Aikman considered baseball career before enrolling at OU

  Before he decided to play football at the University of Oklahoma in 1984, Troy Aikman almost decided to play baseball instead.  A three-time Super Bowl champion quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys, Aikman told Bryant Gumbel in a segment airing on the next edition of HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” that the New York Mets made a pitch for him to play baseball. The program premieres at 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Aikman will team with Joe Buck to call Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6 on Fox.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

AIKMAN: “I got a call from the New York Mets and they said, ‘We need to know what it’s gonna take to get you to forgo college.’”

GUMBEL: “Did you pitch?”

AIKMAN: “I was a pitcher and a shortstop. And so when they said what’s it gonna take.’ I said, ‘I don’t know, $200,000.’ They said, ‘$200,000? Darryl Strawberry is not even making that much money.’

And I said, ‘Well if you want me, that’s what it’s gonna take.’ And they said, ‘You have a nice football career at Oklahoma.’ “

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