The Secrets to Greatness w/ Troy Aikman

Learn how to become a VISIONARY LEADER and CULTIVATE SUCCESS in this electrifying episode with one of the ALL-TIME GREATS… Troy Aikman’s journey from UCLA to the Dallas Cowboys, where he became a 3-time Super Bowl champion and a member of the Hall of Fame, is an inspiring testament to his unparalleled work ethic. But his impact extends far beyond the football field. As a Fox Sports and Monday Night Football analyst, as well as a successful entrepreneur with his own beer brand, Troy brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table. During our conversation, Troy shares invaluable insights on leadership, teamwork, and personal growth that can propel you to victory in the most important games of your life. Get ready for a thrilling discussion where we cover: The essential qualities that make coaches truly great and the trait players seek in their mentors. Overcoming criticism and adversity to rise to greatness. Unveiling the true essence of success and what it feels like to achieve your biggest triumphs. Sustaining the hunger for greatness even after achieving monumental victories. Unlocking the secrets of Troy's daily routines and rituals that keep him at the top of his game. Exploring the power of cold plunges, red light therapy, meditation, and breath work. Creating a harmonious home life and fostering meaningful family experiences. AND you’ll get exclusive insights into a pivotal moment in Troy’s broadcasting career, when he was faced with a life-or-death situation on the field. This gripping story will leave you in awe of his resilience and the depth of his perspective. Get ready for a high-impact episode that will elevate your understanding of leadership, excellence, and the pursuit of greatness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

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• 1:01Speaker 01

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• 1:36Ed Mylett?

  This is the Ed Mylett Show.

• 1:40Ed Mylett?

  Welcome back to the show, everybody. Today's special. It's not every day you sit across from a three-time Super Bowl champion, Super Bowl MVP. Let's just be real. One of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. One of the greatest athletes of all time. And by the way, ironically, I think actually one of the most underrated athletes of all time. It's a fact. But actually, as impressive as his football career was, I like the fact that the dream didn't stop there and he was able to, post-football, create an incredible brand, an incredible career, and incredible life post-football. So I just want to pick the brain of the great Troy Aikman. Troy, good to have you.

• 2:18Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, great to be on, great to meet you. Been looking forward to this.

• 2:21Ed Mylett?

  You too. By the way, he's also an entrepreneur. We ought to just talk about that first.

• 2:24Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 2:25Ed Mylett?

  He's in the beer business now.

• 2:27Troy Aikman?

  Yep.

• 2:27Ed Mylett?

  Tell me about that a little bit.

• 2:28Troy Aikman?

  It's been an interesting year and a half or so. Actually, we started two years before we launched. We've now been in stores for a year and a half, strictly in Texas. But I worked for a distributorship in college. I like beer. I don't drink a lot.

• 2:41Ed Mylett?

  You don't look like you drink any.

• 2:42Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, no. But, yeah, I met my partners and we started kicking it around and seeing if it's something that I might want to do. And, you know, I work out, I'm mindful of what I put in my body, all those things. And I said, well, if we can do something that complements my lifestyle, then I'm all for it. And so, we spent two years coming up with the recipe. And what's unique about Eight, which is the name of the beer, is that we're 100% organic grains. We have no adjuncts and no fillers. So, we're the only widely-available beer that can say that. Every other widely-available beer adds corn, rice, syrup, or sugar. So there's a lot of junk that's thrown in there. Ours has none of that, and yet, we're

• 3:26Troy Aikman?

  still at 90 calories and just 2.6 carbs.

• 3:28Ed Mylett?

  That was my next question, those two things.

• 3:30Troy Aikman?

  So it's been really good. And, you know, I feel like we're a lifestyle brand, quite honestly, because the people who I've always been inspired by are the people who never settle, and the people who do the work, and all those things. And I feel like I'm one of those people, you know? And that's why I'm usually drawn to that. And so, that's really who this beer was made for. Now, anyone who wants to drink it, that wants a better-for-you beer, will certainly accept.

• 3:58Ed Mylett?

  By the way, you're in the right demo in this audience. They can drink beer and be healthy, and it's actually unique. They can get it anywhere? Where can you get Eight?

• 4:05Troy Aikman?

  In Texas. Yeah, it's distributed across the entire state. Eventually, we hope that we'll move Outside of Texas and you know be in other states.

• 4:14Ed Mylett?

  Let's get it online so we can buy it online.

• 4:16Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 4:17Ed Mylett?

  Eventually.

• 4:18Troy Aikman?

  I don't know what the restrictions are on that. I've been asked about that a lot. But it's done really well. So we just we just kicked off our second year and a lot of good stuff is happening.

• 4:26Ed Mylett?

  Congratulations.

• 4:27Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, thank you.

• 4:28Ed Mylett?

  You, like I said, you've had this incredible life. I want to I'm gonna ask you hard stuff today, stuff that I don't think you get asked all the time. I had a chance a few weeks ago. I was with Brady for a few days at an event. And I've been blessed that I get to have been around some guys that played your position at a pretty high level. Woody John Elway's been a friend of mine for a long time. What's a through line for the great leaders in anything, but especially we'll just take quarterbacks now. What's a through line then? Don't be humble today between like a Troy Aikman, because you're different personalities, very different. Troy Aikman, a John Elway, a Tom Brady, what is the through line that made you all great leaders? I know there's differences, but what's a through line?

• 5:06Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, I think we are all different. We all lead in a different way, which is which is true of of any field, of course. But I think that probably what the through line is for all great quarterbacks, great leaders at that position. Or in general is that they they put in the work and and they're not outworked, you know? And I think that that, first of all, you got to play well, but but you have to also be the guy who your teammates understand is is there putting in the work and doing what's necessary in order to be the best that you can be. And I think that those guys that you mentioned, I'd like to think that I'm one of them as well, that

• 5:48Troy Aikman?

  your teammates never questioned your commitment, your dedication and your persistence to being the best that you could be.

• 5:54Ed Mylett?

  Why does it matter? Like I I like in business as an entrepreneur, I'll tell entrepreneurs, one of the reasons you got to outwork everybody is when you're leading a team. An ironic thing, and maybe this isn't true in football, but I think it is. You actually create safety for everybody around you, stability, when you're the hardest working person in the room and the leader. I think that's one of those like invisible things like you actually have created a sense of stability just by your mere presence and your work ethic that doesn't exist if you're a little bit hit and miss in an environment. Do you see that?

• 6:23Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, and I, and I think that in, in football, maybe this is true in all sports, but I know that, that what I can relate to is the dynamics of a locker room and within an organization. And what generally happens is for the quarterback, the quarterback, the franchise quarterback is always viewed as the guy who didn't really have to fight necessarily for his pay. He's been treated well, you know, that, okay, well, the organization and maybe even more so now, even though we've seen situations where some quarterbacks have had to hold out and hopefully get what they feel is their, you know, corrected, corrected pay.

• 7:03Troy Aikman?

  But I think in general, when you have a franchise quarterback, it's like, oh, okay, well, his contract's up, so we pay him and then we move on and then these other guys are holding out and then they gotta, you know, they gotta fight a little harder. The quarterback usually has great relationships with not only the coaches, but also the owner himself and, and all that. So I think that with that, the quarterback has to, in his way, make the other players, his teammates, understand that, that he's with them, you know, that he's one of them and that he's doing the work just like they are. And it's not always easy to do. And there, there have been those quarterbacks, those guys, those franchise quarterbacks that have struggled in that area. And it's, and it's not easy. And not to get off tangent,

• 7:47Troy Aikman?

  but I think that becomes a challenge right now with what we're seeing in college with the NIL is that now you've got, you've got 18-year-olds instead of 24-year-olds that are having to navigate those waters of getting paid more than the rest of the players within the locker room. And how do you do that? It's not easy.

• 8:04Ed Mylett?

  That's interesting because I I've had a chance, I had Peyton Manning, I've interviewed Peyton, I interviewed John Montana, and then you. And when I, when people make their lists, this is what's interesting to me, I don't know if you take this personally or not, but when people go, okay, my top five quarterbacks of all time, you're usually gonna hear Joe's name, you're gonna hear Brady's name, and then they'll interchange, you know, Marino, Peyton Manning, you know, whoever, they get their list. Rogers, I guess, is on that list somehow now, but Mahomes.

• 8:34Troy Aikman?

  I wanna know where Otto Graham is, that guy won like 10 championships.

• 8:37Ed Mylett?

  I know, he doesn't get anything.

• 8:39Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 8:39Ed Mylett?

  But what is it, in your case, I mean, it's clear, you should be in that, and by the way, I'm sure on many lists you are, I don't mean to say.

• 8:46Troy Aikman?

  Well, no, that's not, well, no, I'm not, I'm not.

• 8:49Ed Mylett?

  And why?

• 8:49Troy Aikman?

  And quite honestly, Ed, it doesn't affect me at all, I mean, it really doesn't. I mean, I played the game, hoping that one day I would be thought of amongst the greats of all time, and I feel like that happened by the simple fact that I'm in the Hall of Fame. But, you know, when you're talking about, okay, name the top five, I wouldn't probably be in there, maybe I would be if they mentioned the top 10, but I understand that my career really was about winning championships, which ultimately is what everyone's career should be about, that's what they pay us for. But, I think that the world that we're in, especially with fantasy football, and then for those fans or people who are making those lists,

• 9:31Troy Aikman?

  that if they didn't see me play, they look at stats, and they say, okay, well, shoot, I mean, Troy, my numbers are pretty modest, relative to many others, and there's reasons for that. You know, Emmitt, of course, there's a reason why he's the all-time leading rusher, and, you know, but we didn't throw the ball as often, but when we threw it, we threw it as well as anybody. And that's why Michael Irvin's in the Hall of Fame as well, so no.

• 9:55Ed Mylett?

  It doesn't bother you?

• 9:57Troy Aikman?

  It does not bother me, in fact, during my Hall of Fame speech, what I mentioned was, that I feel, like, everyone talks about how team comes first, you never hear a player say, that, oh, no, I'm all about me, you know, they'll say, hey, I just wanna win, but there's very few, as you know, who really... Only want to win. They want to win as long as they're also putting up their big numbers, you know?

• 10:21Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 10:21Troy Aikman?

  For me, I felt like I did sacrifice individually. I felt like I could throw the ball as well as anybody, but I feel like I did sacrifice individually for what was best for the team. And so the greatest reward for that was that I then received the greatest honor an individual can ever receive, and that is to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So that's what that's what meant so much to me. And and the rest of it, I'm proud of my career, you know, overly proud of it. If someone had told me, I, you know, I always wanted to be a professional athlete. If somebody had told me that I was gonna go on and win three world championships and have the teammates and the career that

• 11:03Troy Aikman?

  I was able to have, I'd I would have taken it, you know, all day long. And so I'm proud of it. And where that ranks or where everyone else thinks I just, I just, you know, I've never, I've never really.

• 11:14Ed Mylett?

  It's not something you dwell on that. Because you know, a lot of guys, other guys do. I mean, look at, look at Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech. He's considered the GOAT and he's still like nailing dudes, you know?

• 11:25Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, right.

• 11:25Ed Mylett?

  And there's nothing wrong with that. I just, there's an ego that comes with being great at anything that I think is a healthy ego. But you did, you're also known as like one of the most accurate throwers of the football of all time, right? One of the most cerebral guys, like stuff that quarterbacks do. I asked Noel Mazzone one time, you know, the quarterback guru dude, and he's like, probably the most accurate guy I've seen throw the football was actually Troy Aikman, but it was all the other things. It's actually getting into protections that you're supposed to get into. I remember when Peyton really couldn't throw anymore.

• 11:50Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 11:51Ed Mylett?

  Yet, they ended up doing a lot better with him than they did with with Brock because of his ability just pre-snap to get them into different, the right formations and blocking. And, you know, obviously, you know, a lot more about that than I do. But I want to ask you also about your career. I'm always, I'm just fascinated by the people that are the best, like. People don't realize this because they watch it on TV, but every guy that's out there in the NFL was not only the best player, more than likely on their, you know, their high school team, but they became elite in college. You were a UCLA guy. Did you come from Nebraska before that?

• 12:21Troy Aikman?

  Oklahoma.

• 12:21Ed Mylett?

  Oklahoma. So you didn't get it at Oklahoma. You end up red shirting at UCLA.

• 12:25Troy Aikman?

  Yep.

• 12:25Ed Mylett?

  And ends up winning three Super Bowls and a Super Bowl MVP. But I look at guys like, that are just different. And I think, what's the commonality? Because even me as an entrepreneur, I'm different than Elon Musk. I'm not anywhere near as wealthy as Elon Musk. But, you know, Phil Knight, Elon Musk, and, you know, Mark Cuban, three very different dudes. What's the through line, right? And I look at Jimmy Johnson. I look at Bill Belichick, Bill Walsh, and let's just say, Andy Reid right now. They're very different four human beings.

• 12:59Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 12:59Ed Mylett?

  You know all of them, or knew all of them, or met them. What is common amongst them that made them great leaders? That's a tough one.

• 13:06Troy Aikman?

  Well, that's a great question. I mean, it really is. Because I actually was just having this conversation with somebody that, for the most part, for the most part, I would say, if you tell me someone's a player's coach, I will tell you, then they probably haven't won at the highest level. In general.

• 13:27Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 13:27Troy Aikman?

  In general, all right? But I think Andy Reid would be regarded as a player's coach. And he's been one of the most successful coaches in the history of the game. So, but I do think that players in general, they want to be coached by people that they know are going to make them better.

• 13:45Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 13:46Troy Aikman?

  You know, and that's, that's the bottom line. I mean, that's the key. And so, do they know something that I don't, and they can put me in a position to where I can achieve the things that I want to achieve, both individually and then as well for us as a team?

• 13:59Ed Mylett?

  This is true in business.

• 14:00Troy Aikman?

  True in, true in life, true in everything.

• 14:02Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 14:02Troy Aikman?

  I mean, it really is. And so, there's obviously a lot of parallels between sports and, and business and other things. But, you know, you take Bill Belichick, for instance. I've talked to a number of people, you know, clearly regarded as, you know, what may be the greatest coach of all time. He's on certainly a short list. But, you know, he's not a whole lot different in a lot of ways from the guy that we see. But, when you talk to people who have played for the Patriots, I said, how, how is he so effective? And they say, we know that if we do what he asks us to do. There's a really good probability that we're gonna win the game.

• 14:41Ed Mylett?

  We're gonna win, right.

• 14:42Troy Aikman?

  And so.

• 14:42Ed Mylett?

  Did you feel that way about Jimmy?

• 14:43Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, yeah. And Jimmy was tough. I mean Jimmy was really tough. He demanded a lot, attention to detail. Uh, no detail was too small. Um, and, and, and we worked hard, you know, so we had really talented players. That was his, Jimmy's greatest strength probably was, was his evaluator, his evaluating of talent. I mean, he was sensational at that. So we had really talented players that worked exceptionally hard. And then Jimmy didn't let anything slide. And so that's a pretty good formula.

• 15:13Ed Mylett?

  I watched something, I don't know if it was last year or the year before, I happened to be watching, we have some mutual friends that are involved at, at Fox Sports for Football. And, uh, I watched the day that they told Jimmy Johnson that he had made the Hall of Fame. And then they threw to you.

• 15:30Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 15:30Ed Mylett?

  And I watched your reaction. And I thought, I don't know that these guys necessarily got along that well. When a dude's beating the drum when you're playing and, you know, threatening you with, you don't, I'm gonna play Walsh or whatever.

• 15:40Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 15:41Ed Mylett?

  Right. But you sincerely seemed emotional about it on his behalf. And I wonder if that's just because when you're forged in a battle, even though you're building a company or a family or a football team, that when you get to the other side of that, although it may be messy in, in the middle, that at the end, there's this tremendous admirer, you know, admiration that you've done something great together. Is that what that was or what was it? Cause you were pretty emotional.

• 16:07Troy Aikman?

  Yeah. Uh, and I didn't know that he was going to be told that he was going into the Hall of Fame. Uh, we were going to halftime and my producer said to me, hey, uh, the studio wants you to watch the, a little bit of this halftime show. They, they're gonna be doing something. And I just thought, okay, they're gonna be doing something and then sometime in the second half, I'm gonna be asked to maybe talk on it. Uh, and so I'm just watching what's going on. And then when I see David Baker walk out, who was running the Pro Football Hall of Fame, then I knew that, that Jimmy was going in and I knew that there was a chance, but I had no idea that he was gonna be told that night. I thought he was gonna be months before he was gonna ever find out.

• 16:46Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 16:46Troy Aikman?

  Um, and so why I was emotional at was, was, you're right, our career, I've known Jimmy since I was about 14 years old. He was recruiting me, uh, out of high school when he was at Oklahoma State. And I didn't go to Oklahoma State, of course, and then he went to Miami, recruited me there, and I didn't go there. And then I go to Dallas and he's, he takes over for Tom Landry. So now he's coaching me. And then he drafted Steve Walsh. And, and, and you're right, it got off to a really tough start. But he and I have gotten, we're really close. And so he's never gone into the Ring of Honor at Cowboys Stadium where they have all the names. And, you know, we all feel, those of us that played for him feel that if any of us are in the Ring of Honor, he certainly should be in the Ring of Honor,

• 17:29Troy Aikman?

  but that's a decision for Jerry Jones to make. And so I never was certain he would get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame because he hadn't coached long enough. Yeah. Was the reason. Not that he didn't deserve to be in. I just didn't think that, well, he, he wanted to go on and do, do his boat and be in South Florida and all that. And so I just didn't know that, because he'd been a finalist for a number of years. And so knowing how much that meant to him and had not yet been recognized for what he had done for those teams with the Cowboys, for, to see him go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, that night was, was really special. I mean, that's why I was so emotional. Just

• 18:09Troy Aikman?

  I was, I was so happy for him. And then to take it a step further is he asked me to be his presenter. So I presented him then. Wow. Which was, is the greatest honor. I mean, the, the greatest athletic honor I've ever received is, as I mentioned, going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The greatest honor I've ever received in general was Jimmy Johnson asking me to be his presenter because My gosh. When you go into the Hall of Fame, you can ask anybody you want to be your presenter. Wow. And so when he asked me, I just thought, man, that's, That is huge. That's a, that's a pretty special thing. And so. Oh, wonderful, man. Congratulations.

• 18:50Ed Mylett?

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• 20:54Ed Mylett?

  Speaking of emotions, dealing with failure, it's part of being an athlete.

• 20:59Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 20:59Ed Mylett?

  I think back to, I'm just watching a lot of football. Your rookie year was not gorgeous.

• 21:05Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 21:06Ed Mylett?

  So, most people that listen to my show may not even be football fans, but I'm interested to hear, why don't you describe it a little bit? Tell them what happened your rookie year, which was not, you weren't winning a Super Bowl that year.

• 21:15Troy Aikman?

  No.

• 21:16Ed Mylett?

  And how you dealt with a lot of the rejection and failure, criticism that came with it, and probably even to this day, you get criticism, people saying things about you that aren't real favorable.

• 21:25Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 21:26Ed Mylett?

  How do you deal with that?

• 21:26Troy Aikman?

  Uh, no, it's, it's, my rookie year was, I guess, when I first got criticized or had to deal with that was at Oklahoma. Uh, you know, I was trying to run an offense that just didn't fit my skills, and so it was a real challenge. And OU, of course, is a hotbed for football, and we were pretty good at the time, and I was probably holding this back just because we were trying to run this wishbone offense, and it just wasn't, wasn't for me. So, that was the first time I really had to deal with it. I broke my leg, and then I went to UCLA, and end up going to Dallas as the number one overall pick. But I went to the worst team in football. And then, my rookie year, uh, you know, new head coach,

• 22:09Troy Aikman?

  college coach, bringing in a lot of different players every week. Uh, we really did not have much of a fighting chance. I was 0-11 as a starter.

• 22:16Ed Mylett?

  Crazy.

• 22:17Troy Aikman?

  And, uh, it was tough. I took a beating. Uh, we weren't very good up front.

• 22:23Ed Mylett?

  0-11, everyone.

• 22:25Troy Aikman?

  0-11. And so, there were games where we should have lost, based on how I played. Um, and then there were other games where I thought I played pretty well, you know, and, and we'd have a lead with 30 seconds left in the game, and somehow we'd lose it, you know? And I just remember thinking, man, what does it take to win a game in this league? I mean, this is, this is brutal.

• 22:44Ed Mylett?

  A game, right.

• 22:44Troy Aikman?

  And, uh, but I never lost confidence. And I, and I think the reason was, I had a quarterback coach by the name of Jerry Rome, and he had played in the NFL, and, and he just, he refused to let me get down on myself. Um, and, and there were days when it was hard. It was hard to be positive. It was hard to be upbeat. It was hard to believe that good things were gonna happen, but, but he was always there being my champion, and he was in my corner. And, uh, and so fortunately, my very first game, my second season, we won. And so, I got that monkey off my back, and then... Over time, we slowly got better and better. And then, of course, we won the Super Bowl in my fourth year and had great success. But yeah, I just think that.

• 23:30Ed Mylett?

  Does criticism hurt you even now?

• 23:32Troy Aikman?

  Well, nobody likes it. You know, it's easy. I hear people say, hey, I don't pay any attention to criticism. I have a hard time believing that anyone just can totally brush it off. But if you get criticized enough, you know, and I'm now that I'm still in the public eye with the broadcasting and all that, that you just learn that that it's just part of it, you know. Someone once told me that, hey, it's part of the, you know, comes with the dinner. And criticism just comes with the dinner. And, you know, I'll read Twitter from time to time. And if you've called a game and you read Twitter, buckle up.

• 24:12Troy Aikman?

  But some of it's pretty funny. And I laugh at most of it. But what I like, the reason I do it is because you know, you know, deep down, if there's truth to those criticisms.

• 24:25Ed Mylett?

  Sure.

• 24:25Troy Aikman?

  You know?

• 24:25Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 24:26Troy Aikman?

  And so I try to evaluate myself objectively. And I don't dismiss that. I mean, I listen and then think, yeah, you know what, they're right.

• 24:34Ed Mylett?

  Me too.

• 24:35Troy Aikman?

  They're right.

• 24:35Ed Mylett?

  I do the same. I kind of dig some of it.

• 24:37Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 24:37Ed Mylett?

  Some of it's ridiculous. But some of it, I'm like, you know what, that's, I've heard this enough times, there's some validity to this.

• 24:42Troy Aikman?

  That's right.

• 24:42Ed Mylett?

  I do need to make that adjustment.

• 24:43Troy Aikman?

  And it's a bit of a wake up. And all that's good. So I don't, I don't mind it. I mean, I honestly don't mind it.

• 24:51Ed Mylett?

  What about?

• 24:51Troy Aikman?

  Even at the criticism, if you know, deep down, like you've, you've done your best and whatever it is, and then you just accept it and move on. And now, as you know, I mean, the critics, now everyone has a platform. So you get, you get all the, everyone gets criticized now. I mean, you just.

• 25:06Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, we don't, we definitely don't lack feedback in this day and age. There's plenty of feedback. I want to ask you about winning. I've always wanted to ask somebody who's won a lot this. I'll be honest with you. So the things that have happened in my life where I've kind of won in business or whatever, there were, there were, it was amazing. There were elements of it that were better than what I thought it was going to be. But there are also elements of it that surprised me. And I'm curious, you win this, as much as you can go back and really be there, you win this first Super Bowl, maybe you're still on the field, you're in the locker room, it's the next day.

• 25:38Ed Mylett?

  Was it what you thought it would be? Like, did you feel what you thought you would feel? Cause there's these new studies that actually say that you get more dopamine in the pursuit of something, that actually when you hit it, there's like a dopamine crash in your brain and it's like, is that all there is? There's a little bit of a letdown.

• 25:52Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 25:53Ed Mylett?

  Did you have that happen to you? What did it really feel like?

• 25:57Troy Aikman?

  Well, I'll take you back a little bit earlier than that. When, when I was about 14 years old, I couldn't wait to get my driver's license. I mean, I thought that anyone who could drive, how could they ever have a bad day in their life? I mean, I just thought that, how could you ever be upset about anything? I mean, you can drive.

• 26:17Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 26:17Troy Aikman?

  Well, you turn 16, you get your driver's license and you, you, you learn to drive and all that and you've got a car and, and then you realize that, hey, you still have bad days and, and that always stuck with me. So I've, so I, I, I've always known that achievement isn't going to, it's not going to fulfill you anymore. I mean, you, you, you're proud and you're working towards that and you know, you reach these goals, but it doesn't, it, it's not going to make you any happier. It's not, you know, that comes from a totally different place. Now I will tell you, I was, I was in my 50s before I really figured that part of it out.

• 26:57Ed Mylett?

  Really?

• 26:57Troy Aikman?

  And so, uh, but when I won my, my first Super Bowl, I, I knew it was, at least I knew that was in my back pocket and that's what I was drafted to do. So that's where the satisfaction came like, for the rest of my career, they can't say I can't win the big one.

• 27:14Ed Mylett?

  Was it satisfaction or relief?

• 27:18Troy Aikman?

  Uh, great question. I, I would say in all honesty, it was, it was more relief.

• 27:23Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 27:23Troy Aikman?

  Yeah. Because I was never one of these athletes who, uh, people would say, how come you, how come you don't smile more? How come you don't, you know, you don't look like you're really enjoying playing. I didn't smile or enjoy it till it was over, till we won, you know, till we won the game. I mean, that's when, that's when you were really able to enjoy the effort.

• 27:43Ed Mylett?

  Yes.

• 27:44Troy Aikman?

  But during it, no, I mean, it was, it was a grind, you know, so. But yeah, I think, I think in all honesty, it was, it was more, more relieved.

• 27:53Ed Mylett?

  That's been my emotion too. It's interesting you say that, like, it wasn't what I thought it would be, although there's other benefits that come with it that you don't dream of or imagine as well. But it's almost like, okay, a little bit of relief.

• 28:04Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 28:05Ed Mylett?

  But the other thing that's unique about you, brother, is that you repeat. And I know it's a team sport, but we're gonna get into broadcasting in a minute. Then you repeated, I mean, most of you know this, but if you don't, I mean, Troy has had this prolific career at Fox. Now he's Monday Night Football at ABC. He's like, he's the number one sports broadcaster in football now. He's also become number one of that. So he's guys that has to leave college to go to UCLA because the offense didn't work for him, ends up becoming the number one pick in the draft, ends up being one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. And then after that duplicates it with a career that's been dominant. And by the way, he could be a professional bodybuilder if he wanted to be right now too. So like the guy, and the guy is this finds this way to the top position. But a lot of people don't deal very well with rejection or failure.

• 28:47Ed Mylett?

  But a lot, a lot, and you know this, whether it's been business people you've met in your life or people that are in a good relationship or an athlete. Like we were talking about the UFC guys that I work with or the boxers, guys work really hard to win a championship. And then something happens to them after they win a championship, that hunger, the drive, whatever it is. They don't, most people deal very poorly with winning is the truth. It seems like that has not happened to you.

• 29:11Troy Aikman?

  No, it hasn't. And I, I think in general, most people, well, my approach, whether it's in football or whether it was in broadcasting or it's in my personal life, is that most people aren't willing to do the work.

• 29:28Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 29:28Troy Aikman?

  I mean, that's, that's what I believe and, and I don't know where it came from for me. I don't know if it was the way I was raised by my father, but. That to me is the, is what has driven me throughout my life and, and, and everything that I've done. Now, the Super Bowl, as far as that goes, I, I can't imagine winning a Super Bowl and then not being more hungry than you were. And the reason I say that is because it is such a great experience, that how could you not want to go and do that again and again?

• 30:00Ed Mylett?

  But you played with the guys you didn't. You played with the guys.

• 30:01Troy Aikman?

  I've been with, and I've seen those, I've seen those teams and, and we all see, because it's, it is, it's a bit of human nature. Jimmy was great in our repeat, Jimmy Johnson, in, in how, he treated us harder. I mean, he worked us harder the second year. He, and it was a reason for that. Jimmy was a psychology major and he felt that, hey, now's when people get complacent, I'm not going to allow it. And so he, he, he worked us even that much harder. But, you know, Ed, I'm asked a lot about why I work out so much, why I do all this. And, and, and the reason really is simple, that I feel like my success as, as

• 30:42Troy Aikman?

  a player was because I just refused to be outworked. And so I was going to do what was ever, whatever was required. And when I got into broadcasting, I'm not the greatest speaker in the world. And, but I just thought, I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to give myself at least a fighting chance and I'm going to, I'm going to put more time into this. And so I, I work hard at, at trying to be as prepared as I possibly can be to go into a broadcast. And then with the working out now in my personal life, it's been about discipline and commitment. And if I let myself go, I feel like it, I feel like then I become a bit of a fraud and what I believe is the foundation of who I am and why I've been

• 31:25Troy Aikman?

  able to have some degree of success. And so I think it, it's, you know, when you talk about a through line, when you've been asking me those questions, that, that's the through line for me. It's discipline, it's consistency, and it's commitment.

• 31:36Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, you're the product. You, everyone, you know, this isn't an audio show, but we're on YouTube as well. But, I mean, Troy's in better shape right now than when he played. I mean, he's, I'm not, I'm not exaggerating this, I'm not blowing smoke on him. Troy is... Uh, when you're a fit dude, I'm pretty fit, you know, you notice it in guys, especially if they're over 45 or 50 years old. Troy is in magnificent, like shredded shape. What are some of your routines to do this? So do you have, are you, you, you strike me as a dude now that I've met you, I bet you burn pretty hot. You're an intense dude. I bet you have a good time.

• 32:04Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 32:04Ed Mylett?

  But there's this.

• 32:05Troy Aikman?

  That's true.

• 32:05Ed Mylett?

  You, you burn hot. You're an intense dude. So am I. And, and, um, I admire that about you. I think you are the product that you claim to be. And those are the people I like to be around the most. Like they live what they say. As much as they can.

• 32:18Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 32:18Ed Mylett?

  We all have these weaknesses in our life. So what are some of your routines? Uh, fitness wise, I know meditation's a big deal for you. Like what does a day look like for you? Is it regimented or is every day different?

• 32:29Troy Aikman?

  Uh, it's pretty regimented. Uh, I, I'd like for it to be a little bit different, but I know what works for me and I just kind of, I, I, I stick with that. Uh, I've always, I've always worked out with weights. Uh, and I follow some people on Instagram. I follow yourself on all the motivational stuff, but I listened to Mark Hyman. I'm, I've become somewhat of a disciple of his.

• 32:51Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 32:51Troy Aikman?

  Uh, but it, it was always even when I, when I retired, a lot of players will just be burned out on working out.

• 32:57Ed Mylett?

  Right.

• 32:58Troy Aikman?

  And then others go, go hardcore. Uh, I just kept doing it. Um, and so I continued to lift four days a week. I was doing cardio. My cardio was running four to six miles every day. And I, in, in, in a, in a year, if I took five days off from cardio in a year, I'd say that's probably a high number.

• 33:19Ed Mylett?

  My gosh, really?

• 33:20Troy Aikman?

  And so then, uh, I started having some hip issues about three years ago and I had to, had to stop running. Uh, and now I do the indoor bike. So I do, uh, and then with COVID hit, I knew that people were gonna go one of two ways and most people were gonna really get in worse shape. And I just, uh, again, said to myself, I'm not gonna be one of those people. I'm, in fact, I ratcheted it up even more to where then I'd always been a good eater. I, I rarely would eat, uh, poor meals or have cheat meals. But then I just got really, really disciplined. I don't, I don't like the word strict. I just got more and more disciplined in that. And now my routine, Ed, has gotten crazy. I mean,

• 34:04Troy Aikman?

  people that know me, I'm, I carry this jug around with the water I drink it out.

• 34:09Ed Mylett?

  There's mine.

• 34:11Troy Aikman?

  Hey, we got the same one.

• 34:12Ed Mylett?

  Same exact jug, brother. Come on down.

• 34:14Troy Aikman?

  I love it. I love it. Yeah, no, I was drinking up to three gallons a day.

• 34:20Ed Mylett?

  You're peeing all the time.

• 34:21Troy Aikman?

  All the time. And then I read that you hit a certain number. It doesn't matter anymore. And so I said, well, that's a relief. So I backed off. But I do that. I meditate. I've been meditating for about 10 years. It's changed my life. And then I got the cold plunge. I do the sauna. I do that every evening before I go to bed. And just about a month ago, I got red light therapy. Got the red light stuff going. But I mean, if I read about it, then I want to incorporate it. And I've made, I've always been a good sleeper. But now I just will not relent on my sleep. I just make it an absolute priority. And it is. It's the best I've ever felt in my life.

• 35:04Ed Mylett?

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• 35:49Ed Mylett?

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• 36:32Ed Mylett?

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• 37:06Ed Mylett?

  By the way, I mean, all of those are my jam. I have the red light therapy bed.

• 37:10Troy Aikman?

  It's the greatest.

• 37:11Ed Mylett?

  I got a Theralight bed.

• 37:11Troy Aikman?

  I just started the red light about two weeks ago.

• 37:14Ed Mylett?

  Brother, it's awesome. By the way, one thing you can do too, that there's a setting on there for sleep. You have a Theralight bed, do you know which bed you have?

• 37:20Troy Aikman?

  I've got a panel.

• 37:21Ed Mylett?

  You have a panel, okay. Because the thing I have actually can actually program it for sleep too. So my sleep's actually gotten deeper. Off the, just for the record, I was talking to Alex Guerrero a few weeks ago, Tom's trainer. And we were talking about cold plunge, cold therapy, sauna stuff. And I'm going to play with this, I'm just giving it to you. I can validate this medically, but he did say that he does think some intermittent break from it, that there is an adaptation your body goes through. And so he recommended to me a little bit of a break and then your body recalibrates and the cold plunge and the cold therapy works a little bit better. So I do that too.

• 37:52Troy Aikman?

  I do know, well, the other, I, first thing I do in the morning is take a cold shower. And I haven't had a hot shower, period. I haven't had a hot shower in probably four months, since I started.

• 38:04Ed Mylett?

  Okay, so you are even crazier than me. You're crazy, crazy.

• 38:06Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, I haven't had a hot shower and, but between the cold plunge and the cold showers, it totally has changed my nervous system.

• 38:15Ed Mylett?

  Me too.

• 38:16Troy Aikman?

  I mean, in a really positive way. I would get anxious about things. I had some social anxiety.

• 38:22Ed Mylett?

  Really?

• 38:23Troy Aikman?

  And I don't want to say I don't have any of it anymore, but I don't think I have any of it anymore. I just don't feel it, you know? I just don't. And I tell people, I said, "It's the greatest thing in the world." And I've got two daughters that are in college. And I would mention to them, I meditate back when they were in, you know, middle school and high school. And they've gotten used to this whole thing. I mean, they kind of laugh about it. But, you know, I don't push it on them, but I try to expose them to it. And, you know, they'll pick it up at their, you know, at their leisure and when the time's right. But they work out. And that's always just, you know, that's been part of what they've grown up with. So I like that. I like that they've picked up on the lifestyle of working

• 39:08Troy Aikman?

  out.

• 39:09Ed Mylett?

  You meditate in the morning, Troy? When do you meditate, usually?

• 39:10Troy Aikman?

  I meditate first thing in the morning. Yeah, after I shower.

• 39:14Ed Mylett?

  Yeah. One of the things, I don't know if you do this at all too, but by the way, I love that you have such a regimented routine. My confidence, I think, now that I look back on it, I think my confidence comes from the fact that I know I'm not going to get outworked. And I know that under pressure, I have reflexively good habits that serve me.

• 39:32Troy Aikman?

  Right.

• 39:33Ed Mylett?

  When pressure's cranked up. I sense that with you too. One of the things for me, meditation was very difficult because I am wired pretty tight. And I'm always going, my mind's always thinking. And so meditation was this great gift for me. But one of the things that I've been doing lately with my meditation, I'm just curious if you do it, since we're talking about it. I love focusing on my breathing when I meditate. I actually, you know, you're supposed to empty your mind, but one of the things I do lately is I've been really intentional about feeling and sensing my breath. Like breath work is like the next frontier. So I've done the cold plunge. I've done the sauna stuff. I've done the training. I do the lot of the water, a gallon, gallon in half a day. I'm in meditation mode. What's the next thing? The red light therapy. The next thing for me has been like breathing work, breath work. Have you done any of that?

• 40:17Troy Aikman?

  So my meditation, sometimes I feel like, uh, I, I'm, I, sometimes I feel like I'm not advancing like others in that space because I only focus on my breath. You do, okay. And I know there's a lot of different ways to meditate, but I only, uh, focus solely on my breath and then the mind, and then I bring it back, you know, and I hear people say all the time, and I'm like you, I mean, I, I thought, man, this is gonna be, this is gonna be tough, um, but the way that it's, I've been to a few retreats, I've been to a couple of retreats, silent retreats, um. You ever follow Sadhguru? No. Okay. But you talk about the breath work, uh, Wim Hof. Yes.

• 41:00Troy Aikman?

  You know, I mean, I've had people who are doing his techniques and I, he's another that I follow and he definitely is into the cold. Sure is. Um, and, and some people that are like-minded like us, they, they tell me that they're doing some of his techniques in the morning first thing and how life-changing that has been. Now, I will tell you that the reason I started meditating 10 years ago is because I just felt, Ed, that, gosh, if, if, if anyone should be happy in this world, if anyone has achieved everything that they had hoped to achieve, my dream, my, my whole life was to be a professional athlete, and I was able to do that, and, and I was able to have this great lifestyle from

• 41:43Troy Aikman?

  it, I was broadcasting and, you know, and I called a game at the Super Bowl, uh, it was the helmet catch, uh, David Tyree, when he beat Tom Brady and the Patriots, when they were undefeated at the time. And I remember after that game, uh, Ron Jaworski came up to me and said, "Man, that was an unbelievable game, how about that?" And I said, "Ah, yeah, it was great, Ed," or, uh, Jaws, and, um, he says, "Oh, yeah," and I said, "Yeah," and he goes, "What's wrong?" And I said, "Ah, you know, Jaws, I didn't really, I didn't do anything, I just talked about it, you know, and, um, when I played in those games and we won, I mean, heck, I'd be the most excited guy in the room." Uh, he walked, he kinda had this quizzical look, you know, and walked away, and I've never even had this conversation with Ron, um, but I remember thinking to myself, "Man,

• 42:28Troy Aikman?

  if this is as good as it gets, I just called what may be the greatest game ever played," and, and yet I feel totally empty." And so I started thinking, "Man, what..." If anyone should be happy, it should be me and what's missing, you know? And I started looking up stuff, reading about stuff and meditation was kinda, and that's why I say it's really, it's really changed my life. And it's allowed me and then more so in the last couple of years. Because of some personal things that really made me take a real hard look at myself and, and figure some things out. And meditation has had a huge role in that because for the longest time when I started meditating, I did it, but I didn't really, but the light never came on as to what are the benefits of this.

• 43:12Troy Aikman?

  I kept doing it. But then about probably three years ago, I read a book called The Untethered Soul.

• 43:20Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 43:21Troy Aikman?

  By Michael Singer.

• 43:22Ed Mylett?

  Great book.

• 43:22Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, and, and, and I tried to read it probably two years prior to that and I couldn't get through it. I was just like, this is too much. And then I read it three years ago and whatever it was that was in that book, all of a sudden it just all became crystal clear.

• 43:37Ed Mylett?

  Wow.

• 43:38Troy Aikman?

  And it changed, it's changed my life. And so all this stuff, the water and the cold plunge and all that, all that's great. And it's a, but really the, the reason I feel as good as I do is because of what meditation has.

• 43:51Ed Mylett?

  Thank you for saying that.

• 43:53Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 43:53Ed Mylett?

  Just to meet you in the middle, same with me. I've always, and I can't even be hon, if I'm really being honest, because I do that on our show. I don't know that I'm on the other side of what you just described completely yet. I still, I still go, if anyone should be.

• 44:10Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 44:10Ed Mylett?

  Happy and real blissful in their life on a regular basis, it really ought to be me. And I'm not enough. Now, I will say what you said, my faith and my meditation practices have enhanced it tremendously. But I still feel like in my case, there's several levels beyond it where I could be more present in the moment and just enjoy that moment more. That's what meditation's given me is a little bit more of, okay, I'm, I'm in this moment right now. And there isn't another one. The, the last one I just had doesn't really exist. It's a figure of imagination and the one coming after this doesn't exist either. But for me too, if I'm being really honest, I still.

• 44:54Ed Mylett?

  Now, part of that, I think, is both of our wiring that that's why we dealt with winning well because

• 44:58Troy Aikman?

  Well, that's why I was gonna ask you. What meditation has given me is stillness. You know, people ask me, what does it do for you? I mean, the word that comes to mind is it gives me stillness in my life. Because I was like you that, you know, I just always wanted, I just had to go, go, go, go. And trying to meditate and sit still for that, I just, you know, I just felt like, God, there's things I need to do. And I got, but now I can just meditate and just totally take in the moment. But the, you're probably like me in this regard then too, that, you know, I was hard on myself.

• 45:25Ed Mylett?

  Me too.

• 45:26Troy Aikman?

  You know, that it's crazy that you expect perfection, you know? I, I would expect myself to be perfect. It didn't matter if it was playing football. Didn't matter if it was giving some speech, whatever it was, I just, and it was crazy. Because I, there was no reason why I should be perfect, you know? That wasn't even my field, or whatever it was that I was so upset with myself about, you know? But I was hard on myself. And so I've had to, I've had to kind of work through all of that. You know, I've done a lot of personal work and

• 45:57Ed Mylett?

  I can see it.

• 45:58Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, and it's, and that. So there's, there's a lot going on there. And, you know, I'm thrilled that I found it in my 50s. I wish I'd discovered it in my 30s. But, uh, but, but I'm really grateful that, that life hasn't passed me by without getting to this point.

• 46:12Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, I have a funny feeling, brother, that you're gonna talk a lot more about this over time. And you may end up dabbling over in my side of things. I could see you really reaching a lot of people with this as the more and more you dig deeper and understand more about you and what you're doing. Already today, I guarantee you, we've done, you know, 35, 40 minutes so far. I can promise you the last eight minutes is the part that people are gonna be talking about. I think for me, also, I've pursued things so aggressively all the time in my life. But little thing meditation's done for me, and even just me reflecting and getting a little bit older is, I've started to allow certain things just to come to me, that I don't have to go get everything. I don't have to go do everything. Like, I've surrendered a little bit of control and my

• 46:55Ed Mylett?

  Addiction to outcome all the time. And just let a little of it come my way and I've found it does. And it's, the things that make us successful in one area may produce external results, but can produce internal turmoil. And there's just this nuance in our life. Like if I let go of all of my wanting to control things, all of my perfectionism, all of my drive and all of my being hard on myself, I probably wouldn't have done some of the things I did. But it's the dosage level. Wouldn't you agree?

• 47:23Troy Aikman?

  Totally agree.

• 47:24Ed Mylett?

  It's the dosage.

• 47:24Troy Aikman?

  Totally agree.

• 47:25Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 47:25Troy Aikman?

  I mean, I, I, I did a podcast with a former teammate of mine a few years ago. And he, he, he says, talked about how tough I was as a, as a leader and demanding of my teammates and, and it made me cringe because I don't feel, I don't feel like I'm that person today, at least not as intense. Not, I'm still intense, but not as intense. And, and I told him, I said, you know, I think I would have been a, I think I would have been a different teammate if we were playing today, you know? And I, and I really, I cringe when I hear you say that. And he was like, what are you talking about? That's why we were able to do what we were able to do.

• 48:05Troy Aikman?

  And so I've had this conversation with others, not on a podcast, but I've had it, I've had it with others and, and they say, yeah, but that allowed you to do what you did. So I totally understand what you're saying.

• 48:18Ed Mylett?

  I wonder, I bet you do too. I wonder, could I produce the same results with a little bit more?

• 48:23Troy Aikman?

  Totally.

• 48:23Ed Mylett?

  I watched a speech of me from like 20 years ago with a company that I had and gosh, I cringed too. I'm like, what a jerk. Like, I thought I was being super intense, but like, there's just a line there. I'll tell you what happened to me and then we'll, we'll move on. But just to share, cause I, I feel like this is important for everybody to hear from both of us because they look at whatever we both done in our lives and go, that's the, that's, that's what I want to be. Some of it you do and some of it you don't. I was at a friend's house not that long ago. He was with his kids. This is not a financially successful dude, but man, he's a rich man. He's got a rich life, rich relationships. And I was there like an hour and a half and there was such laughter in their home. I'm talking about like belly laughing joy. You ever been in a home like that? And I'm like, and I could tell it wasn't just for me being there.

• 49:08Ed Mylett?

  It was like, this family has joy and bliss. I got my car to leave. I've never said this on my show before, but since we're opening up and I went. Oh my gosh, like, we don't do that in my house enough.

• 49:21Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 49:22Ed Mylett?

  We don't do that. This thing about me that's so wound up and tight and loving and serious and intense, all that, my kids know that I love them, I have amazing relations. But like, real letting go laughter and bliss and joy, I didn't learn that from my dad.

• 49:36Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 49:37Ed Mylett?

  I didn't, a lot of times we model.

• 49:38Troy Aikman?

  We might have the same dad.

• 49:40Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, really? Like, you tell me that, because I think sometimes you model, you may not model their life or their thoughts, but you do, you can model their emotions.

• 49:48Troy Aikman?

  Mm-hmm.

• 49:49Ed Mylett?

  And so, just there wasn't a lot of joy and laughter and bliss, and I didn't even realize the absence of it until I saw it in someone else's home, and I went, now that I'm not willing to cost myself or my children anymore.

• 50:02Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 50:02Ed Mylett?

  Do you see that too? And how do you think we have the same dad?

• 50:05Troy Aikman?

  100%.

• 50:06Ed Mylett?

  How are our dads the same, do you think?

• 50:07Troy Aikman?

  Well, my dad was, was, was really tough, demanded a lot, you know, he treated me like I was a grown man from the time I was six years old, and, you know, and in some ways that's good.

• 50:20Ed Mylett?

  Mm-hmm.

• 50:20Troy Aikman?

  And I do think that in a lot of ways, that is why I was able to go on and achieve a lot of the things that I achieved, but, boy, you give up a lot. You give up a lot of childhood.

• 50:30Ed Mylett?

  Your face just changed.

• 50:31Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, you give up.

• 50:31Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 50:32Troy Aikman?

  You know, you give up a lot.

• 50:33Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 50:33Troy Aikman?

  When you're treated like that at a young age, and, and, and so that was the way our house was as well. I don't recall any laughter in our house, and, you know, everybody kind of walked around on eggshells, and, and, uh, you know, and so, I, I, I'm not that way as a father, but with that said, it, there, I'm better now, but there were times then when you were around that, it made you uncomfortable. You know, you just weren't used to experiencing that, you know, you'd hear this laughter and stuff going on, you're like, you know, it's, what's going on? You know, this isn't where I'm most, you know, I'm not protected in this. Um, so, I, I think that, I think I definitely could be better. Like, what you're saying is like, hey, you know, my kids, they know I adore them, and

• 51:16Ed Mylett?

  Sure.

• 51:17Troy Aikman?

  you know, we've had a great life and all that, but as far as this just exuberant laughter and, you know, uh, yeah, that's, that's not been, that's not been.

• 51:26Ed Mylett?

  It's something worth evaluating, huh?

• 51:28Troy Aikman?

  Totally.

• 51:28Ed Mylett?

  Like, I mean, I love him. We have a blissful family. We've enjoyed amazing experiences. But, man, maybe part of my disposition could have made it richer. Could have made it more blissful. Has your dad passed away?

• 51:38Troy Aikman?

  No, he's, my mom passed away about three months ago. Uh, my, my father, he's 84. Uh, his mom lived to be 100. Uh, he's in, he's in great shape.

• 51:48Ed Mylett?

  He's gonna go.

• 51:48Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, he's, he's, he's tough as nails, you know?

• 51:51Ed Mylett?

  You think you were proving something to him as you were achieving?

• 51:53Troy Aikman?

  I think I, I think I always wanted to prove to him I was as tough as he was. I think that was what it was.

• 51:57Ed Mylett?

  Tough.

• 51:58Troy Aikman?

  Yeah. I think, uh, you had to be tough to survive in our house. And, uh, and I think, and, and he was pound for, pound for pound, the toughest person I've, I've ever known.

• 52:07Ed Mylett?

  I get the feeling that, uh, well, you don't have to comment on it. I'm just gonna tell you, I get the feeling, I get the feeling that you love your dad a lot. And that, uh, it was really tough and that you even protect him with what you

• 52:16Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 52:16Ed Mylett?

  don't go to, how tough it was. That's the sense that I get. Cause I'm watching your face.

• 52:19Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 52:20Ed Mylett?

  I'm seeing your face.

• 52:21Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 52:22Ed Mylett?

  Anyway, you're an amazing son. I'm sure he's unbelievably proud of you. This is getting good here, dude. I don't know if you knew we were gonna do this today. I don't know if you knew we were gonna do this.

• 52:30Speaker 01

  Mr. President, my company told me of the explosion on our rig.

• 52:34Speaker 02

  On October 2nd.

• 52:35Speaker 01

  Causing massive water displacement and triggering a tsunami. They all heap the blame on me.

• 52:39Speaker 02

  Tom Cruise is. Digger got us into this mess. And Digger's gonna dig us up. From the director of Birdman and the Revenant.

• 52:47Speaker 03

  What would happen if I stopped drilling? You stop, you freeze to death. That's what.

• 52:51Speaker 02

  With great power comes great deniability.

• 52:54Speaker 03

  I'm not the first daddy.

• 52:55Speaker 02

  Digger. See the trailer online. Only begins October 2nd. Rated R. Under 17. Not a middle without parent.

• 53:02Ed Mylett?

  All right, I wanna shift gears a little bit. We don't have that much more time, but I wanna ask you about this. One of the things I admire most about you that I, that is so rare in life is that when one dream ends for most people, whether they achieve it or not, they have this, they're gonna start a business and then it didn't work. Or they're gonna be a professional athlete and it didn't happen. Or they're gonna have this amazing relationship and then there's a divorce or it ends. I really admire people who have a second act, whether they achieve the first dream or not. They come back and they're like, man, I made my second dream happen in my life. And you've done that. Like I said it earlier, you had this prolific career. I mean, really, one of the great careers in the history of the sport you played. And then you get into this broadcasting thing and you, you know, you're becoming an iconic

• 53:46Ed Mylett?

  brand doing that. You and Buck are the best.

• 53:49Troy Aikman?

  Thank you.

• 53:49Ed Mylett?

  And it's, and it's not even really argued, I don't think, by anybody else. I think Collinsworth and these other guys do a great job, but like the brand, there's a reason why you paid the way you're paid to do it. When you got into that, were you intentional becoming great at that as well? And like, I'm gonna do this for the next 20 years of my life? Is it the same type of preparation psycho Troy Aikman that you were doing before?

• 54:11Troy Aikman?

  Uh, yeah. So when, when I was retiring, first of all, the way I got into broadcasting was I was still playing. Uh, I had, I, I ended up playing two more years, but it was 1998. Uh, the radio, uh, play-by-play guy for the Dallas Cowboys, uh, he's only done radio and they had NFL Europe back then.

• 54:33Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 54:34Troy Aikman?

  And I asked him, I said, why don't you ever go over to NFL Europe and, and call games? And he said, well, I'd like to, but you know, they just haven't given me an opportunity. And I said, well, they've been asked, Fox has been asking me to go over there for years. I said, why don't, why don't we go? You can do play-by-play. I'll do color, but um, I, you know, I'm, I, I had no interest in television, but, but uh, you know, I'll get a couple weeks in Europe and call a couple of games and then you'll get to go do that, you know? And so he said, yeah. So I told Fox that I would do it, but I wanted Brad to be my play-by-play guy. And so that's how it started. I had, like I said, I had zero interest in broadcasting, but when I called the game with him, I just had a great time calling it, you know? I mean, I, I, cause I always wondered, how can guys talk for three hours about it?

• 55:16Ed Mylett?

  Me too.

• 55:16Troy Aikman?

  You know, I'm not, I'm just not that big of a talker, you know? But then you do the work, you prepare and you talk to players and coaches and you realize you have all kinds of things to talk about, you know? You don't have enough time to talk about all the things that you wanted to. So I really enjoyed it. And at the end of that game, I got a call from a guy named Ed Goran, who was with Fox Sports and he's become one of my Closest friends and he said, hey, when you retire from football, if you want to broadcast, we will have a job for you. And I thought, oh, so that was the first time I started even thinking that I might do this. And then when I did retire from football, Matt Millen had been the number two guy and he left to go become the GM of the Detroit Lions. And he had been behind John Madden for years there. And so I think he was a little worn out from all that. But anyway, I retired and they put me in the number two booth. And then

• 56:00Troy Aikman?

  after one year, John Madden decided to go to Monday Night Football and work for ABC. And the next thing I knew, they were pairing me with Joe Buck and Chris Collinsworth. So we were in a three man booth for a while. But Ed, I really thought I would do it for a couple of years and then figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. And then I'd go do that. And I always thought that I'd be in the front office for a team. I could see that. Yeah, I always thought that, you know, I had definite thoughts when I was a player and most quarterbacks do as to how you build the team, what you need and the type of guys you want. So that's what I thought that I was going to do. But then I got divorced. And my girls were really young. And it just was not something I could do. I was a single

• 56:41Troy Aikman?

  father. And broadcasting was the greatest job for that because I was only gone on the weekend. Yeah. During football season. I was home all week, could drive them to school, pick them up, go to all their school functions. And then in the off season, I was totally theirs. And so my youngest just finished her sophomore year of college. So it wasn't until two years ago that if I really wanted to pursue that, then I could have. So broadcasting was not in my long term plans, but then it happened because of my personal life. But yeah, my preparation is every bit as intense as it was as a player. It's just a little bit different, of course. It's not physical. It's just more, more mental. And but I put in a lot of time

• 57:23Troy Aikman?

  and I feel like I, however you broadcast is really totally up to you. And if it's accepted by the audiences that when they listen to you. But I just always have believed that you can't fake it. So for me to be totally prepared and feel comfortable.

• 57:41Troy Aikman?

  Being ready to call the game, I've got to put in so much time just so I have a comfort level, you know, and others may be able to do it with less work and maybe they're smarter than I am and they just work a little bit better than I do, I don't know.

• 57:56Ed Mylett?

  Is this articulate version of you, like I'm being serious too, you said you're an unbelievable communicator, is that a muscle that's grown since you've been doing it? Or when, if I were to go back and watch that first broadcast?

• 58:07Troy Aikman?

  No, it's grown, yeah, it's grown.

• 58:09Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 58:09Troy Aikman?

  And the other part of this is that, you know, there wasn't social media when I started. I said a lot of dumb, I still do, but, but I'd say dumb things and it's like you're, you know, that perfectionist again is like saying in your head, you're an idiot, I mean, what are you, gosh, how could you say such a dumb thing and, and, but you didn't read about it.

• 58:30Ed Mylett?

  It's not replayed in a loop on Twitter or Instagram.

• 58:33Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, exactly, it wasn't on, you know, Instagram and, you know, so I was fortunate in that sense, you know, the people that get into this business now, really any, anyone, you get into the, you know, you're a rookie quarterback all over again and just the, the platform that everybody has to weigh in on your performance is much different, I mean, these athletes are much more heavily scrutinized than I ever was when I came in.

• 58:54Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, I think, I'm just thinking, I'm listening to you, I've got a couple more things I want to ask you, I wish we could go three hours, honestly, but, you know, I think the thing I'm most impressed with you is you appear to me to be getting better as a human, the older you get, and that's impressive because you came from a pretty high place in the first place, you know, but physically, spiritually, mentally, your ability to think and articulate your thoughts is all at a higher level than it was even 15 and 20 years ago.

• 59:20Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 59:21Ed Mylett?

  That's impressive.

• 59:21Troy Aikman?

  Or even three years ago.

• 59:23Ed Mylett?

  Super impressive. Now, talk about preparation, there's one thing you can't prepare for, I just, I wanted to ask you this since it happened, you were calling the Damar Hamlin game.

• 59:31Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 59:32Ed Mylett?

  You can't prepare for that. What in the world, everybody knows what I'm talking about, but the Buffalo Bills guy that ended up going to cardiac arrest, they thought he probably had died on the field that night, he's actually coming back and playing this year, which is unbelievable to me. But what's that like, number one, that situation, then two, you are now on live television in front of millions of people and you have no preparation for something like this, so all this preparation, Troy Aikman stuff, that's out the window. What was that experience like?

• 59:58Troy Aikman?

  Well, unlike anything that I've ever experienced, I mean, it went from a sportscast to a newscast. And, and it looked pretty dire.

• 1:00:06Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:06Troy Aikman?

  You know, when it happened, I've seen head injury, everybody has on television, and that's initially what it looked like. Was that DeMar had gotten hit, and he started to get up, and then he wobbled, and then he goes down.

• 1:00:21Troy Aikman?

  But it didn't take but a few seconds, or less than a minute, to really understand the gravity of the situation with the people that were out. And what we had privilege of seeing with our cameras, that the public was not seeing, was the amount of attention and the CPR that was being administered in order to keep him alive. And they, it was, it was feverish. I mean, it was going on quite some time. I didn't think he was gonna make it, quite honestly. Now, that, that broadcast, or the way that we at least covered it,

• 1:00:57Troy Aikman?

  I, I actually did very little.

• 1:01:01Troy Aikman?

  Joe Buck did the heavy lifting that night, and, and I told him this. And I'll tell all your viewers, I've seen Joe do some amazing things as a broadcaster, in some big moments, in big games, the biggest of games, where he's been just perfect. And I thought this was his finest hour.

• 1:01:20Ed Mylett?

  Really?

• 1:01:21Troy Aikman?

  I mean, I thought he was amazing. There was no real direction for him, because nobody knew. Nobody knew what we were doing. Nobody knew really the situation. We weren't getting much information. We didn't know how long we were gonna be on the air there with ESPN and ABC, or were we gonna throw it to someone else, and...

• 1:01:38Ed Mylett?

  You didn't even know if the game was gonna continue for a while, right?

• 1:01:40Troy Aikman?

  Didn't know, yeah, none of that. So, it's, it turned into an amazing story, because Joe and I were in New York for what they call the up-fronts for ESPN, and DeMar Hamlin came out on stage with us. We'd never met him. And it was, it was fantastic. I get a little emotional about it, just because, you know, shoot, that night, you know, we didn't know if, we didn't even know if he was gonna live. But, but for him, when I've seen him, prior to even meeting him... His platform that he's been given and what he's done with that is really, really remarkable. I mean, there's some, there's some good work being done through that young man and, and how he's

• 1:02:21Troy Aikman?

  kind of taken this, the mantle and, and just making the most of, of the opportunity that he has to reach so many people.

• 1:02:29Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, so are you today.

• 1:02:30Troy Aikman?

  Well, thank you.

• 1:02:31Ed Mylett?

  So are you today.

• 1:02:32Troy Aikman?

  Thank you.

• 1:02:32Ed Mylett?

  Let me ask you one more thing. First off, I gotta tell you, I really enjoyed today.

• 1:02:35Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, me too.

• 1:02:36Ed Mylett?

  A lot. I think we're gonna be friends for a long time. I admire you and I like you. I love seeing somebody just get better and better as a person and I see that in you. Has all of this, please answer this as honestly as you can, because we all know what like the easy answer is. Is like all this worth it? This meticulous routine you've got, all the discipline, all the sacrifices, all the weight room stuff, all the film prep that you did, all the media you've had to do, then the transition to going into broadcasting and now you're an entrepreneur, which by the way, go get your eight beer if you're in Texas until we can get it to you everywhere else. Is, is it worth it? Would it have been okay for you now at your 56?

• 1:03:21Ed Mylett?

  If I said, hey Troy, life didn't, you didn't win any Super Bowls, you didn't play in the NFL, you're not in the Hall of Fame, you know, you're not a TV icon guy now, but you've had a pretty good life. You did alright, man. You, you got out of here, you didn't hurt anybody.

• 1:03:35Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:36Ed Mylett?

  Everything turned out okay, but man, you got, you didn't have to do all this stuff you've had to do.

• 1:03:40Troy Aikman?

  Right.

• 1:03:41Ed Mylett?

  Would you be okay with that life and is the one you chose worth it?

• 1:03:44Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, the, the life I've chosen is definitely worth it, you know, I mean, I have, I have no regrets. There's nothing I look back on and think, ah, man, I wish I'd have, wish I'd have done that a little bit differently. I mean, I know that I've given up a lot. But there's a balance. I mean, you've got to, you've got to strike a balance. For me... In terms of what motivated me to achieve, I've always felt like there's another mountain to climb. And the people who find contentment, I used to think contentment was a four-letter word.

• 1:04:24Troy Aikman?

  But now I really admire those that are content. As long as it's put in the right context, right?

• 1:04:35Ed Mylett?

  I think it was authentic.

• 1:04:36Troy Aikman?

  My sister, who's very successful, she's the CEO of the largest hospital in Oklahoma, she has contentment. And I admire that. I now am finding contentment. But before, I could never have been in that space. So I feel like I've been a really good father, which has been the only thing that's mattered to me, is being, you know, if my girls at the end of my life say, hey, my dad was a great father, if they tell people, then nothing else matters. I mean, you say, hey, you're not really thought of as being a top-five all-time quarterback. I don't care.

• 1:05:20Troy Aikman?

  But, you know, I think I could maybe make that top-five all-time dad list. And so that's what motivates me, that's what matters to me. All the other stuff, because our story's gonna be told by those who know us best. It's not gonna be the people who, the fans that were thrilled that we won Super Bowls, and, you know, you know what I'm saying.

• 1:05:42Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, I do.

• 1:05:43Troy Aikman?

  But yeah, I feel like it's definitely been worth it. And I'm thrilled with where I'm at. I mean, life just keeps getting better. So yeah, I'm happy.

• 1:05:53Ed Mylett?

  I think it's because you're getting better.

• 1:05:55Troy Aikman?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:56Ed Mylett?

  Didn't know that when we booked you for the show that we would talk about these things today. And I'm really grateful that we did.

• 1:06:03Troy Aikman?

  Yeah, me too.

• 1:06:04Ed Mylett?

  And I want you to know, if there's anything I can ever do for you, I'm here to help you, in any way that I can. You're a stud.

• 1:06:10Troy Aikman?

  I appreciate it. Thank you.

• 1:06:12Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, my audience is gonna share the heck out of this thing here today, brother. This was outstanding. One of the best conversations I've ever had on or off camera. Wow. I enjoyed it. It means a lot. Enjoyed it very, very much. Hey, guys, um, make sure you follow Troy. He's on social media at Troy Aikman, or as my producer Sasha said today, Troy Aikman. He's coming on the show today and she's super excited about it. So follow Troy on Instagram. You can get Drink Eight Beer on Instagram also, and you can also grab a copy of The Power of One More, which is the greatest book written in 2023 by this guy, Ed Mylett. God bless you all, everybody. Max out your life. This is the Ed Mylett Show.