Miami Dolphins

A retired Troy Aikman was ready to join the Miami Dolphins

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

In an episode of NFL Network’s A Football Life, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman revealed he almost came out of retirement to join the Miami Dolphins.

Most know Troy Aikman as a former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and three-time Super Bowl winner. Others only know him as one of the top football color commenters in the NFL. But recently, the NFL Network tried to bridge that knowledge gap with a special episode of The Football Life devoted to the Hall of Fame quarterback.

Former teammates like Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith as well as former coaches in Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer and many others showered the 12-year veteran with praise throughout the one-hour special.

The program covered Aikman’s college years, his first couple rough seasons in Dallas, that legendary championship run and his disappointing retirement in 2001. And there were a couple revelations as well.

One being the fact that it wasn’t so much the physical toll (concussions, back) that lead to AIkman’s retirement at the age of 34. Instead, the Super Bowl XXVII MVP hinted that it was more due to his displeasure with the direction that the Cowboys organization was heading at the time.

The second big revelation was that Aikman seriously considered coming out of retirement to play for the Miami Dolphins.

“I almost…I was going to come out of retirement my third year out,” Aikman told Fox Sports announcer Thom Brennaman during the NFL Network show, A Football Life. “I got a call from [Dave] Wannstedt and he was the head coach. He was with the Dolphins when they made a run at me. He says ‘I’d like to get with you’. Norv [Turner] was the offensive coordinator. So I visited with him, he talked to me. He says ‘Do you think you could come back and play?’ I called him up…and said ‘You know what? I think I want to do it.” Says okay. ‘Well, I’m going to start training as if I’m coming back’. So I did.”

Miami ultimately didn’t sign Aikman. According to a Los Angeles Times article in January of 2002, the Dolphins did indeed have interest in the former six-time Pro Bowler. Miami was two years removed from the retirement of their own Hall of Fame quarterback, Dan Marino. And they had undrafted journeyman Jay Fiedler under center.

Later that season, the Dolphins went 9-7 with Fielder at the helm. In 2003, they went 10-6, but didn’t make the playoffs for the second straight year under Wannstedt, after getting to the postseason in his first two seasons in Miami. The following year, the Dolphins started the season 1-8 and the former Cowboys defensive coordinator (1989 -1992) resigned as the Dolphins’ head coach after four years.

The revelation that a retired Aikman was actually training and preparing as if he was coming back to join the Dolphins is an interesting tidbit in NFL and Dallas Cowboys history. But seriously, how strange would have it been to have seen #8 in a Miami Dolphins’ uniform?