Troy Aikman Says NFL Popularity Could Fade

(EndPlay Staff Reports) - The NFL is king when it comes to American sports, but one of its former quarterbacks sees trouble up ahead.

Media outlets reported this week that former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, now a television analyst for FOX, stated he sees the game's popularity waning over the next 20 years.

"I believe, and this is my opinion, that at some point football is not going to be the number one sport," the The Los Angeles Times reported Aikman said. "You talk about the ebbs and flows of what's popular and what's not. At some point, the TV ratings are not going to be there."

Aikman, a college and pro hall of famer, made his comments while on a panel discussion last week in Los Angeles.

Part of the problem, he said, is that the sport getting diluted.

"At one time, watching football was an event," Yahoo! blog Post Game quoted Aikman as saying. "'Monday Night Football' was a big event. Now you get football Sunday, you get it Monday, you get it Thursday and, late in the year, you get it on Saturday."

He also expects the concern over concussions suffered by players will have an effect on the "long-term viability" of the game. The Times reported he said that the concern of league officials and owners may affect "what this game is going to look like 20 years from now."

If he had a son, he said, he wouldn't say his son couldn't play but he may also not encourage him to play.

Aikman started out his pro career with the Dallas Cowboys in 1989. Post Game stated that he was the "winningest starting quarterback of any decade" with 90 of 94 career wins in the 1990s.