Neuheisel on Aikman

TROY AIKMAN NAMED TO NATIONAL FOOTBALL FOUNDATION HALL OF FAME

Troy Aikman, who earned All-America honors and led UCLA to a record of 20-4 and two bowl victories during his two seasons as the starting quarterback, has been selected for induction into the National Football Foundation Hall of Fame, it was announced today.

Aikman will be honored along with 12 other players and two coaches at the annual National Football Foundation dinner on Dec. 9 at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel. The class will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame, located in South Bend, next summer.

"UCLA is thrilled that Troy is being inducted into the Hall of Fame," said UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel. "I had the pleasure of working with Troy as a graduate assistant during his redshirt year and as the quarterbacks coach during his senior season. Not only was he a great player, but a great team leader. Troy exemplifies the word 'class' and UCLA is extremely proud of all he has accomplished, both on and off the field."

Aikman, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006, began his career at Oklahoma but transferred to UCLA after two seasons. After redshirting in 1986, he started all 24 games of his career in 1987 and 1988, leading the Bruins to a record of 10-2 in each season. The Bruins tied for the Pac-10 title and won the Aloha Bowl in 1987 and won the Cotton Bowl following the 1988 season.

As a junior, Aikman earned second-team All-America honors. As a senior, he was the consensus All-America quarterback, won the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award and finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting. A few months later, the Dallas Cowboys made him the No. 1 selection in the 1989 NFL Draft.

During his two years as a Bruin, Aikman completed 406 of 627 passes (64.8%) for 5,298 yards, 41 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. The 41 touchdowns rank No. 5 in UCLA history as do the 406 completions while the 5,298 yards rank sixth. His completion percentage (.648) ranks second in school history among players who have passed for at least 2,000 career yards.

As a junior, he completed 178 of 273 passes (65.2%) for 2,527 yards, 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions. As a senior, he upped his totals to 228 completions (a school record at the time, still second on the single-season list) in 354 attempts (64.4%) for 2,771 yards (second at the time, still fifth), 24 touchdowns (a school record at the time, still tied for third) and nine interceptions.

Aikman played 12 seasons (1989-2000) with the Dallas Cowboys and became the first quarterback in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in a four-year span. Following his NFL career, he began a broadcasting career and is the No. 1 NFL analyst on FOX's NFC football package. He also hosts a weekly radio show, has several businesses in the Dallas area and runs the Troy Aikman Foundation.