It's one thing if you're a part of teams that won five championships. But it's an extremely different argument if you're a big reason for those championships.
— Troy Aikman
A lot of people believe that I retired from the game of football because of concussions - that is not accurate. I really retired primarily because of a degenerative back condition that I had.
As long as we're wearing helmets and shoulder pads - there's collisions between these big, physical, fast guys - head injuries are going to be a part of it.
I have often said social media is a race to the bottom.
I believe success is achieved by acquiring and developing talented, respected, and credible individuals, none of which applies to Skip Bayless.
I didn't know anybody who went to Rangers games. Then, when they started winning and going to World Series, everybody's wearing Rangers hats.
As long as we're having contact and as long as there are collisions, there's going to be head injuries. What the long-term consequences are of that, we're beginning to learn, and that definitely will have an impact on the game as we know it.
I was 0-11 as a starter, and there were times when I walked off the field wondering if I'd ever win a game in the NFL.
I don't try to please anybody. I try to win.
I had two concussions that were of major concern, what I would term very significant. As far as head injury goes, I would say all of the others were pretty minor and inconsequential.
Whenever anybody has talked about concussions, they immediately talk about me and Steve Young.
It's who you get to share life with, not the actual experiences, that makes living so worthwhile.
In college, I was making a lot of presnap reads. It was much easier.
It's not always statistics that determine the best player, especially the quarterback.
They portray me as a hick just because I enjoy some of the things people in Oklahoma like. I think people expect me to come out wearing my boots and spurs.
Winning is hard. Repeating is harder.
I was 22 my rookie year.
Years ago, the NFL influenced what happened in college. It's the other way around now.
I have been playing this game since I was 7 years old, and to all of a sudden recognize that you're not going to do it anymore is hard.
I just think Cam Newton is a guy who doesn't get overwhelmed by the moment. He seems to thrive in the spotlight.
As a former player, I have a real appreciation for a guy like Aaron Rodgers and how much time he puts into his craft and how good he is doing it.
As a player, you can't express ideas and opinions as easily as when you're doing a ballgame.
I don't think Dallas has ever really had a great home field advantage.
I do not have a son; if I had a son, I wouldn't necessarily discourage him from playing football, but I don't know that I would encourage him to play, either.
I'm a drop-back passer, and those seldom win Heismans.
I'm not a guy who needs the spotlight. It's not something I have to have. I'm content to sit at home.
I don't want to be the poster boy for head injury. I shouldn't be the poster boy for head injury. I have really tried to distance myself from that.
If head coaches weren't important to the success of a team, then owners wouldn't fire them all the time.
I have a real hard time classifying anything as my biggest moment, my favorite color or whatever.
Because the hash marks are narrower in the pros, the ball's always closer to the middle of the field. So if you're a defensive back, you can wait a lot longer before committing to a certain part of the field.
I always have been comfortable with my opinions and how I feel about the play on the field, and how it should be done and how teams should go about playing the game.
I always play every game in my mind before it begins. A lot of times in a game, a play will happen, and it will feel like deja vu, like I've seen the play happen before in my mind.
Not long ago, every time I did a picture shoot for a magazine, the photographer would ask me to show up wearing jeans and cowboy boots. They seemed to think I was a hillbilly. Now it's different. Now they're not quite sure what to make of me. And I show up wearing whatever I want.
I have an idea of marriage as being a sharing type of deal.
I don't know if I want to be 65 or 67, still broadcasting games. But, why not? What else are you going to do?
The year we went to our first Super Bowl in 1992, we were the youngest team in football. We played in the Super Bowl against a team that had a wealth of playoff experience and Super Bowl experience, and we dominated that football game.
The one thing about being an athlete, say you are struggling with throwing a comeback route, well, then you go out and practice it. You throw it 100 times a day, and you get better at it, and you see those improvements pretty rapidly.
I've always known football.
I handled myself as a quarterback in the manner I thought necessary.
A lot of coaches and players get so tunnel-visioned that when they do have some time off, they spend it concentrating on the game.
Playing a rookie at quarterback tells the other players that you're giving up the season.
I think it's nice to win awards, but my goal is not to win the Heisman: it's to get to the Rose Bowl.
It is relatively easy... to determine whether or not a blow to a quarterback was deemed excessive or incidental. So I'm discouraged that there have been a number of games that are influenced - not that the outcomes are in question - but a number of games influenced based on the protection of the quarterback.
I would bet you that even though people think I absorbed an inordinate number of head injuries, I'd say relative to the number of guys who have played this game, I would say that my head injuries were relatively small.
I wish there was a switch that I could flip, where no one knows me. And then, when I'm ready to make a splash, I'd flip the switch and say, 'Hey, I'm ready now.' Unfortunately, that doesn't happen.
As a kid, I used to practice my signature, working on the way I wanted to sign my autograph.
As a quarterback, your job is to move the football and win games, to be a leader on the field.
My 21st birthday was probably the worst day of my life.
Most people assume you change with success.
I sometimes get frustrated with how important Dallas Cowboys' football is to people. It's extremely important to me, too, but football is what I do.
