Where did Troy Aikman play college football? 3X Super Bowl champ's collegiate career explored

Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman is better known for being the eponymous leader of the 90s Dallas Cowboys Dynasty.

With a team having Michael Irvin and Emmitt Smith in one of the best offenses ever, and 'Prime Time' Deion Sanders in defense, Aikman led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles. These came between 1992 and 1995.

In 12 seasons with America's Team, the man also known as 'Iceman' and 'RoboQB', recorded 32,942 passing yards with 165 touchdowns in the regular season. He had 3,849 passing yards with 23 touchdowns in postseason.

While he is better known for his achievements as a Cowboy, Troy Aikman is also a College Football Hall of Famer. His achievements on the college football side of things were so important, and his potential deemed so great, that he was the first overall pick of the 1989 NFL Draft.

At the time, Jerry Jones had just bought America's Team, and Aikman would be the foundation on which Jones and head coach Jimmy Johnson would build a Dynasty.

Troy Aikman's college career

Aikman played five seasons of college football, two with the Oklahoma Sooners and three with the UCLA Bruins. It was with the Bruins that he truly came into his own, in 1987 and 1988. While he was with UCLA in 1986, he was prevented from playing due to the NCAA transfer rules.

Oklahoma Sooners

Straight out of high school, Aikman was offered a contract to play pro baseball for the New York Mets. But he turned down the chance to play football for the Sooners under Barry Switzer. The latter would later coach the Dallas Cowboys during their third Super Bowl win.

Aikman barely featured in 1984 for the Sooners, while in 1985, he had a bit more participation in their national title campaign. That year, he threw 442 yards and had one touchdown pass and an interception.

He was supposed to be that year's starter, but injuries prevented him from doing so. On October 19, in a game against Jimmy Johnson's Miami, Aikman was sacked and broke his ankle. He was ruled out for the season. The Sooners went on to defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions in the 1986 Orange Bowl.

An interesting story from Aikman's early years is he almost played for Jimmy Johnson, who coached him with the Cowboys, at Oklahoma State. Johnson was leading the race to recruit a young Aikman and was the first coach to approach the future star.

Some days before committing, he said he would visit the Oklahoma campus but only went to an event in which all the Heisman winners All-Americans attended. He added that he had no intention of signing for the Sooners.

Switzer is known for being one of the best recruiters the game has seen, and he turned around Aikman's mind. The Cowboys signal-caller later said this about it:

"Part of it, too, was me coming from a small high school. I wasn't sure how I was going to stack up in college, and Barry was open to me playing safety, linebacker, tight end," Aikman said. "And I wanted a chance to win a national title, and we did. Even if I signed at Oklahoma State, I wouldn't have played for Jimmy. He left that next year for Miami."

UCLA Bruins

Troy Aikman couldn't play the 1986 season, as the NCAA transfer rules prevented him from doing so. Aikman left Oklahoma to look for a place where he could be a regular starter, given that Jamelle Holieway took his position with the Sooners.

Coach Switzer himself supervised Aikman's transfer to the UCLA Bruins, a very passing-friendly team. With the California school Troy Aikman would win the Pac-12's Offensive Player of the Year in 1987 - the Davey O'Brien Award - and Consensus All-American honors in 1988.

He also finished third in the Heisman voting. In his last game as a Bruin, Aikman led UCLA to a Cotton Bowl victory over the Arkansas Razorbacks. He was the MVP of that game. In that 1988 season, he threw for 2,771 passing yards with 24 touchdown passes.

Troy Aikman closed his UCLA career as their second-best all-time passer and had his No. 8 jersey retired.