Back in January, who would have predicted that the last time Joe Buck appeared on Fox would be on… The Masked Singer?
Hours after ESPN officially announced that Buck and Troy Aikman were the network’s new broadcast team for Monday Night Football, the play-by-play personality revealed himself as the mystery singer under the golden, magnificently horned helmet after Ram was eliminated on Wednesday night’s show.
One of the judges, Modern Family‘s Eric Stonestreet, guessed that Buck was the man behind the ram helmet, based on the masked singer appearing to know him. Stonestreet and Buck worked together on Fox’s Domino Masters, so there was some familiarity and friendship there.
Host Nick Cannon asked Buck what made him want to perform on the show, a question many viewers (and sports fans who might not watch The Masked Singer, but learned of Buck’s appearance on social media) likely wondered themselves.
“Eleven years ago, I had a paralyzed vocal cord,” Buck said. “So to come out here 11 years later and kind of throw my nerves to the wind, and sing in front of this great audience, I was like, ‘Hey, you know, why not? Let’s give it a shot.'”
After Buck explained some of the clues toward his identity during his two-episode stint on the show, he broke into another rendition of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me” for his send-off performance.
Was that a message to Fox Sports executives, who Buck and Aikman have indicated didn’t show them much love during recent contract negotiations? Maybe. Or perhaps it was a plea to sports fans and viewers, who haven’t always embraced Buck during his 25-plus years at Fox as the lead voice of the NFL and World Series.
Buck has always been interested in stepping out into mainstream culture and showing he can do more than call sports play-by-play. So appearing on The Masked Singer can’t be a complete surprise. Plus, he’s a Fox company man. He’s essentially been the face — and voice — of Fox Sports for more than two decades.
Obviously, that’s no longer the case. And what would have been a fun offseason diversion instead turned into a strange, though unspoken, flamboyant goodbye to Fox after a nearly 30-year run. Sports media and broadcasting in 2022 has been amazing.
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.
