Pro Football Hall of Famer Troy Aikman reportedly made an expletive comment toward Joe Buck during their confrontation last week.
Buck and Aikman were at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, to call the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 5 home game vs. the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. After the Bills’ overtime victory, a report from Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports stated that “tension” had grown between the longest-running broadcast tandem in NFL history.
Last month, Buck signed a six-year extension with ESPN worth a reported $108 million. Aikman is in the last season of a five-year deal he signed in 2022, with no signs of an extension in sight.
In an update, Dylan Byers of Puck (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk) reports that leading up to the Week 5 game, Aikman had become “increasingly cold, difficult, short, making comments.”
A source told Byers that Buck “finally snapped” and asked Aikman, “Dude, are we really going to do this?” According to Byers, Aikman’s position toward Buck was, “You (expletive) me over!”
Additionally, a source told Byers that Aikman felt Buck signing an extension in advance was “the ultimate act of betrayal.” Aikman and Buck joined ESPN in 2022 after a 20-year run together as the lead commentary team at Fox Sports.
Finally, the report added that Buck apologized to Aikman and the Monday Night Football production this week, when they called the San Francisco 49ers’ home game against the Washington Commanders at Levi’s Stadium. Buck reportedly advised his colleagues to “move forward” and have a good season together.
Aikman and Buck will be in Philadelphia next Monday to call the Eagles’ home game against the NFC East rival Dallas Cowboys.
Troy Aikman and Joe Buck Will Call Super Bowl 61
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Only time will tell if 2026 is Aikman’s final year with ESPN. If it is, then he’ll be leaving the Worldwide Leader in Sports on a high note.
Aikman and Buck will call Super Bowl 61 for ESPN and ABC on Feb. 14 at SoFi Stadium. The legendary tandem called six Super Bowls together at Fox, most recently Super Bowl 54 between the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers in the 2019 season.
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