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Pastimes : Dallas Cowboys fan thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JSB who wrote (43)	11/4/1999 10:44:00 AM
From: Esway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 87

RE<<Seems to me that he has been saying that the other coaching staffs are better.>> How true he needs to come out and just plainly say we have had the lead in the three loses we have and I tried to protect the lead by being to conservative with my play calling. You'd think he'd learned a lesson in Philly,Giants, but no it happened again with Indy. Now this week they have their backs up against the wall and facing probably the best team they have played all year. Like you say to much talent on the team for the record to reflect what it does. EW

To: JSB who wrote (43)	11/5/1999 1:15:00 PM
From: Esway	Respond to of 87

Does this sound like a guy thinking about hanging it up and retiring to you: Headaches leave Aikman in doubt 11/05/99 By David Moore / The Dallas Morning News IRVING - The headaches aren't as intense as they were in the hours after Troy Aikman took a blow to the head. They don't linger as long. Luksa: Gailey's play-calling is not the problem Family hopeful Landry will respond to treatment Notebook: No fine on Burris But four days after he and Indianapolis safety Jeff Burris knocked helmets, the headaches persist. Because they do, Aikman stops short of guaranteeing he'll be able to play Monday night against Minnesota. "I don't know," Aikman said. "If I'm still experiencing headaches a week after, then that would be a concern and that would be discussed. I'd hate to say right now that I would not play. But I'd hate to say I definitely would play. "The only comment I guess I can make is I plan on playing in the ballgame and I will go out and practice this week, anticipating that the headaches will stop." Aikman has suffered five concussions in his career with the Cowboys. None have prevented him from playing the following week. The Cowboys, stung by criticism over Deion Sanders' return from a concussion against Washington one week earlier, refuse to say that Aikman even suffered a concussion. Owner Jerry Jones said Tuesday's MRI showed that the quarterback didn't have a concussion. Trainer Jim Maurer termed what happened, as "a hit to the head" and said the MRI didn't reveal any damage. Maurer said it's not unusual for Aikman to still experience headaches. He said the fact the length and severity of the headaches has decreased is a good sign. John F. Rhodes / DMN Troy Aikman is thrown to the ground by Colts DB Jeff Burris. Aikman was injured on the play, but later returned to the game. "I have not heard anything of a serious nature," Cowboys coach Chan Gailey said. "He hasn't brought it up to me yet. If he does, we'll address it." Aikman questioned the reliability of an MRI for this injury, saying he's not sure what it could show other than an area of dead brain cells. For that to appear, he said the hit would have had to come years earlier. Maurer stressed nothing like that was found and said the club, "feels good about the test." This is the third time headaches have plagued Aikman this long after a blow to the head. The first came when he suffered a concussion his rookie year against Arizona. The second came when he was knocked unconscious during the NFC Championship Game against San Francisco in 1994. Aikman played in the Super Bowl the next week, but he said he still experienced headaches two weeks after the hit. Aikman said he has no reason to believe this injury will compare to those two. But he doesn't want to minimize the serious nature of these incidents and said he will monitor himself during practice. "If it becomes a problem, then I will limit myself," Aikman said. It wasn't a problem Thursday. Aikman took a couple of aspirin and participated in all of the drills. There was no effort to give backup Jason Garrett any extra snaps. Leigh Steinberg, Aikman's agent, has put together seminars to help educate his clients on concussions and some of the warning signs. Steinberg has delved into this issue even more recently due to the health of his son and the decision facing another client, San Francisco's Steve Young. "My understanding of what he's going through right now is that he's had repeated symptoms from the concussion," Aikman said of Young. "Dizzy spells. He's vomited over the last couple of weeks and continues to have headaches. He's had a number of post-concussion symptoms I have not had except the headaches." The cumulative effect of these injuries is what has Aikman and others concerned. He said Steinberg has talked with specialists from Stanford and Harvard who believe they may have devised a more accurate way to detect and track the effects of repeated concussions. "I'm probably not as knowledgeable as I would like to be," Aikman said. "I don't know if that many people are. I think there are just so many questions out there as to what the long-term effects are, what can happen from repeated blows to the head. "Leigh has researched it quite a bit. There are people he thinks can be very helpful once the season ends. He will give me a chance to visit with them, evaluate it and see exactly where I am." For now, all Aikman can do is prepare as if he'll be able to play against the Vikings. And take aspirin. "I'm still having some headaches," Aikman said. "That's a concern. "I'm going to see how it goes the rest of the week."

To: JSB who wrote (43)	11/10/1999 10:55:00 AM
From: Esway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 87

This is going to be a rough road from here to the end of the year will looks like there may be a hard decision to make in the future for Aiman: Aikman's future fraught with doubt 11/10/99 By Frank Luksa / The Dallas Morning News IRVING - Within the next few days, Troy Aikman will confront an issue of personal gravity and franchise-crushing potential. It is his future as an NFL quarterback, and a conclusion of whether he has one. Aikman's career with the Cowboys is in peril as his 33rd birthday approaches on the 21st of this month. A distant echo haunts the corridors at Valley Ranch. A series of concussions hastened the retirement of Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach from the Cowboys 20 years ago. The same drama overhangs Aikman, who surely will be withheld from Sunday's game in Texas Stadium against Green Bay even if coach Chan Gailey declined to confirm the obvious Tuesday. Aikman's long-term status has assumed the guise of an unwelcome intruder with enough influence to reduce Valley Ranch to rubble. An assessment of Aikman's fitness to play will come after medical evaluation of head injuries he suffered in consecutive games over a span of eight days. His condition will remain unknown and the source of apprehension until tests are complete. No one will know until then if his situation is serious or would ease after an extended period of rest. Street-level reaction to Aikman's situation does not require expert definition. It's alarming and invites inevitable comparison to San Francisco quarterback Steve Young, who's presumed en route to forced retirement because of repeated concussions. Memory also returns to a recent remark Staubach made in reference to Young that now applies to Aikman. Speaking as victim of 20 concussions dating to his schoolboy era, Staubach said: "They were getting easier to have and stronger." Aikman's latest experience followed that general trend. He has accounted for eight concussions since his prep school days - six for certain in the NFL and widely spaced until the Sunday before last. He suffered a fierce helmet-to-helmet hit on that date in Indianapolis and retired for one series with dizzy spells. The Cowboys medical team did not classify those symptoms or four days of lingering headaches as a concussion. Aikman sounded like he did in advance of Monday night's 27-17 loss to Minnesota. Instead of the bravado injured athletes often adopt, Aikman made an unusually limp statement last Thursday while updating his condition. Something about how he'd hate to say he wouldn't play or that he definitely would start against the Vikings. His plan was to press on and anticipate that the headaches would subside. This was not the tone of a player who felt all was well and dandy. Aikman's response indicated he held reservations about being fit to perform despite assurances by doctors and an all-clear from brain scans. Official NFL concussion No. 6 visited Aikman late in the third quarter against the Vikings. A blocking-scheme lapse freed 350-pound defensive tackle Jerry Ball to trap Aikman and throw him aside. Although Aikman's head struck the turf, the collision didn't appear especially violent. Yet he was disabled. Concerns for Aikman's health are legitimate. Family members have urged him to retire. Aikman is hard-nosed. No one doubts his commitment to the game. But Aikman isn't hard-headed enough to risk his health for the remaining years of his life for a game. There's no reward in the world worth that gamble. This is not to say Aikman is finished and will never play again. He probably will return after taking a week off for serious soul-searching. He might play for years. But during this period of introspection, Aikman will be drawn to pondering morbid questions: What if I suffer another concussion the next time out? What if the next one is worse than the others? If I return and play the rest of the schedule without incident, should I retire at season's end? Nothing of the sort is going to happen, and will someone answer the phone that isn't ringing. Forget salary cap catastrophe if Aikman goes before his allotted time. His well-being supersedes dwelling on a factor that would guarantee franchise disaster for the next decade. Every Aikman appearance from now on will be fraught with enough strain to himself and all who observe. An ever-present thought, and fear, will attend every snap Aikman takes. Will the next time he gets hit be the last time?