Former Cowboys quarterback and Monday Night Football broadcaster Troy Aikman recently joined the Musers on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket [KTCK-AM] to discuss Dallas’ upcoming matchup with the Indianapolis Colts and gave his thoughts on the team’s chances of landing free agent WR Odell Beckham Jr.
Here are some highlights, edited for clarity:
It’s a weird game to size up because everybody’s kind of expecting Dallas to handle the Colts fairly easily. They beat the Chiefs and played the Eagles closely, just about anything can happen, right?
Troy Aikman: “Yeah, you just never know. We’ve seen those games. We had one earlier in the year when Chicago beat New England, that was one of those games I didn’t think Chicago had a chance at all and yet, Chicago pulled it off. There’s been other games this season, this has been kind of a crazy year the way that these games have been and I think that we tend to say that maybe most, every year. There’s just a lot of patterns that we’ve seen over the recent years that haven’t held up, scoring has been down, a lot of low-scoring games. A lot of good, really good teams that have struggled with quarterbacks that we expected to be a lot better than they are, running totals.
“It’s just been one of those types of seasons. I would not expect nor would anyone else for Indianapolis to be able to come in and beat Dallas, but stranger things have happened.”
What do you think of the possibility of the Cowboys adding Odell Beckham Jr.?
Aikman: “I think it happens. If I was betting, I would bet virtually everything I have on it. I’ve been asked a lot, anything Cowboys when I travel around the country for various games, I get asked a lot of questions about the Cowboys. I don’t think this is hyperbole, I’ve never known Jerry [Jones] to lose a player that he’s wanted, I just haven’t. I think that in general, you can probably say that about a lot of things in Jerry’s life, as far as business goes. Or if he’s really wanted something to happen, it’s happened. Going back to my playing days since I retired, I don’t recall a player that Jerry wanted to land that he has failed to get signed. As soon as I heard that he was interested, this was about three or four weeks ago whenever it was, I told people, ‘If Jerry wants him, I’m telling you he’s gonna be a Cowboy.’
“I was at an event in Atlanta about three weeks ago when I said it and some guy started heckling me from the back of the room and I said, ‘Hey, I want to get your information because I’m gonna call you when it happens.’ I think it’ll definitely happen.”
On Cowboys players recruiting Beckham publicly...
Aikman: “Why would you not? If you’re Odell Beckham and I don’t know him, I know him well enough to just say hello and visit with him. If you have an opportunity of all the teams in the league and you want to go to a team that’s a contender right now that has a chance to win it all, Dallas obviously checks that box. And a few other teams of course, but when you get beyond that, none of the other teams can really compare as far as whatever it is that’s important to him. The visibility, the people that are gonna be watching the games, the attention that’s gonna be drawn. It’s why so many players want to come play for the Cowboys. Knowing everything I know about Odell and what’s important to him and what he likes, I think second place is a distant second place.”
Do you think he makes the Cowboys a little bit better or a lot better?
Aikman: “On paper, it makes them a lot better and I know that when he was in New York, the players all talked about what a great teammate he was. They said the same thing in Los Angeles last year when he joined the team, Cleveland, I can’t comment on Cleveland.
“By all accounts from last year and all the Rams players wanted him back, that he was a great addition in every way. We all know what he did on the field. I think that would be the only concern is, does that somehow, are the people in that locker room at the wide receiver position or in general, that somehow it impacts them and not so much in a positive way? It doesn’t appear that that would be the case, but I do think that he would help them tremendously on the field and be a really good addition based on everything I know about him. I think it would be a great move.”
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