| Sometimes you know something might be coming,
and yet you’re still unprepared for it when it does. That pretty much describes my
reaction to seeing the wire report that the Cowboys have decided to waive QB Troy Aikman.
I don’t say "Wow" every day, but that’s the word that escaped my
lips when I saw the news. And as I said, I suspected this was coming.
That said, the Troy Aikmans of the sports world are not supposed to face the inglorious
realities of the business side of the game that mere mortals must contend with. The Troy
Aikmans of the world do not get waived. The Troy Aikmans of the world are supposed to
retire on their own terms. And when they don’t, when they hang on too long, they are
still supposed to have a job for the asking.
Not anymore.
Not in a world of athletics that increasingly becomes more business page and less
sports page.
The bottom line. That’s what everyone must deal with these days, and the bottom
line says there is no room for loyalty, no room for warm-and-fuzzy finishes, no room for
compassion.
Cold decisions are the order of the day.
So it is that Troy Aikman gets a pink slip.
That’s too bad. The man is a class act and an all-time great. He deserves better.
He deserves to make the decision about his future with the organization he helped achieve
greatness.
This is not a column decrying what free agency has done to football. Yes, I know that
free agency is linked to cold-blooded endings such as this. But I am a strong believer in
free agency, so I can’t have it both ways. I like free agency, because it gives
athletes the same freedoms in the job market you or I enjoy. Sure they make a ton more
money than we do, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get the opportunity to
choose whom they work for, who their boss is and what city they live in, just as you and I
do.
So, yes, if I believe in free agency, I have to take the good with the bad. This is the
bad. The bad says that with so much money being paid and with a salary cap to contend
with, unpleasant partings must occur.
I accept that. That doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.
Nor am I being critical of the Cowboys here. From a business perspective, from a
personnel perspective, from a cap-management perspective, this was probably the right
decision.
Again, I accept that. That doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.
Troy Aikman has been a class act throughout his entire career, on and off the field. He
has been a great quarterback. He has been a great citizen. He’s always been a
personal favorite of mine for the way he sacrificed his own personal stats for team glory
in a day and age when too many athletes say they want to win but act as though
they’re more interested in their own individual success. He’s always been a
personal favorite of mine for the intelligent answers he gave to my questions over the
years. He’s always been a personal favorite of mine for the way he carried himself
off the field.
Troy Aikman has been good for the game, good for the Cowboys, good for the entire
sports landscape. He represents all that is good about sports.
It’s a shame to see days like this. |
