Cowboys History: Troy Aikman proved preseason anything but meaningless in ’94 game

Unless there’s a big contract announcement to be made (nudge, nudge), the next couple of days could be pretty quiet in Cowboys Nation. The team breaks camp in Oxnard on Thursday and returns to the Metroplex after nearly a month. There, they’ll settle back in at The Star just in time to host the Chargers at AT&T Stadium on Saturday night in the 2024 preseason finale.

Nothing that takes place on the field will really count, but that doesn’t make it meaningless. Of course, the starters won’t play much, if at all; the risk for an injury is too great. But it will be the last chance for the Cowboys’ current slate of hopefuls, wannabes, and longshots to make an impression on coaches before roster cutdown day. For them, this preseason exhibition could be a make-or-break moment for their football dreams.

And sometimes, a preseason game means even more than that. Sometimes, it means everything. This is one of those stories.

The Cowboys were going through a surreal transition in 1994. They had just won their second straight Super Bowl, but their bid at an unprecedented three-peat would have to come under the leadership of newly-installed head coach Barry Switzer. Linebacker Ken Norton Jr. and offensive coordinator Norv Turner had just left, and a promising offensive lineman named Larry Allen was learning the ropes as a fresh-faced rookie. In all, eleven seasoned Pro Bowlers from the previous year were back to lead the silver and blue as the Cowboys convened at St. Edwards University in Austin for training camp.

A new coach, injuries, the pressure of returning to the big game, and wearing targets on their backs as the NFL’s top-performing team on the field and most glamorous squad off of it: the obstacles for the 1994 Cowboys would be substantial.

But the franchise’s biggest star was about to be challenged by a young fan who was facing much worse.

Ten-year-old J.P. O’Neill was a sports-crazed kid growing up in Austin. But in the fall of 1993, he had been diagnosed with a rare form of childhood cancer. And by the following summer, his condition had worsened. A large stomach tumor was not responding to treatment, and he was getting markedly weaker by the day. A local TV reporter arranged for J.P. and his family to attend a day at Cowboys camp.

Jeff Pearlman, author of Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty, notes in his book: “Throughout the day, J.P. was treated like a king. He met players, collected autographs, basked in the glow. ‘They were all so nice to him,’ says [his father] Kim. ‘Made him feel incredibly special.'”

Troy Aikman took special notice of J.P., stopping to talk and pose for photos. As the quarterback turned to leave, Kim made a request on his son’s behalf, asking the then-three-time Pro Bowler if he could throw a touchdown pass for J.P.

“I’ll do you one better,” Aikman replied. “I’ll score a touchdown for you and send you the ball.”

Once out of earshot of J.P. and his wheelchair, Aikman reportedly pulled Kim aside, telling him he had been told that J.P. didn’t have long. If he couldn’t keep his promise in the upcoming preseason game against Minnesota, he said, he’d do it the following week.

And so on Aug. 7, Aikman played just one series against the visiting Raiders. He went 3-for-4 passing, leading the offense on a 10-play drive that spanned 65 yards.

The Cowboys’ backups would eventually fall, losing 27-19 in the second game of the preseason. But Aikman made sure the final play of his only drive that night was anything but meaningless, at least for one young fan he knew was watching.

Six yards away from the goal line, on 3rd-and-15, in a game that wouldn’t even count, the league’s reigning completion percentage leader took off running.

He was met at the goal line by three Raiders defenders, who laid into the superstar with a massive shot. But the ball crossed the plane.

Six points.

And a promise kept, even if the quarterback who preferred to shield his private life from the public declined to reveal the true motivation for the play.

[affiliatewidget_smgtolocal]

“I know people are going to say it’s preseason and I shouldn’t risk injury,” Aikman would explain after the game. “But if I’m in a position of risk, I shouldn’t be out there.”

But the O’Neill family knew the real reason Aikman had made the dangerous scramble.

“We knew the touchdown was just for him,” J.P.’s older sister would say later. “He had to tell everyone who would listen that the touchdown was his. It meant everything to my brother.”

Nineteen days after that game, J.P. O’Neill passed away. And when he was buried at a Dallas cemetery, he was holding the football that Aikman had sent him.

The Dallas Cowboys will take the field again this weekend for another preseason game. The score, the yards, the touchdowns: none of it will be entered into the record books. Just don’t believe for a moment that any of it is ever meaningless.

Related Links: