Troy Aikman’s a smart cookie. Family upbringing and UCLA education and Hall of Fame career and on Sundays he educates us dorks about the nuances of the NFL on Fox.
So, um, why did he think the Cowboys would actually draft Johnny Manziel?
Because he knows Jerry Jones' history, that's why. I wrote repeatedly on this here blog that there was zero chance. Tony Romo’s here, and that’s that. But on draft night, nonetheless, there were Cowboys fans on the edge of their seat when the team selected Zack Martin.
Including, inexplicably, ol’ No. 8.
“I thought there was a real good chance if he fell to the Cowboys’ pick that he would take him,” Aikman told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I understand why they didn’t. It would have certainly added a lot of excitement around here, but I don’t think it would have been best for the club, certainly not in the short term. There’s a lot of other needs, as we saw last year, that this team has, so it was probably the right thing not taking him, but I was a little surprised. I think that had to have been a difficult decision for Jerry.”
Aikman obviously expected Jones’ short-sighted passion to overrule the team’s rational needs. Because he knows a Romo/Manziel situation would’ve been a distraction for a team that can’t afford one. After all, when he was the starter in ’89 coach Jimmy Johnson made his life uncomfortable by selecting Steve Walsh in the supplemental draft.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He currently lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
