Troy Aikman is fully embracing his “give no f*cks” era, and if that means giving Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys the business, so be it. Aikman never expected Mike McCarthy to be replaced in Dallas, yet here we are — with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer stepping into the void, only to get run over by Jones like a speed bump. Aikman hasn’t been shy about taking shots at Jones, even laughing at him along the way.
He’s subtly shaded both the Cowboys and Jones for their decision not to sign Derrick Henry, and just when they thought things couldn’t get worse? He absolutely torched Dallas’ wide receivers. McCarthy? He took it in stride. But CeeDee Lamb? He used it as fuel.
In the grand scheme of things, though, it doesn’t matter how Dallas takes Aikman’s criticism. It’s been 30 years since the Cowboys hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, and that reality hit even harder when their NFC East foes, the Philadelphia Eagles, paraded theirs after a dominant Super Bowl LIX victory this past Sunday. Speaking for the Cowboys’ faithful, Aikman summed up the frustration to a tee: “I thought we had more in us,” Aikman said via The Athletic’s Jon Machota, “and I thought we’d be back. Obviously, we weren’t. But not only were we not back, but here we’re almost three decades later and no one’s been back. I think I speak for the Cowboys’ faithful in saying, ‘It’s been a long time,’ and this is the Dallas Cowboys. It’s an organization that’s had a great history, and this team has won a lot of games over the years with a lot of different players.
“But, for whatever reasons, they just haven’t been able to get it done in the postseason. I don’t think anybody’s happy about that; that’s been a part of the Cowboys’ legacy and what this franchise has stood for for so many years.”
Troy Aikman on the Dallas Cowboys not being back to the Super Bowl in almost 30 years pic.twitter.com/2S76alig2X
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) February 11, 2025
Now? It stands for mediocrity. While the Cowboys may still have the star on their helmet, it’s becoming harder to recognize the franchise that once defined the 1990s. They’re unable to break free from a cycle of mediocrity, with postseason success now a relic of the past. Until that changes, mediocrity will be their legacy, no matter how much Aikman calls them out.
