Troy Aikman, a Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinee and former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, discussed several topics related to his former team in a recent conversation with fellow Hall of Famer Michael Irvin. The discussion centered on the new Netflix docuseries “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys,” which documents the history and culture of the Dallas Cowboys, as well as current events surrounding the team.
Aikman shared his reaction to watching the documentary, saying, “I watched it. I’ve seen all the episodes, and it is quite a ride over seven episodes or whatever it ends up, seven or eight, whatever it is. It takes you back right there to those moments and the emotions. It’s like when you hear a song, and it takes you right back to that moment as to why you remember that song and the emotions and the impact that it had on you. And that’s how it was for me, even though there was nothing in that documentary, of course, that I didn’t already know. But man, you could feel the emotions of those moments just like we were reliving it in real time.”
He added further thoughts on its production: “I thought it was really well done. It’s hard to try to capture everything. I’m certain there’s people that wish that more was said or more was told or whatever it might have been. But I think the way it was all put together, I think it does take people on quite a ride as far as what those teams were about. I think sometimes as participants in it, it’s hard to take yourself away from it and say, ‘Okay, is this accurate? Does this really reflect what it was?’ The thing I hope that people take away from it, more than anything, is that the reason that we did what we did is because, one, we had great players, but we also, we had great coaches, we busted our (behinds). I would hate for that to get lost in all of the other stuff that went on that, you know, we worked harder than anybody, and we were coached harder than anybody. And we were probably more talented than anybody. So it’s the coaches, the players, and just everyone being committed. And it didn’t just happen, and I don’t like when people — yeah, we were really good, we were really talented, but we put the effort in; we worked and we worked hard; and I hope people walk away knowing that.”
Irvin also reflected on watching the series with his teammates: “Yeah, they did do a good job with that. I talked to Big E (Eril Williams) about that yesterday. You know what it does? It makes you start calling all those teammates who shared in the moments. I started thinking about so many things.”
The conversation also addressed current Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons‘ contract situation. Aikman commented on how contract negotiations can create tension between players and organizations: “We all know it’s a business. We all know that there’s when a negotiation takes place; there’s typically a little frustration and a lot of animosity (…) My hope is that they haven’t gotten to a point that’s irreparable. I can’t imagine Micah not being with the Cowboys. I mean, you just don’t let those type players leave your building (…). But I said this during our broadcast the other night: ‘I don’t think the Cowboys can win without Micah Parsons.’ I think they’re going to be better than a lot of people think going into this season. But if Micah Parsons isn’t playing at the level we’ve seen from him in prior years or he’s not on the field—I don’t know that this team can compete the way they need to.”
The docuseries has brought renewed attention both to past teams led by Hall of Famers like Aikman and Irvin as well as ongoing challenges facing today’s roster.
