By Steve Richardson, NFF Correspondent

Gil Brandt, formerly vice president of Player Personnel for the Dallas
Cowboys, remembers the first time he ever laid eyes on Troy Aikman. Mack
Brown, then an assistant coach for Barry Switzer at Oklahoma, summoned the
young Aikman to his office at Owen Field. Aikman was a rawboned youngster
from tiny Henryetta, Okla., during the 1984 season.

“Mack Brown was the offensive coordinator at OU when Aikman was a freshman,”
Brandt recalled. “I was in Mack’s office looking at tape on an old Bell and
Howell projector. Mack came in and said, ‘We are going to start a new
quarterback. I want you to meet him.’ A few minutes later Aikman comes into
the office and he is going to be the starting quarterback against Kansas. He
says, ‘I played for (stuttering) the H-e-n-ri-e-t-t-a Hens.’ The guy is
nervous as all get out.”

Aikman, who got the starting nod when Danny Bradley was injured, lettered as
a freshman and as a sophomore (despite an injury), but elected to leave
Switzer’s ground-hog offense which would be led by Jamelle Holieway. He left
for UCLA and Coach Terry Donahue’s passing attack with two years of
eligibility remaining. Aikman sat out the 1986 season and worked with
current UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel, who was then much lower on the Bruin
totem pole.

“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,”
Neuheisel said. “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.”

In two seasons at UCLA, Aikman started all 24 games as the Bruins tied for
first in the Pac-10 when he was a junior and finished second when he was a
senior. Aikman completed 406 of 627 passes (64.8%) for 5,298 yards and 41
touchdowns. His completion percentage ranks second in UCLA history among
players who have passed for at least 2,000 yards in their careers.

Playing 12 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys, Aikman became the first NFL
quarterback to win three Super Bowls in a four-year span (1992, 1993, 1995).
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006.

After retiring from professional football, Aikman went into television and
is now a top analyst on FOX. He also hosts a weekly radio show, has several
businesses in the Dallas area and runs the Troy Aikman Foundation, which
helps disadvantaged children fulfill their physical, psychological, social
and economic needs.

“It’s an honor to be included in such an exclusive group of players and
coaches who have shaped the great tradition that college football enjoys,”
Aikman said. “College football has meant so much to the sporting history of
our country, and it means a lot to me personally. I appreciate that legacy,
and I have great respect for those who have been honored before me. The
opportunity to share this recognition with my former Cowboys teammate Jay
Novacek will make this experience all the more rewarding.”

The 2008 Hall of Fame Class will be officially inducted at the NFF’s Annual
Awards Dinner, held at New York City’s historic Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on
Tuesday, December 9. The National Hall of Fame Salute at the Tostitos Fiesta
Bowl follows on January 5, giving the class recognition on a national stage,
and events culminate with the College Football Hall of Fame’s Enshrinement
Festival in South Bend, Ind., July 17-18.

The 2008 class includes Troy Aikman (UCLA), Billy Cannon (LSU), Jim
Dombrowski (UVA), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Wilber Marshall (Florida),
Rueben Mayes (Washington State), Randall McDaniel (ASU), Don McPherson
(Syracuse), Jay Novacek (Wyoming), Dave Parks (Texas Tech), Ron Simmons
(Florida State), Thurman Thomas (Oklahoma State), Arnold Tucker (Army),
Coach John Cooper (Tulsa, ASU, Ohio State) and Coach Lou Holtz (William &
Mary, NC State, Arkansas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, South Carolina). To attend
the 2008 Hall of Fame Press Conference prior to the Annual Awards Dinner,
please contact NFF Director of Communications Phil Marwill at
pmarwill@footballfoundation.com or via telephone at 917.579.4256.