October 31, 1999 - Indianapolis, Indiana. Troy was in a helmet to helmet collision when he was sacked by Colts CB Jeff Burris early in the fourth quarter of the Colts game, and left for the remainder of the series. He appeared dazed on the sidelines, and continuously whiffed smelling salts to try to clear his head. Cowboys medical personnel refused to characterize his condition as a concussion, and Troy was pronounced healthy to return to the game for the Cowboys next possession. After the game it was reported that on the sidelines Troy had been dizzy, was having vision problems, and his head ached.

After the game Troy said, "I felt I could go back in. I was remembering the plays and what we were doing. I felt I could go in and play. Obviously, it's a concern. It always a concern. Hopefully, I haven't indicated over the years that it's not something I take seriously. The doctors evaluated me on the sidelines. They felt I was able to go back and play."

Troy's previous concussions in the NFL (Troy has stated that he believes he suffered one concussion in college and another in high school as well):

• October 26, 1997
  Troy's suffered a concussion in a game against the Eagles in Philadelphia. He remained conscious but suffered headaches and dizziness, and left the game. The next week, Troy returned against the 49ers in San Francisco, and took a vicious hit from Kevin Greene, once again causing him to suffer headaches. The week after that, in a game against the Cardinals, Troy took what he called "a pretty good shot to the head on the last sack" in the fourth quarter, again causing a recurrence of the headaches he suffered in the 49ers and Eagles games. As Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Jim Reeves wrote on 11-10-97, "If you're scoring along with the neurologists, that's three consecutive weeks that the Cowboys' quarterback has staggered to the sidelines with a severe headache."

  Bells that Troy Aikman heard were Roger Staubach calling
  http://www.texnews.com/cowboys/troy111097.html

  Just how much more can Troy Aikman take?
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• October 23, 1994
  Troy suffered a concussion during the opening drive of the game against the Cardinals in Phoenix. He stayed in the game and threw a touchdown pass before leaving.

• January 24, 1994
  Troy suffered his most infamous concussion during the NFC Championship game at home against San Francisco. He left the game in the third quarter, and spent the night at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. When asked where the Super Bowl was being played, Troy said, "Henryetta?" The next week Troy led the Cowboys to victory in Super Bowl XXVIII. He continued to have headaches for several weeks.

• August 18, 1990
  Troy suffered a concussion in a preseason game against the Raiders, and returned the following week.

• November 12, 1989
  Troy suffered a concussion in a game against the Cardinals in Phoenix. He was knocked unconscious for eight minutes, after throwing an 80-yard touchdown pass to put Dallas ahead 20-17 with 1:43 remaining in the game. He laid on the field with blood dripping out of his ear, and his first NFL victory slipping through the Cowboys' grasp. Troy threw for an NFL Rookie Record 379 yards that day. The Cowboys lost the game when the Cardinals scored a last-second touchdown.

October 24, 1999 - Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas. The Cowboys victory against the Redskins today was Troy's 87th regular season victory of the 90s. That makes him the winningest quarterback of any decade in NFL history! Joe Montana had 86 victories in the 80s and Roger Staubach had 84 victories in the 70s. Steve Young and Dan Marino are the only quarterbacks who could catch up to Troy by the end of the season. They each trail him by 3 victories, but both are currently out with injuries.

October 15, 1999 - Athlete Direct, America Online - Troy answered questions on his message board this evening. Here are a few:

Question: It appears that with a leader like Micheal Irvin out, that there needs to be someone to step up in his place--was wondering who you think can do that.

Answer: It's never easy to replace a player like Michael Irvin. It's not easy on the field and it's not easy in the locker room. Michael has been a great player for this organization for a long time and you don't just "replace" those type of guys. It is everyone's responsibility to pick up the slack when a player goes down.

Question: ...it seems to me that you lose all effectiveness when the ball is even mildly wet. Why haven't you adjusted to throwing a wet football effectively?

Answer: I wish I could answer that...lol I have tried a lot of different things to overcome the inability to throw a wet football. So far, nothing has helped. It's just something I have to deal with in inclement weather.

Question: I hear you had laser surgery for vision during the off season. Is this true? Is it working out for you?

Answer: Yes, it is true. I had the surgery in February and I couldn't be happier with the results. Dr. Harvey Carter of Carter Eye Center performed the surgery and he has done the procedure on several other friends.

Question: Is it true that you have 5 fish tanks?

Answer: It is not true that I have 5 fish tanks, but I do have a couple of aquariums. Jimmy Johnson first got me interested in fish. I have salt water tanks.

October 4, 1999 - Athlete Direct, America Online - Troy answered questions on his message board this afternoon. Here is a sampling:

Question: Troy, I would like to know how much do you like the addition of the rocket to your offense.

Answer: Rocket has been a real blessing for our football team. He's got tremendous speed which has clearly helped our team already this year. He's also just a really good guy and someone that wants to do well every play.

Question: I watched an interview about Peyton Manning and he stated how he sought advice from Roger Staubach and yourself as a rookie coming into the nfl. My question to you, who did you seek advice from, if any, coming into the nfl as a rookie, and what was the best advice they gave you?

Answer: I didn't seek advice from any NFL players when I was coming out of college. I did, however, seek advice from friends and coaches that I had known over the years. Probably the best advice I received coming out of college was not to "get too high when things are going good or too low when things are going bad." It has really helped me keep things in perspective during the rougher times.

Question: What recourse do players have when either they are a victim of, or see, or know someone who had, a dirty hit and was severly injured? Do they leave it up to the league?

Answer: Actually there is not much recourse to take. All flagrant hits are at the sole discretion of the officials and league office. The league reviews each game and determines the severity of such hits and fines those players accordingly.

September 20, 1999 - Monday Nite Countdown, ESPN, 7:00 pm ET. "Soundtracks: Troy Aikman - Get inside the Cowboys offense with starting quarterback Troy Aikman." Also, "Ed Werder sits down with Troy Aikman to talk about this year's Dallas team. Can they win the NFC East? Was the Dallas offensive output in Week 1 a preview of the '99 season? What will a victory over the defending NFC Champs on Monday Night do for this team?"

September 15, 1999 - Troy was named the NFC offensive player of the week, marking the ninth time that he has won this award. Troy was previously named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for these games:

9/29/91 vs. NY Giants
1/17/93 @ San Francisco
1/10/93 vs. Philadelphia
10/3/93 vs. Green Bay
10/9/94 vs. Arizona
1/8/95 vs. Green Bay
10/27/96 @ Miami
8/31/97 @ Pittsburgh

September 14, 1999 - Troy, who threw for 362 yards and a career-high five touchdown passes in Sunday's 41-35 overtime win over the Washington Redskins, today was named the Miller Lite NFL Player of the Week. This is the first time Troy has won the award. Troy threw a 76-yard bomb to Rocket Ismail 4:09 into overtime to give Dallas the win.

September 14, 1999 - Troy visited Barbara Bush Middle School in Irving, Texas, today to warn kids of the dangers inherent in the use of smokeless tobacco products and to encourage those already using spit tobacco to stop. Troy has teamed with several public and private sector agencies, including the Texas Cancer Council, the Texas Department of Health, and the American Cancer Society to produce a series of public service announcements (PSAs) and posters encouraging Texas kids not to use spit tobacco.

Troy spoke candidly to the assembled kids about his tobacco habit. He started when he was 15, and tried unsuccessfully to quit while he was in high school and in college. Troy's decision to quit came in January of 1997 when he was watching Super Bowl XXXI. His mother had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer (but is quite well now), and his grandfather had died from cancer when Troy was 10. He quit cold turkey, and the first few days were quite difficult, but he has not chewed since. Cowboys deep snapper Dale Hellestrae quit cold turkey two weeks after Troy did.

Troy's visit to the school kicked off the new campaign against the use of smokeless tobacco. Troy will appear in two of the three PSAs produced for the campaign. In the spots, a voiceover introduces Troy to talk about the benefits of using smokeless tobacco products. Troy takes his seat and looks into the camera, fidgeting slightly, and remaining silent. After 15 seconds of silence, graphics deliver the point that there are no benefits: "There is nothing good" about these products; that "dip can contain rat poison"; and that chewing tobacco "can make your teeth fall out . . . leave your face permanently disfigured." This is followed by the tagline, "Why do you think he quit?"

The third PSA features Rick Bender who had a large portion of his jaw and tongue removed because of mouth cancer. Troy said that Bender's contribution to the campaign will be the most effective because of the shock value. "I think that makes a real impact on kids. It did on me."

September 12, 1999 - Read these stories in the Dallas Morning News:

Aikman wants to change approach, but not intensity

With seasoning, Aikman found reading defenses fundamental

September 4, 1999 - Check out the brand new Official Troy Aikman Fan Club Web Site!

September 1999 - Ultimate Sports Entertainment Inc. has announced it has agreed to a licensing contract with NFL Properties and the NFL Quarterback Club to publish a series of comic books. NFL stars will be portrayed as superheroes. The terms of the deal call for a three-year contract (one year, with an option for two more). This September, the first four titles will debut. Troy Aikman, as well as other NFL stars, such as Dan Marino, Terrell Davis, and Steve Young, will have their likenesses enhanced with super powers, such as superhuman strength or lightning-fast speed or even x-ray vision like Superman. In the stories, the NFL players will fight and defeat evil villains. As part of the agreement, the NFL Quarterback Club will make their roster of over 60 players accessible to the company for superhero status.

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