During the NFL’s Wild Card playoff weekend, Fox’s Troy Aikman drew attention for appearing to be bitter that he and Joe Buck were calling Eagles-Buccaneers, rather than the marquee matchup of the opening round’s six games: 49ers at Cowboys.
“It’s gonna be a great game. I mean, a really good game,” said Aikman. “There’s a lot of people that’d like to be calling that game.”
Naturally, fans and sports media observers on social media interpreted Aikman’s remarks as annoyance that he and Buck weren’t calling a clash between two of the most accomplished franchises in the NFC.
It also highlighted the unusual circumstance of that game being televised on CBS, rather than Fox, an indication that the traditional set-up of NFC games on one network and AFC on the other no longer applied.
Appearing on The Ryen Russillo Podcast Monday, Aikman was asked about those remarks and the social media reaction to them.
“There were some that were trying to say I’d rather be doing the game than the one I was doing,” said Aikman. “That wasn’t the point at all. I’m thrilled to be doing any game. But Joe said, ‘Hey, that should be a great game.’ Yeah, an amazing game. I would’ve loved to call that game. But that didn’t mean I would love to be calling it over the game I was calling or that I was upset I wasn’t calling the game.”
Aikman added that he was confused that an NFC matchup was assigned to CBS by the NFL, rather than Fox, something that puzzled many viewers accustomed to how broadcasts were previously determined.
He went on to blame “the irresponsibility of media and social media” for those remarks being interpreted as being upset over the assignment.
Earlier in the segment, Russillo teased Aikman about forgetting that he briefly played with Craig Kupp, the father of Los Angeles Rams receiving sensation Cooper Kupp.
“I didn’t know that was Cooper’s dad and he wasn’t really with us all that long,” said Aikman. “I loved Craig when he was with us, then that was taken like I was taking a shot at him — which I was not.”
Russillo’s entire conversation with Aikman is worth listening to. The two also discuss Fox letting their broadcast pairings develop, rather than constantly tinker, which certainly seemed to be a criticism of ESPN’s frequent changes to its Monday Night Football crew.
Ian Casselberry is a sports media columnist for BSM. He has previously written and edited for Awful Announcing, The Comeback, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation. You can find him on Twitter @iancass or reach him by email at iancass@gmail.com.
