Troy Aikman Still Upset by Gay Rumor; Not His Chosen 'Lifestyle'

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, now a sportscaster, is still upset about a nearly 20-year-old rumor that he's gay -- and he's also calling homosexuality "a lifestyle people choose."

In an interview published last week on Sports Illustrated's website, Richard Deitsch queried Aikman about the gay rumor in journalist Skip Bayless's 1996 book Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the "Win or Else" Dallas Cowboys. Deitsch, who called the rumor a "reckless insinuation," asked Aikman, "How much anger today do you feel about what was written in that book?"

"I'm upset about it because it was made up and there was nothing accurate about anything that was insinuated.," said Aikman, a Fox Sports analyst. "And he did it, as he does everything, just for attention. I am probably more upset because I probably should have responded to it at the time it was going on. The advice to me was 'Hey, just don't address it. It's not worth it. It doesn't make any sense. It's ridiculous. All it's going to do is have people continue to talk about his book.' So I didn't. But I probably could have responded differently and maybe that would have changed things. Maybe it wouldn't have. But it is ridiculous, and, yeah, it bothers me. If that is a lifestyle people choose, so be it. It doesn't affect me one way or another. But it is not my lifestyle."

Aikman has had little to say about the book since its publication, but in 2011 he did say of Bayless, "I still kind of wonder what I might do to him when I do see him."

Read the full Sports Illustrated interview here. The discussion of the gay rumor is on the second page.