Troy Aikman is a retired American football player who played his whole career with the Dallas Cowboys. Currently, he works as a color commentator for ESPN’s broadcast of Monday Night Football. He was a great player during his time, with some even considering him one of the top quarterbacks in NFL history. Aikman finished his career as a six-time Pro Bowler, one-time Super Bowl MVP and three-time Super Bowl champion. Because of his accolades, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006. In this article, however, we will be talking about Troy Aikman’s net worth in 2023, which is at an impressive $65 million.
Troy Aikman’s net worth in 2023 (estimate): $65 million
Troy Aikman’s net worth in 2023 is estimated to be $65 million. This is agreed upon by multiple sources such as Celebrity Net Worth.
Let us now learn more about the life of the legendary quarterback and how his journey molded him into becoming a Hall-of-Famer.
Troy Kenneth Aikman was born on November 21, 1966, in West Covina, California. His family moved to Henryetta, Oklahoma, when he was 12 years old. There, he played baseball and football for Henryetta High School, earning All-State honors. Aside from athletics, Troy Aikman also won the 1983 Oklahoma high school state championship in typing.
After graduating high school, the New York Mets offered him a contract. However, Aikman chose to pursue football instead of playing baseball, enrolling at the University of Oklahoma to join the Sooners football team and play under head coach Barry Switzer. He then became the first freshman to start at quarterback for the Sooners since World War II. In 1985, he led Oklahoma to victory against schools like Minnesota, Kansas State and Texas.
Unfortunately, Aikman broke his ankle during a game against the Miami Hurricanes and was ruled out for the season. Despite that, the Oklahoma Sooners still won the 1985 National Championship. Because of the injury, Aikman became a second-stringer, pushing to transfer to UCLA.
After sitting out one year due to college transfer rules, Troy Aikman led the Bruins to a 10-2 record and the 1987 Aloha Bowl. He also earned Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors after throwing for 2,525 yards and 17 touchdowns with only eight interceptions.
The following year, he scored 24 touchdowns with 2,771 throwing yards en route to winning the 1988 Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top quarterback — the first in UCLA history. He finished his career with the Bruins as the No. 2 career passing leader in UCLA history.
Due to his impressive performance in college, Troy Aikman was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. On November 28th, 2014, UCLA retired his No. 8 jersey at halftime of their game against Stanford.
In the 1989 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys selected Troy Aikman with the first overall pick. He then signed a six-year, $11 million rookie deal with the team.
Unfortunately, Aikman finished his rookie year without a win in his 11 games as a starter. He completed 155-of-293 passes for 1,749 yards and nine touchdowns in his NFL debut, also setting a rookie record for most yards thrown in a game with 379.
In his third year, Troy Aikman was named a Pro Bowler after finishing the season with 2,754 passing yards and 11 touchdowns. However, he really broke out during the 1992 season, starting all 16 games while leading the Cowboys to a 13-3 record. He also threw for a career-high 3,445 passing yards and 23 touchdowns. On top of that, he led Dallas to their first Super Bowl appearance since 1979, where the Cowboys faced the Buffalo Bills.
Dallas made easy work of their opponents, beating Buffalo 52-17. Troy Aikman completed 22-of-30 passes for 273 yards and 4 touchdowns en route to being named the Super Bowl MVP.
In 1993, Troy Aikman signed an eight-year contract extension with the Cowboys worth $44 million. He then led Dallas to the best record in the NFC at 12-4. The Cowboyds proceeded to dismantle the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game to book a ticket to Super Bowl XXVIII. Buffalo and Dallas met one again the Super Bowl, with the Cowboys claiming the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the second consecutive year.
After another 3,300 passing yard-year, Troy Aikman once again led the Cowboys to the best record in the NFC en route to their third Super Bowl Appearance in four years. They then won Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
In 1997, Troy Aikman became the first quarterback in Dallas history to record three straight 3,000-yard passing seasons. Unfortunately, the team only managed to win six games, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1990. in the season which caused them to miss the playoffs for the first time since 1990.
A couple of years later, Troy Aikman made his final playoff appearance, and it was also the final season the legendary trio of Aikman, Michael Irvin and Emmett Smith played together. Unfortunately, the Cowboys lost in the Wild Card playoff game against Minnesota.
In 2000, Aikman suffered several concussions throughout the season. His final game was against the Washington Redskins (now the Washington Commanders) where he also had the 10th and final concussion of his career.
During the 2001 offseason, Troy Aikman was waived and ultimately announced his retirement after he failed to find another team. He ended his career as the Cowboys’ all-time leading passer with 32,942 yards. More of his accolades are listed below.
- 1989 PFWA All-Rookie Team
- 1993 NFL Completion Percentage Leader
- 1997 NFL Man of the Year
- 6x Pro Bowl Selection
- Super Bowl XXVII MVP
- 3x Super Bowl Champion
In 2006, Troy Aikman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. According to Spotrac, he earned a total of $55,537,000 in his 12 seasons in the NFL.
After retiring, Troy Aikman joined Fox’s NFC telecasts as a color commentator. He was eventually promoted to the network’s lead announcing crew with Joe Buck and Cris Collinsworth. He also received an Emmy nomination for his work as a commentator.
Troy Aikman held his post for 20 years as part of Fox’s lead broadcasting team. However, on March 16, 2022, it was announced that he would join ESPN as the new lead commentator for their Monday Night Football broadcast.
He also became the highest-paid sports broadcaster of all time after he signed a contract for five years worth a whopping $90 million, though Tom Brady’s new deal with FOX Sports blows past that. Still, this contract is certainly helping Troy Aikman’s net worth in 2023.
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Aside from his football and broadcasting career, Troy Aikman also established his own NASCAR team with former Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, called Hall of Fame Racing. The team participated in races until after the 2009 season when it closed down.
It is no question that Troy Aikman is an icon in American football, not only for his incredible playing career, but his presence as a commentator after he retired from the game.
With all of that being said, were you surprised about Troy Aikman’s net worth in 2023?