By Jordan Long
On this date in sports history, the 1989 draft took place in New York. The Dallas Cowboys earned the #1 pick in the draft by going 3-13 in 1988. That was the last year for legendary Head Football Coach Tom Landry. Dallas hired Jimmy Johnson as Head Coach who had an outstanding career in college going 81-34-3.
This draft had talent. It included 5 future Hall of Famers, quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Barry Sanders, linebacker Derrick Thomas, defensive back Deion Sanders, and safety Steve Atwater. The Cowboys decided to look towards their future and drafted Aikman.
Aikman played his college football for the University of Oklahoma and UCLA. During his 4 years in college for both schools, he passed for 5,781 yards and 42 touchdowns. Aikman was able to read the defenses in college and rarely tossed the ball into double coverage with 21 interceptions. The Cowboys were hoping his game would translate into the NFL.
In 1989, Aikman’s rookie year was one to forget. He started 11 games, but Dallas lost all of them. Aikman totaled 1,749 passing yards and 9 touchdowns. His problem was finding his open receivers downfield. Aikman wasn’t able to read NFL defenses with 18 interceptions. Dallas finished the year at 1-15.
Aikman improved his game after that. His top year for the Cowboys was in 1992. He threw for a career high 3,445 yards and 23 touchdowns.
Dallas managed to make the playoffs 8 times with Aikman. In the postseason, a player wants to play at a high level. Aikman was no different. He started 15 playoff games for Dallas with a record of 11-4. In those games, Aikman had 3,849 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. The Cowboys reached the Super Bowl three times with him, Super Bowl 27, 28, and 30. They won all of those games.
As a starter, Aikman went 94-71 in the regular season. He passed for 32,942 yards, 165 touchdowns, and 141 interceptions. The yards and touchdowns are second in Dallas Cowboys history, only Tony Romo has more. Aikman was voted into the Pro Bowl 6 times. In 2006, he was part of the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2006.
Aikman was one of the top quarterbacks to ever put on a uniform for the Dallas Cowboys. It wouldn’t have happened if Dallas hadn’t selected him as the top choice on this date in 1989.
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