What If Both Troy Aikman and Patrick Mahomes Are Good Quarterbacks?

Troy Aikman was a really good quarterback. He won three Super Bowls and is in the Hall of Fame. Patrick Mahomes has been otherworldly during his short NFL career, putting up obscene numbers and captivating the imagination of fans everywhere. He's a good quarterback, too.

That's it. That's the point I want to make. There's no reason both things can't exist as facts without bumping up against each other and creating friction. But they have.

Aikman took umbrage at The Athletic Kansas City disseminating an empirically factual stat. His rebuttal can be distilled down to five letters: R-I-N-G-Z.

This was seen as an epic clapback by people who use those words without the slightest bit of shame. And, you know, all the best to that segment of the population.

But I, personally, do not understand it. I don't understand why Aikman would take any offense at this, why putting statistics in context is seen as a slight, and why anyone who enjoys the sport of football would hustle backward to make Mahomes any less fun.

Yes, he failed to win the Super Bowl in his first year as a starter. The horror! In Aikman's first two years, he went 7-19 as a starter and threw 20 touchdowns against 36 interceptions. Mahomes, in six fewer games, has tossed 60 scores and 12 picks. He led his team to the AFC Championship Game and almost won it.

What are we doing here?

Let's assume the best here-- that Aikman is very much NOT MAD and is just having fun. Even still, would any sane human being walking the Earth be convinced that he somehow made the most salient point in this debate that doesn't need to be a debate?

Aikman played in a different era with different stats. Any reasonable person knows that. But please, please find me someone who watched both guys and thinks Mahomes wouldn't have won more than three Super Bowls if surrounded by that Dallas Cowboys talent.

I'm getting off-track.

This is supposed to be fun. There's no real reason to even compare Aikman to Mahomes. Unless you want to stir up some debate, or light the fuse on the content machine.

One quarterback won a ton of important games and earned a spot in Canton. The other will do the same if he stays healthy.

Talk to me when it's okay for us all to use 33 percent of our brains.