When Troy Aikman secured his third Super Bowl victory with the Dallas Cowboys following the 1995 season, he never imagined that entering the 2026 campaign, it would remain the franchise’s most recent championship.
In a recent conversation with Dale Hansen, Aikman admitted he still finds it astonishing that the organization has not advanced to the NFC Championship Game, let alone the Super Bowl, since that same 1995 season.
“I never thought that would be the last one I’d be involved in. I was confident we would win another, and I believed I would be a part of it,” Aikman stated. “It’s genuinely difficult to comprehend. We constantly discuss league parity, watch teams go from worst to first, and see historically struggling franchises make deep runs to conference championships or Super Bowls. Yet, for the Cowboys, this hasn’t materialized. It’s tough to pinpoint the exact reason.”
The Hall of Fame quarterback emphasized that enduring three decades without a Lombardi Trophy—or even coming close to securing one—is simply unacceptable for the franchise.
“Cowboys fans deserve much better,” Aikman asserted. “This is the flagship franchise of the NFL. The fact that in 30 years they haven’t reached a championship game, let alone a Super Bowl, is almost impossible to wrap your head around.”
When questioned whether team owner Jerry Jones bears responsibility, Aikman acknowledged that Jones’s decision to retain the general manager title plays a significant role.
“Ultimately, it starts at the top. Whether the outcome is good or bad, it begins with leadership, and I don’t think Jerry would dispute that,” Aikman explained. “When things don’t pan out, accountability is necessary, and the results simply haven’t been there. I’ve heard Jerry argue that he hasn’t hired a general manager because there are no guarantees that a replacement would improve the team. However, if that is the operating philosophy, you would never fire a head coach or make any changes at all, because nothing is guaranteed in this league. They’ve traveled this path for so long without achieving success in January. There has to be an underlying reason.”
Aikman stressed that any franchise enduring the Cowboys’ recent playoff futility should actively pursue change.
“In my view, if you haven’t reached an NFC Championship Game in three decades, you must alter your approach,” Aikman noted. “It’s completely unacceptable.”
Aikman pointed out that while Jones recognizes Jimmy Johnson’s brilliance in constructing the 1990s Super Bowl rosters, he has never granted anyone else that level of authority since.
“He understands why we succeeded under Jimmy Johnson. I believe the key to our success was that every player in the locker room knew Jimmy was in command of their destiny. If you failed to meet his standards, you were held accountable,” Aikman reflected. “Jimmy was an exceptional talent evaluator. He drafted those players and built those teams. He was an outstanding general manager—or at least a de facto one. He might have even been better in that personnel role than he was as a head coach, despite his excellence on the sideline.”
Today, Jones serves as the general manager and has yet to replicate the triumphs of the Johnson era.
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