Troy Aikman was featured in my Distinguished Oklahoman's book and he truly has had a distinguished career. He was born in West Covina, California, but moved to Henryetta, Oklahoma when he was twelve years old.
As an infant Troy had a mild case of club feet. When he was 8 months old casts were put on both legs to straighten them and every two weeks for 6 months the casts had to be changed. Then until he was 3 years old he was forced to wear special shoes so his feet would continue to grow normally. Well as we can all attest to, a shaky start certainly didn't hamper one of the nation's best football players.
Moving to Henryetta, a small town in Oklahoma of only 6,000 people was quite a cultural shock for Troy. Not only did they leave behind suburban life in California, but they traded it for farm life on a 172 acre plot of land which included chores that Troy was not accustomed to.
Of course once he enrolled in the eighth grade that fall and immediately made friends, country living didn't seem quite as bad after all. He signed up for junior high football and quickly realized that people in Oklahoma are crazy about football.
His first varsity game he was a sophomore for the Henryetta High School Fighting Hens. The school had been tagged as being a losing team and was ridiculed quite a bit for their Fighting Hens nickname. Even though they didn't win a title Troy did throw a touchdown pass for the victory against Checotah in his first varsity game.
His junior year the team lost their first eight games, yet they still made the state playoffs. It was the school's first playoff team in 25 years.
In Troy's senior year the team didn't make the playoffs, but they did finish 6-4, which caused Troy to be sought after by college football coaches.
Coach Barry Switzer finally won out and Troy signed up for the Sooners at the University of Oklahoma. Of course from there he went to play for UCLA and then onto play as an NFL Quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys where he spent 12 years.
He became one of the only 3 players to lead a team to three Super Bowl victories. He's accrued many awards and recognition over the years. What I thought was pretty cool was when I drove into the town of Henryetta and saw a sign that read The Home of rodeo legend Jim Shoulders and Pro-Football Player Troy Aikman.
Later, when I interviewed Jim Shoulders he said Troy would only agree to accepting recognition on the sign, if Jim Shoulders received top billing. That's what you call a "Distinguished Oklahoman!"
Thanks for reading, Victoria
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