Sunday, April 9, 2000

Cowboy quarterback, former staffer, are wed
By MIKE CRISSEY
Associated Press Writer

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DALLAS (AP) - Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman has added another ring to his collection: a wedding ring.

Aikman, who has accumulated three Super Bowl rings, married former Cowboys public relations staffer Rhonda Worthey on Saturday afternoon in a private ceremony at his home in Plano, a north Dallas suburb.

The two met at the Cowboys' practice facility where she once worked and have dated for about 18 months.

The wedding was an intimate gathering of the couple's family and close friends. A much larger group was invited to a reception afterward.

"Troy is very, very happy," said Tim Quintana, a member of Aikman's security staff. Quintana fielded questions from journalists in front of Aikman's stately home.

A Plano police officer blocked off the cul-de-sac dominated by Aikman's two-story red brick manor.

Early in the afternoon, charter buses brought people dressed in wedding attire to the residence, which is surrounded by a 6-foot-high black wrought-iron fence. Bouquets of yellow and pink flowers decorated the main gate.

Brian Berry, 22, a neighbor, said he was unimpressed by the happenings. Cowboys star Deion Sanders also lives in the affluent neighborhood, he noted.

"You see them every day," Berry said.

Aikman, 33, has been considered one of Dallas' most eligible bachelors. Worthey, who is 31 with a 9-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, quit her job last spring at Valley Ranch to spend more time at home.

At a Friday night rehearsal dinner, Cowboys coaches and teammates including Daryl Johnston, Bill Bates, Emmitt Smith, Mark Stepnoski, Kevin Gogan, special teams coach Joe Avezzano and Redskins head coach Norv Turner, formerly with the Cowboys organization, toasted the couple, The Dallas Morning News reported.

The 29 guests drank from large silver chalices, men smoked cigars in silver holders and women were presented silver hearts.

After word of the rehearsal dinner got out, the restaurant was flooded with calls from young women hoping to get a last look at Aikman the bachelor. The women weren't allowed into the already crowded restaurant, the newspaper said.

The couple sought to keep their wedding date a private matter, but Fox broadcaster John Madden inadvertently leaked it. The football commentator was attending the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Ga., when he made an offhand comment to a reporter that he was leaving after the first two rounds so he could return to Dallas for Aikman's wedding.