# 8

You know you are getting older when the NFL players that you watched when you thought were "old" are finally getting inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's odd that this weekend I'll get to see Troy Aikman get inducted in the the HOF after spending all those years watching him play QB for the Dallas Cowboys. It reminds me of a few stories from those good ol' years:

After the Cowboys beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship game in the year they ended up winning their first Super Bowl, my brother Randy worked at what was known at the time as GTE (now Verizon - the enemy!! HA) From what I recall, Randy had heard about where the Cowboys would fly into at DFW airport since it was a private location. I think it had something to do with a hanger close to a GTE facility out there but Randy could probably clear that up. Anyway, I'll forget that several of us (me, Randy, George, Andrea, Melody and others) went out to this private location. It was dark but I remember there were several people already there. And since the game was played on the West Coast, it seems that their arrival was in the wee hours of the morning but it didn't matter. This was the beginning of a great run for the Cowboys and we were right in the middle of it. I remember watching some planes arrive with Jerry and Jimmy getting off the plane. And it seems like that's when we heard "they're over here!!". We looked and the players had already landed (at possibly a decoy site) and were driving out in their fancy cars. Like a bunch of school girls gloating over the Beatles, we rushed their cars just to get a glimpse of these stars. I remember Troy, Michael, Nate, Emmitt and others just inches from me and I was amazed. As a lifelong Cowboy fan, it was a blast being there.

I also remember all the special radio shows that would be filmed in town and how our friend Melody would get us connected because of some job she had doing something with a film production company (how's that for specifics). Again, it was just a blast being a Cowboy fan.

I remember hearing a story from Troy who said that Michael Irvin was definitely his favorite receiver. He admitted after he retired that there were times that plays were called in the huddle that had him throwing to someone else but he would audible out just so he could throw it to Michael (and Michael was in on it too!). That's funny to me!!

When Troy retired, his press conference was during the middle part of the day. I think I took like a 2 hour lunch that day so I could listen to every word he said. It was going down memory lane for me and also a sad day too. I guess I always hoped he would quarterback just one more year!! Guess that didn't happen. Too bad for us.

Well, thanks for letting me go down memory lane a bit myself. I'm sure some of you have your favorite Troy memories so feel free to share them. I could go on and on but I'll save you the headache of reading it all!! HA

God bless you all,
SJ