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Aikman headed to the Hall

By Nestor

As noted back in February former Bruin/Dallas Cowboys great Aikman is headed to the Hall of Fame. Aikman (I don't like addressing him by his gross first name) is truly one of the best QBs UCLA has ever had.

Aikman will be officially inducted into the HOF next month during the weekend of August 5-6. And since I have posted two Niner YouTube videos on the home page, I thought I post this for all the Dallas Cowboys fans in the Bruins Nation:



Man that quick fire strike to Alvin Harper at the 'stick still makes me want to throw up. I sure wish we could find some Aikman highlights from his UCLA days (particularly that Nebraska game from 1988 - which had something to do with your truly becoming a blue and gold bleeding Bruin) on YouTube. If someone has a copy of that Nebraska game please get it on YouTube.

One note about Aikman thought. I think he ranks below Beban and McNown in terms of his place in the Bruin lore. I think in order to be considered as the greatest UCLA quarterback of all time, a qb must have victories (or victory) over SC and/or appearances in the Rose Bowl. Aikman himself alluded to that gap in his career in this interview with NFL.com when he was asked if he had any regret regarding his NFL Career (emphasis mine):

I have no regrets. The only athletic regret that I can think of is that at UCLA I failed to take our team -- I played there for two years - I failed to get our team to the Rose Bowl. And that's really the only thing I look back on and think, 'Wow, I wish I had been able to do that.' But the rest of it, professionally speaking, I'm very happy with my career. Somebody asked me the other day if I would give up what I currently have in my professional life to go back if I was guaranteed that I could win a fourth Super Bowl. And my response to that is: No, I love my life. I love my career that I had. And giving up what I currently have to go back and win a fourth Super Bowl is not important to me. And so I have no regrets as far as what happened while I was with the Dallas Cowboys.
And that just gives you an indication of how important it is for a UCLA football player to reach the Rose Bowl and winning it (which usually means beating SC) if he were to consider himself having a successful college career in Westwood. That is why even though Drew Olson won 10 games last season he will never reach the level of Wayne Cook (and even John Barnes IMHO) for his failure to beat USC.

It's all good now. I won't hold that against him too much at this point. He was 20-4 during his two remarkable years in Westwood including some huge wins against marquee programs (I mentioned the Nebraska win above; he also led the Bruins to a huge win over Ken Hatfield's (I beleive top-10) Razorbacks in the Cotton Bowl in his last game as a Bruin). Not to mention Aikman redeemed himself in the NFL. I'd say winning 3 Super Bowls is more than a big deal and he should be considered as one of the best ever to play in this game. We are all proud of him. It will be great to see him put on the Hall of Fame jacket next month in Canton, OH.

GO BRUINS.

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