AIKMAN COULD RISE HIGHER\QB is close to joining ranks of Montana, Bradshaw.

Byline: Curt Sylvester Detroit Free Press 

Already Troy Aikman has joined a pretty elite club.

Dan Marino, who owns most of the NFL passing records, doesn't belong. Nor does Fran Tarkenton, who owned the records before Marino broke them.

Nor John Elway, the champion of the fourth-quarter comeback. Nor Jim Kelly, nor Hall of Famer Roger Staubach.

Aikman is one of five quarterbacks in 29 years to make multiple Super Bowl starts without a loss.

And, while it might be presumptuous to put two-time winner Aikman in the class of four-time champions Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, it might be only a matter of time until the Dallas quarterback elevates himself to that status.

Ron Hughes, Detroit Lions director of player personnel and a tough critic, puts Aikman near the top of the heap of quarterbacks who have distinguished themselves in the Super Bowl.

Not just because of the arm or the touch or the team around him, but because of the indefinable something that makes some guys play big - and win - in big games while others falter.

"He has that something, that quarterback stuff, whatever the hell it is that sets him apart from other players at his position," Hughes said. "Why do some guys have great arms, but they can't play the game and win? They're a .500 quarterback, they're an average quarterback.

"Obviously he is blessed with some very good (team) talent, but I believe wherever he went, he would be a very good quarterback.

"He's got size, he knows where to throw the football, he's intelligent, instinctive or a combination of everything. He has a good arm. He was maneuverable, but I believe he's getting beat up a little bit right now and maybe he doesn't move as well. But he has good pocket awareness, he knows where things are coming from."

And for whatever reason, Aikman seems to play a bit better when the Cowboys get to the playoffs, better yet when they get to the Super Bowl.

He is 9-1 as a playoff starter entering Sunday's Super Bowl XXX against underdog Pittsburgh at Sun Devil Stadium. And his statistics are slightly incredible.

Aikman has a 68.5 percent completion average and a 104.0 rating in 10 playoff games. But in Super Bowl XXVII and XXVIII victories over Buffalo, he has an NFL-best (for two games or more) 71.9 percent completions and a rating of 113.2, third best ever.

The numbers obviously don't lie, although New York Giants general manager George Young said the Cowboys' offensive system and running back Emmitt Smith had a lot to do with Aikman's success.

"His supporting cast is pretty good," Young said. "But when he has to make a drive, it's just like Bart Starr. He was that way . . . when they had to move the ball, they moved the ball.

"They have a good team, their whole team, but he can carry the team. He's capable of carrying the team if he has to. Aikman's an outstanding quarterback and he's a tough guy; he plays hurt, he wants to stay on the field."

Aikman doesn't like to talk about his Super Bowl performances but recently said his reputation as a big-game player "means a lot to me. I just like big games."

"I love it when the playoffs roll around. It's a grind through training camp, exhibition season and through the regular season. Then it gets fun when you're in the playoffs. I like the sudden-death nature of it. If you win you go on, if you lose you die."

Aikman's teammates can see the difference in him when the playoffs begin. So can owner Jerry Jones.

"He's one of the most intelligent people we have in the organization," Jones said recently. "He's very gifted. He's the kind of quarterback you have to have in the playoffs to get to the Super Bowl."

Aikman's best Super Bowl was his first. The Cowboys trailed Buffalo, 7-0, five minutes into the game, and Aikman responded with four touchdown passes in a 52-17 victory.

In the rematch a year later, he completed 19 of 27 for 207 yards but was intercepted once and didn't throw a TD pass, although Dallas again rallied for a 30-13 victory.

The thing Aikman does not yet have is the signature performance that defines his greatness.

For Montana, it was the 92-yard drive and the winning touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds remaining in San Francisco's 20-16 victory over Cincinnati in Super Bowl XXIII in 1989. It transferred him from mortal MVP to Super Bowl deity.

For Bradshaw, it was a record four-touchdown MVP performance in Pittsburgh's 35-31 win over Dallas in Super Bowl XIII, a game many consider the most exciting of the first 22 Super Bowls.

For Hughes' money, Montana and Bradshaw still stand above all other Super Bowl quarterbacks.

"They're special," Hughes said. "I'd definitely put Montana first, Bradshaw second and this guy (Aikman) third, in there with Phil Simms."

Simms played in one Super Bowl - the Giants' 39-20 victory over Denver in Super Bowl XXI in 1987 - but it was a beauty. He completed 22 of 25 for 268 yards and three touchdowns, without an interception.

Coincidentally, Montana and Bradshaw had their most memorable Super Bowl performances going after their third championship. Aikman, who already has matched Starr and Jim Plunkett going 2 for 2 in Super Bowl championships, will be pursuing his third ring against the Steelers and laughs at the suggestion he has nothing left to prove.

"We won a Super Bowl in Pasadena, my first Super Bowl," he said. "After the game in that press conference, I was asked what do I have left now. I'm 26 years old, it was my fourth year in the league, you've just won the Super Bowl, what do you have left to prove?

"And I laughed at that question because I knew that as long as I continued to play there would be plenty left to do. And there is. As soon as this game ends, whether we win or lose, it all starts over again. Nobody really cares about the fact that we won the Super Bowl then. It's what are you going to do to try to do it again next year. It's a vicious cycle."

And some guys handle it better than others. Montana, Bradshaw and probably Aikman.

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Photo Dallas QB Troy Aikman says, win or lose Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he has plenty left to do in the NFL. Associated Press Illustration no caption (Troy Aikman) Knight-Ridder Tribune Graphics Network