And he loves French fries Yesterday, we all got word that Troy and his wife of 10 years, Rhonda, are splitting up.
When I heard about this, I immediately thought about all the games, commercials and radio interviews I've heard Aikman give over the past year. As he's making jokes and talking about inane things like football, his home life was in shambles. Or something was disintegrating personally. It's an odd feeling for someone that is privy to a lot of Troy Aikman in a given year.
What's odder is that D Magazine just ran a cover feature on Aikman and it does not mention the break-up. Granted, feature stories are far in advance of publication, but updates are always shoe-horned in.
What also threw me off was the way the local media has tackled the subject.
The Dallas Morning News barely mentioned it. The Dallas Observer has stayed away completely. And the dudes at The Ticket gave it the "well, I don't see how this is news, but ..." treatment during morning and afternoon drive. Then they proceeded to bitch about how it's nobody's business.
I don't disagree. I do think it's nobody's business. However, to my knowledge as to how it's being reported, no journalist was digging through divorce filings and found Troy Aikman's name.
Aikman either offered up an interview or, probably, a statement. If he makes it public, then it goes public.
Also, I wonder how media would reacted or have reacted to other personal issues.
When Dirk Nowitzki had a drifter sleeping in his bed, wasn't that super-personal on par with Aikman's divorce? Yes, it was a criminal issue. But it was still a relationship-oriented thing that is no more interesting than Aikman not getting along with his wife.
How about drug issues or arrests? Or the Sean Salisbury brouhaha and multiple firings? Frankly, none of these instances should necessarily be any of our business. Then again, we don't hold Aikman in the same regard as Salisbury or, I guess to a certain point, Nowitzki.
Fact is, local media is coddling Aikman because he's a good guy and because they know him. Know him certainly more than Nowitzki and he appears to be a better guy than Michael Irvin or Quincy Carter.
That's the thing with Aikman: He seems like a super sweet guy. The D Magazine feature is basically a 2,500 blow job on how great of a person he is. Fact of the matter is that Aikman probably is a super swell guy. His post-career announcing gig has done wonders for his image. His personality is shining, his endorsements are booming and that's why I consider him one of the all-time top 5 Dallas Cowboys: He's on par with Roger Staubach as being the eternal face of the franchise.
However, that doesn't or shouldn't preclude him from the same scrutiny that local media gives other athletes.
****
One group not giving Aikman any leeway is Slate. The online publication called Aikman irresponsible for his, I guess, silent treatment on concussions.
Aikman, as is well documented, retired fairly early due to back problems and multiple concussions, 10 for sure, maybe a dozen or more.
Slate notes that Aikman is awkwardly quiet when concussions become something of a discussion point during his FOX NFL broadcasts and that he should take a more hardline stance (or any stance) on concussions considering they are a part of his career.
I like Slate and they probably have a point here. My problem is that they didn't quote or talk to Aikman for this piece. I am almost pretty sure he would've given an interview. If what's in the story is any indication, they did not go that route.
In the story, they quote Aikman from another story where he stated that he doesn't want to become a "poster boy" for concussions. I logical question to Aikman, then, would be why and why he says nothing or very little about concussions.
I have heard him talk concussions. Most notably, he stated that he would be careful about letting his son play football.
I do think Aikman purposefully doesn't talk about concussions. It may be because he isn't a doctor. Also, concussions are different. Some guys are out weeks. Some come back to play again in six days. I would bet good money some fight through them, still.
But there's a reason. And it would've been a good question for Slate to ask Aikman.
