At the best of times, there are more than a few distractions that come with playing for the Dallas Cowboys. That only gets worse after a tough loss. Very few people know that better than former Cowboy and current broadcaster Troy Aikman.
While he was at an event celebrating Dallas being named the No. 1 sports business city by the Sports Business Journal, Aikman met with reporters. There, he addressed a perceived sense of entitlement that comes with Dallas.
“I don’t know about a sense of entitlement,” Troy Aikman said. “I think that when you play for the Cowboys, every national show leads off with the Cowboys. And there’s a lot of perks to playing for the Dallas Cowboys. There’s a lot of benefits to playing for the Dallas Cowboys. So I think the challenge for the organization and for the head coach is to be able to still keep the players with their edge. And so I think that’s the challenge of this job.”
The Dallas Cowboys do get more attention than most NFL teams, owning the label of “America’s Team.” It’s easy to become distracted when you’re a part of the team.
“In a lot of ways, there’s so many other things that are happening within the organization, it’s easy to get caught up in it. There’s tours going around the building and there’s a lot of distractions, if you will, and I think it creates another layer that a head coach and a staff and players have to try to compartmentalize so that they can go and be the best football players they can be.”
Troy Aikman also made interesting comments about Jerry Jones in context to the culture that comes with the Dallas Cowboys and why issues seem worse in the postseason.
“I mean, he’s the boss,” Aikman said. “So whatever is done, it’s because he’s OK with it. It just is what it is. I mean, it’s been that way. It’s always been that way. And whether or not that ultimately keeps this team from doing what they hope to do, I don’t know. Does it just rear its head in January? I mean, why wasn’t it a problem during the regular season? So it’s a hard thing to kind of (wrap) your head around when you see the number of wins that they’ve had. And yet, so much disappointment in the postseason.”
Troy Aikman still believes in Dak Prescott following another playoff disappointment
Despite another playoff loss for Dallas, Troy Aikman still believes in Dak Prescott at quarterback for the Cowboys.
“I still believe in Dak,” Aikman said. “Until you do it, there’s always those criticisms. And I know Peyton Manning went through that his first three years, he didn’t win a playoff game, and then you look back on it now and you can’t imagine that anybody questioned whether or not he could win a playoff game.”
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