Troy Aikman has expressed regret over a controversial comment he made during the Monday night broadcast of the Las Vegas Raiders vs Kansas City Chiefs game.
ESPN’s play-by-play announcer was discussing a dubious roughing the passer call in the second quarter with Joe Buck, that involved Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones sacking Raiders quarterback Derek Carr before landing on top of him and was flagged soon after the play.
‘My hope is the competition committee looks at this in the next set of meetings and, you know, we take the dresses off,’ Aikman said on-air at the time, emphasizing the NFL’s handling of defenders getting penalized for tackling quarterbacks.
Troy Aikman made the controversial comment when Derek Carr was sacked by Chris Jones
The 55-year-old pundit, pictured here in September 2021, seemed regretful three days after his ‘dumb’ remark was aired on ESPN’s coverage of ‘Monday Night Football’
On Thursday, while appearing on Dallas-based radio 96.7 ‘The Ticket’ to talk about the Cowboys’ winning prospects against the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles ahead of Saturday’s matchup, the former quarterback-turned-pundit labelled his comments as ‘dumb.’
‘My comments were dumb, just shouldn’t have made them,’ the 55-year-old said. ‘Just dumb remarks on my part.’
DailyMail.com has contacted ESPN for comment, as America’s biggest sports network has remained silent over Aikman’s remarks.
Along with Buck, the broadcaster is expected to present the next game on Monday Night Football on October 17th – a showdown between the LA Chargers and Denver Broncos.
His five-year deal with ESPN is estimated to in the $90million range, according to the New York Post, and along with Buck, he has commentated on NFL games for more than 20 years, including six Super Bowls, mostly on Fox Sports prior to wanting out last offseason.
Troy Aikman (left) and Joe Buck have joined ESPN over the summer from FOX after 20 years
Nonetheless, regardless of the controversy behind the call – considering that it happened a day after a similar decision saw Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett be penalized for a sack on Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady – some NFL fans called out Aikman on Twitter for his ‘sexist’ euphemism.
‘Troy Aikman really needs to find a non-misogynistic way to critique the call besides ”take the dresses off,”’ one user tweeted.
‘And I say this as someone who heard this misogyny normalized by coaches as a kid & even participated myself. Way past time to end such sports talk,’ he added.
‘Did Troy Aikman really just say what I think he said? Did he really just say that it’s time for the league to ”take the dresses off”?,’ a radio show-host wrote online. ‘The 60’s called, they want their chauvinist back. Seriously @ESPN… do better than that c**p.’
‘I don’t feel like ”take the dresses off” is the euphemism ESPN wants Troy Aikman to use when criticizing a weak roughing the passer call,’ another user shared.
NFL fans described the play-by-play announcer as ‘misogynistic’ and ‘chauvinist’ on Twitter
‘Catching up on MNF on NF+, and Troy Aikman is driving me nuts. Not just with the infamous dress comment; but calling the protection of quarterbacks ”ridiculous” in the face of what was done to Tagovailoa (twice, in two consecutive games) is weird,’ a different individual tweeted.
‘Gotta say, troy aikman, a guy whose career ended early due to multiple concussions saying the league needs to take off the dress or whatever re: safety, is [chef emoji] [kiss emoji]. I don’t care how bad the roughing calls have been,’ a user said, referring to the commentator’s decision to retire after playing 12 years for the Dallas Cowboys.
‘Oh boy, Troy,’ a Chicago sports columnist reacted on Twitter. ‘Aikman says on MNF what coaches say (or used to say) all the time – that is, complaining about roughness is a female ”dress” thing.’
‘Troy Aikman’s dress comment on MNF was transphobic and cringe worthy. Do better,’ a different Twitter user wrote.
Some other fans questioned the former Cowboys QB’s comment, tying it up to a similar reason as to why he retired in 2000, while one user called Aikman’s remark ‘transphobic’
The questionable call against Jones — the second in two days — nearly cost Kansas City in its 30-29 comeback victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Chiefs had just scored to trim their deficit to 17-7 when Jones stripped Raiders quarterback Derek Carr from behind just before halftime. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle landed on Carr while also coming up with the ball — replays showed it was clearly loose and that Jones cleanly recovered — but referee Carl Cheffers threw a flag for roughing the passer.
‘The quarterback is in the pocket and he’s in a passing posture. He gets full protection of all the aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture,’ Cheffers told a pool reporter after the game.
‘My ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight.’
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