the flat and
flippers me on my chin. I stop and I drop
(07:13):
in coverage but I'm not supposed to be in coverage
at all. And I get off of it and Matt
He's like, hey, uh, what happened on that play? I'm like,
what play? I don't remember, like I got hit. He's like, yeah,
you got it, I said, dude, I was. I don't
remember anything. I don't even remember playing that game.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
So you know how crazy dangerous this game was or is.
And especially for guy like Troy Aikman who took a
lot of hits. What makes what does he do better
that makes everyone else? What does he do better than
anyone else?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
What is his great?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Makes sam elite?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Probably his consistency because if you watch, if you watch
like just what he does now, it's how he prepares
for television, how he and then how he takes care
of his body so literally to get in shape or
to be fit. It's just discipline and consistency. So like,
for him to be so good for so long and
then transition into the booth and be so good for
(08:07):
so long, he has to be consistent and he has
to be able to do that over and over and
over again. And I think that's why he was so
successful in his professional career, and then when he went
to television, he's been even probably more successful. Right, He's
stuck around for so long and he's still doing it
at such a high level. It comes back to probably
what he was so good at when he was a
(08:29):
professional football player.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
You know, I really like that answer. And to all
you young bucks out there, it's all about consistency. It's not
about doing it once having a one handed catch you
know that day, or running so fast and blowing by
the safeties and having a touchdown. But if you can't
do it the next day, well then you're not going
to make the team. You're not going to make the cut.
And what's so interesting is that we asked Slater what
made Brandon Schooler so great as a special teamer to
(08:51):
make him an All Pro last year, and he said
the same thing, because Matthew Slater coached him.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
He said, it's his consistency.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
He brought it every single day to practice and then
it transferred into a game. And now we just talk
to you and we asked, Hey, what makes Troy Aikman
so great?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
And you said, it's his consistency.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Just how he prepares how he went out there to
be great on a daily basis. So if you want
to be great, it has to be at a consistent
rate every single day. It's not like, hey, I'm gonna
be good today, I'm gonna try hard today and I'm
gonna take off tomorrow. No, you have to be great
every day and you have to bring your a game
every day, just like Troy.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Aikman, like Ninkos saying it's right makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And talking about Troy, if you had the chance, if
you were playing back in his era, what do you
think would have been like to sack him?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It would have been awesome. I loved it. You know,
you watch nineties tape two thousands, the game is definitely evolve.
That's changed. It's a lot different now. I'm not going
to be that old guy and he's like, oh, these
young kids today, he couldn't play back in the day.
But I would say the receivers nowadays, the tight ends,
the quarterbacks like and I think Tom's even talked about
(09:58):
this back in the nineties and early two thousands, like
you had a responsibility to take care of your receiver, Like, hey,
I'm not just gonna throw this lead, this lead a
receiver on a slant and there's a guy sitting right there.
It could take him out of the game. You can
take him out for a week out take them out right.
So you know, when I watch those guys back in
(10:19):
the nineties in the two thousands, I think that it
was probably the hardest and most physical the football, like
the game the sport has ever been. Because the rules
weren't adjusted, and it was.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
The eight they had more athletic team and they started
training in the offseason and show.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You had speed, you had strength, and you had subpar equipment.
So like those guys were still wearing like the quirk
bike helmets that they were wearing in the eighties in
the seventies, they were were in that ship all the
way their whole career, but they were faster and bigger.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
All hits were legal to the alla.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Like there are guys blind size someone you can just
tee off going up the scene.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
There are guys I've seen it.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I've seen someone I think how long gouge someone's eye out.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The quarterbacks just absolutely got derailed too.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
There are guys that are in the Hall of Fame
that couldn't play in today's game, they just couldn't play
because of the way that the physicality of how they
hit people like John Lynch, Like John Lynch right now
couldn't just decapitate people over the middle or that was
his game. That was his game. Lot doesn't fit in
this era. So for me, it's like those guys like
(11:26):
I have all this touchdout here now. I have all
the respect in the world for though, like that era
of football, because not only they weren't making the crazy money,
they were building the game up to where it is
right now. And like now the guys are getting paid
crazy money and we were talking about crazy money too
compared to the guys before us. Though, that's how it goes.
It's always evolution of the game. I mean, like a
(11:48):
baseball player, like they're probably like, oh my god, you
see what those guys are making seven hundred million dollars
and they're going to make that when they're fifty sixty
years old. Like the old Tani contract, who's going to
make thirty million dollars when he's fifty five is nuts
because they defer everything down the road.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
So he can be in Texas when he did so
doesn't he get taxed on it exactly back to who's
the favorite quarterback that you've ever sacked? Since we're talking
about sacking, what about you in your career.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I can't officially call it a sack for Brett Farv
because he uh intentionally grounded the ball, so that takes
away your sack, which sucks Brett Farber. Yeah, yeah, that's
all Probably Manning. I got the Manning brother. I got
both around it. That's good grounded sack. Yeah, so they
don't consider it a sack. I'd probably say Peyton and Eli,
(12:35):
those are two goods because Peyton when I was at Purdue,
I went to the Monday and I was a Thursday
night opener at the RCA Dome and they were playing
the Steelers and I went there as a set. I
went there my senior year at Purdue and they were playing.
After the game, he went to this bar and the
agent that was trying to recruit me like took me
to the same bar, and I remember looking at like,
(12:58):
that's Peyton Manning, right, And then fast forward like twelve
years and I'm like, sack fumbling them and stuff. It's awesome,
that's awesome. Yeah, smearing give him.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
The business and what's the moment that stands out the
most to you in Troyman's.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Career, Probably you know, the from the transition because a
lot of guys when you're there's only three ways to
leave the game, so it's your way, their way, or injured.
So when you leave injured, mentally, it's kind of hard
to just really take that, right, Like it's hard to
(13:32):
accept the fact that you are being pushed out of
the game that you love and when you're playing football,
like that's your everything, Like you love it, right, you
wouldn't you that's all you know because you've been doing
it your whole life. So I think probably the most
impressive thing is his transition from leaving the game not
on his terms and then going into the booth and
(13:52):
being really good at it. So, yeah, his career is great,
but I think the television aspect of it because what
he does is not easy, right, Like the game is
a flow and you got to be on it. And yeah,
you know he's with he's with Joe Buck and that
guy's you know, he's got the voice and he's like
right on it. But to come in and to come
out and chemistry good and have chemistry it takes time,
(14:15):
and he's worked at it obviously.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
It's called six super Bowls in twenty years at Fox. Yeah,
and he's been at ESPN since twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah yeah, good old ESPN. That's your spots. What kind
of dude is Troy Aikman.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Is he a stud and athleticism freak, He's had the
pedigree his whole life. The football q's there, he's well rounded.
Is he a freak? Unparalleled physical ability one of one
instinct you see him, You're like, that's not human. Is
he a dog, relentless, motivated, physically, mentally tough? Is he
(14:56):
a whiz intellect innovative clutch or is he a dude's dude?
A positive attitude or negative attitude in the locker room
that makes a guy relatable and great for the locker room.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And don't you worry, We're going to ask you a
series of questions later in this episode to figure out
what type of dude you are?
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So ready, so talk a little bit about this one.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Okay, So this is tough because you can't just say like, oh,
he's a freak or he's like it's tough because to
be a quarterback you have to have a lot of intellect.
You gotta be very smart. So he's definitely got a
little whiz to him. He's a stud because he's number
one overall pick, he's Hall of Famers. He looks like
a stud. His face looks like like he's got that
(15:42):
you got a study voice.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
He got just everything about him.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
So I want to go, I'm going combo on this. Okay,
I'm gonna say, no such thing as a combo, no
combos in this. It's one all right. I was gonna say.
I was gonna though. And he sells beer, right, He's
got his own beer. So that's kind of like a
dude's dude. So I'll stay with stud. I'm saying he's
a stud. He's just he's studd.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Has a little bit of attributes in him as a
dude dude as well.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
But he's at Yeah, but he is a stuff.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
He went to u C. L A.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
The California kid, became the fucking America's teams quarterback, won
three Super bowl Like, he's a stuff down the broadcasting
bas
So Ninko, this is how it works.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Now, we have a guest.
Speaker 3 (00:03):
Usually I break down two guys, two guys or three guys.
We usually break down and talk about him for ten minutes.
But since you're the guests, we're just going to do
one guy that we're going.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
To break down.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
You have the one guy that you've run guy Okay, Yeah,
And before we get started, I read an AI summary
about the guy just to give a little glimpse of
a who we're going to do.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
Here we go, all right?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
And the reason why I read it is because Julian's readings.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
There we go?
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Can we got?
Speaker 2 (00:30):
I remember I was.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
I knew Ninko was probably going to say that, So
I just wanted to get ahead of.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
In front of people. I can't read, can't playball. Hey.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Standing at six foot four inches and weigh two hundred
and twenty pounds, this Hall of Fame quarterback was selected
first overall in the nineteen eighty nine draft, the year
that I was born, and went on to lead his
team to three Super Bowl championships.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
He earned six Pro.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Bowl selections and was the MVP of Super Bowl twenty seven,
cementing his status as a clutch performer in big Moments.
Raised in California and Oklahoma, he starred at UCLA UCLA.
In high school, he was an all state football player
and also a standout shortstop. Since retiring, he's been a
fixture in the broadcast booth and even launched his own
(01:18):
beer in twenty twenty two. Let's get on Troy and Ninko.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
I love Troy.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Why did you pick Troy Aikman for the dude that
you want to get all over on?
Speaker 2 (01:32):
So I picked Troy Aikman because number one, when you're
a kid, you're influenced by the best teams and the winners. Right.
So when I was a kid, I grew up in Chicago,
the suburbs of Chicago. The Bears sucked, right, they had
Cade McNown and they were just terrible. Remember other uclagain,
So for me, the Cowboys were the team. So I
(01:55):
had like the bedspread and I had the Cowboys like
in the bedroom like all the you know, I had
the border around my room the Cowboys at EMMITTT. Smith
on the wall, Troy Aikman, uh, Michael Irvin. So you know,
for me, I just Johnson, Jimmy Johnson. Uh yeah, yeah,
I mean I didn't have a poster of him, but
he had great hair, still great hair, looking fly so
(02:17):
and he was just like Troy Aikman is just a tough,
tough quarterback. Like he was a guy that would just
take a big lick and just keep going right, just
gritty and uh, you know, I had a chance to
talk to him a couple of times. That beer company
that he's got, I do believe, like he sent me
a whole like beer and stuff was so pumped them,
like Troutman sent me a beer. So what type of beer?
Speaker 3 (02:37):
It's a light bear because if separate from other beers, well,
his beer is a light logger.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
It's very like because he's got like he's a health
conscious guy. Like if you watch his social media stuff,
he's jacked for you know, fifty eight fifty eight. He
looks great. He looks great, does and you know, unfortunately
he had to leave the game a little early because
of the head stuff that he was taking. Sounds like, yeah,
sounds great. Talks well, he does a great job on
(03:02):
television and uh, you know, I think he's one hell
of a dude. You ever meet him. I've never met him,
and maybe one day, maybe I take that back. I
take that back, you know, you do the pregame stuff.
I met him at one of those and I was like,
I think we were in Cincinnati. I think we played
in Cincinnati. That was the game that remember, like we
(03:24):
had that monsoon. It was literally like thirteen Yes, we
had we were coming back. It was the last drive
and we couldn't. We had a we had a fumble.
We created a fumble right there. I think Dev created
a fumble. We got the ball back and we couldn't
and we couldn't. We couldn't throw it, couldn't throw the ball,
like literally it was we got craziest rain We had
the craziest rainstorm right when we got the ball. I
(03:45):
think Vonnie Holliday had a strip sack on Tom.
Speaker 4 (03:47):
I was heard that if you ever met if you
ever met him, what would your first question be to him?
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Probably just, uh, you know, how did you How did
you stay so successful for so many years when you
guys were the team, like we were the team, but
that's like the team. And that was in the nineties too,
and they were back to back Super Bowl champions, so
I think it was ninety two ninety three, and then
that was the team that beat up. They killed Buffalo
(04:14):
And I don't know if you've seen the documentary The
Four Falls of Buffalo. Yeah, it's kind of depressing, very sad.
Sad from Buffalo Thenko and oh yeah remember.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
But I was so young.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
I don't know any of that, Like, ok, I don't
remember any of that one.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
That all happened my last game, which is good, which
is good?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Right?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Do you ever think about the other side, like those guys,
like how terrible that must feel for them? Fred Lena?
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Yeah, yeah, anytime I see one of the guys, I
just feel I feel it.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Because Matt Ryan, anytime he does anything, they ask him
about that, and it's like, at a point I would
just be like, shut the fuck up, stupid, like a
hell of a career.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
He made so much money, I mean, through for so
many touchdowns, and all people bring up to him as hey,
like what happened that game versus the Patriots in the
Super Bowl?
Speaker 1 (05:02):
That sucks.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
When I watch those documentaries like the Four Falls of Buffalo,
and I see like some of the guys and now
they're older, and I don't know if you've seen some
older NFL players, but it's pretty depressing, you know, it's like,
holy shit, Like I wish they would have won a
super Bowl. For those guys right now, I'm happy that
we were able to make that happen and win that
football game. But I kind of sometimes have, you know,
(05:22):
a little bit of empathy for those guys that didn't
win a super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Definitely because you lost a super Bowl as well. Yes,
so we know what it feels like to lose a
super Bowl. It's probably one of the worst feelings that
you can feel. And you almost would rather now I
say this, and I don't know if you feel the same.
I almost rather not play that game rather just like
lose the AFC Championship game and then say, oh shit,
next year, we'll get back there. Because when you get
(05:46):
to the super Bowl, and we had it, and not
only was it a shitty loss, it was in Indianapolis that.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Was the worst. Just like who thought, like, oh, let's
have a nice Indianapolis super Bowl. It's gonna be freezing
and there's only one cool steakhouse and there's really nothing
to do here. It's actually a great host city.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
I heard though, like for like conventions and shit, for
like the viewer and the fan. If it wasn't freezing
they have hotels.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
I've heard. It's a really good like hosting city. Almost
as bad as Minnesota. That was freezing. That was eleven under.
It eleven degrees under. So it makes those like that decision,
let's let's stay there. I build the stadium up. It
was a newer stadium.
Speaker 3 (06:27):
I mean this, come on, I was just an Indy,
you know, like you said, they need some warm weather there.
It's all right, you know. They do a decent job
hosting that many people. I was at the Any five hundred,
so there was over four hundred thousand people in the city,
and they had enough hotels, enough restaurants and all that.
But it's kind of run down a little bit. And
uh talking about that Super Bowl game as well. That's
(06:48):
why I got so hammered after the game because I
didn't want to remember anything that happened.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I don't remember anything exactly. I don't remember. They put
a safety video out on like a good chip in
the NFL put it out and they showed the clip
that I actually got concusted. So I'm coming off the
tackle and literally like the second I get off the
tackle's shoulder, Brandon Jacobs is running to the flat and
flippers me on my chin. I stop and I drop
(07:13):
in coverage but I'm not supposed to be in coverage
at all. And I get off of it and Matt
He's like, hey, uh, what happened on that play? I'm like,
what play? I don't remember, like I got hit. He's like, yeah,
you got it, I said, dude, I was. I don't
remember anything. I don't even remember playing that game.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
So you know how crazy dangerous this game was or is.
And especially for guy like Troy Aikman who took a
lot of hits. What makes what does he do better
that makes everyone else? What does he do better than
anyone else?
Speaker 2 (07:44):
What is his great?
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Makes sam elite?
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Probably his consistency because if you watch, if you watch
like just what he does now, it's how he prepares
for television, how he and then how he takes care
of his body so literally to get in shape or
to be fit. It's just discipline and consistency. So like,
for him to be so good for so long and
then transition into the booth and be so good for
(08:07):
so long, he has to be consistent and he has
to be able to do that over and over and
over again. And I think that's why he was so
successful in his professional career, and then when he went
to television, he's been even probably more successful. Right, He's
stuck around for so long and he's still doing it
at such a high level. It comes back to probably
what he was so good at when he was a
(08:29):
professional football player.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
You know, I really like that answer. And to all
you young bucks out there, it's all about consistency. It's not
about doing it once having a one handed catch you
know that day, or running so fast and blowing by
the safeties and having a touchdown. But if you can't
do it the next day, well then you're not going
to make the team. You're not going to make the cut.
And what's so interesting is that we asked Slater what
made Brandon Schooler so great as a special teamer to
(08:51):
make him an All Pro last year, and he said
the same thing, because Matthew Slater coached him.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
He said, it's his consistency.
Speaker 3 (08:57):
He brought it every single day to practice and then
it transferred into a game. And now we just talk
to you and we asked, Hey, what makes Troy Aikman
so great?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
And you said, it's his consistency.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
Just how he prepares how he went out there to
be great on a daily basis. So if you want
to be great, it has to be at a consistent
rate every single day. It's not like, hey, I'm gonna
be good today, I'm gonna try hard today and I'm
gonna take off tomorrow. No, you have to be great
every day and you have to bring your a game
every day, just like Troy.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Aikman, like Ninkos saying it's right makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 3 (09:29):
And talking about Troy, if you had the chance, if
you were playing back in his era, what do you
think would have been like to sack him?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It would have been awesome. I loved it. You know,
you watch nineties tape two thousands, the game is definitely evolve.
That's changed. It's a lot different now. I'm not going
to be that old guy and he's like, oh, these
young kids today, he couldn't play back in the day.
But I would say the receivers nowadays, the tight ends,
the quarterbacks like and I think Tom's even talked about
(09:58):
this back in the nineties and early two thousands, like
you had a responsibility to take care of your receiver, Like, hey,
I'm not just gonna throw this lead, this lead a
receiver on a slant and there's a guy sitting right there.
It could take him out of the game. You can
take him out for a week out take them out right.
So you know, when I watch those guys back in
(10:19):
the nineties in the two thousands, I think that it
was probably the hardest and most physical the football, like
the game the sport has ever been. Because the rules
weren't adjusted, and it was.
Speaker 4 (10:30):
The eight they had more athletic team and they started
training in the offseason and show.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You had speed, you had strength, and you had subpar equipment.
So like those guys were still wearing like the quirk
bike helmets that they were wearing in the eighties in
the seventies, they were were in that ship all the
way their whole career, but they were faster and bigger.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
All hits were legal to the alla.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Like there are guys blind size someone you can just
tee off going up the scene.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
There are guys I've seen it.
Speaker 4 (10:58):
I've seen someone I think how long gouge someone's eye out.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
The quarterbacks just absolutely got derailed too.
Speaker 2 (11:04):
There are guys that are in the Hall of Fame
that couldn't play in today's game, they just couldn't play
because of the way that the physicality of how they
hit people like John Lynch, Like John Lynch right now
couldn't just decapitate people over the middle or that was
his game. That was his game. Lot doesn't fit in
this era. So for me, it's like those guys like
(11:26):
I have all this touchdout here now. I have all
the respect in the world for though, like that era
of football, because not only they weren't making the crazy money,
they were building the game up to where it is
right now. And like now the guys are getting paid
crazy money and we were talking about crazy money too
compared to the guys before us. Though, that's how it goes.
It's always evolution of the game. I mean, like a
(11:48):
baseball player, like they're probably like, oh my god, you
see what those guys are making seven hundred million dollars
and they're going to make that when they're fifty sixty
years old. Like the old Tani contract, who's going to
make thirty million dollars when he's fifty five is nuts
because they defer everything down the road.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
So he can be in Texas when he did so
doesn't he get taxed on it exactly back to who's
the favorite quarterback that you've ever sacked? Since we're talking
about sacking, what about you in your career.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
I can't officially call it a sack for Brett Farv
because he uh intentionally grounded the ball, so that takes
away your sack, which sucks Brett Farber. Yeah, yeah, that's
all Probably Manning. I got the Manning brother. I got
both around it. That's good grounded sack. Yeah, so they
don't consider it a sack. I'd probably say Peyton and Eli,
(12:35):
those are two goods because Peyton when I was at Purdue,
I went to the Monday and I was a Thursday
night opener at the RCA Dome and they were playing
the Steelers and I went there as a set. I
went there my senior year at Purdue and they were playing.
After the game, he went to this bar and the
agent that was trying to recruit me like took me
to the same bar, and I remember looking at like,
(12:58):
that's Peyton Manning, right, And then fast forward like twelve
years and I'm like, sack fumbling them and stuff. It's awesome,
that's awesome. Yeah, smearing give him.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
The business and what's the moment that stands out the
most to you in Troyman's.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Career, Probably you know, the from the transition because a
lot of guys when you're there's only three ways to
leave the game, so it's your way, their way, or injured.
So when you leave injured, mentally, it's kind of hard
to just really take that, right, Like it's hard to
(13:32):
accept the fact that you are being pushed out of
the game that you love and when you're playing football,
like that's your everything, Like you love it, right, you
wouldn't you that's all you know because you've been doing
it your whole life. So I think probably the most
impressive thing is his transition from leaving the game not
on his terms and then going into the booth and
(13:52):
being really good at it. So, yeah, his career is great,
but I think the television aspect of it because what
he does is not easy, right, Like the game is
a flow and you got to be on it. And yeah,
you know he's with he's with Joe Buck and that
guy's you know, he's got the voice and he's like
right on it. But to come in and to come
out and chemistry good and have chemistry it takes time,
(14:15):
and he's worked at it obviously.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
It's called six super Bowls in twenty years at Fox. Yeah,
and he's been at ESPN since twenty twenty two.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
Yeah yeah, good old ESPN. That's your spots. What kind
of dude is Troy Aikman.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
Is he a stud and athleticism freak, He's had the
pedigree his whole life. The football q's there, he's well rounded.
Is he a freak? Unparalleled physical ability one of one
instinct you see him, You're like, that's not human. Is
he a dog, relentless, motivated, physically, mentally tough? Is he
(14:56):
a whiz intellect innovative clutch or is he a dude's dude?
A positive attitude or negative attitude in the locker room
that makes a guy relatable and great for the locker room.
Speaker 3 (15:11):
And don't you worry, We're going to ask you a
series of questions later in this episode to figure out
what type of dude you are?
Speaker 1 (15:18):
So ready, so talk a little bit about this one.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Okay, So this is tough because you can't just say like, oh,
he's a freak or he's like it's tough because to
be a quarterback you have to have a lot of intellect.
You gotta be very smart. So he's definitely got a
little whiz to him. He's a stud because he's number
one overall pick, he's Hall of Famers. He looks like
a stud. His face looks like like he's got that
(15:42):
you got a study voice.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
He got just everything about him.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
So I want to go, I'm going combo on this. Okay,
I'm gonna say, no such thing as a combo, no
combos in this. It's one all right. I was gonna say.
I was gonna though. And he sells beer, right, He's
got his own beer. So that's kind of like a
dude's dude. So I'll stay with stud. I'm saying he's
a stud. He's just he's studd.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
Has a little bit of attributes in him as a
dude dude as well.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
But he's at Yeah, but he is a stuff.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
He went to u C. L A.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
The California kid, became the fucking America's teams quarterback, won
three Super bowl Like, he's a stuff down the broadcasting
bas
Host
Julian Edelman
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