The most compelling Monday Night Football story line this season might be happening in the broadcast booth.
A simmering feud between commentators Joe Buck and Troy Aikman reportedly came to a head before the Monday Night Football broadcast on Monday, October 12, which featured the Los Angeles Rams hosting the Buffalo Bills.
Buck, 57, and Aikman, 59, had an argument before hitting the air, Front Office Sports reported on Wednesday, October 14. “It ultimately de-escalated, and the two had a broadcast in which viewers never would have been able to decipher that something was amiss,” the outlet reported.
The tension between the two men — who have called games together for 25 years — centers on their contracts with ESPN. Buck signed a six-year, $108 million extension with the network last month, according to The Athletic. Aikman’s contract expires at the end of the season, and he has yet to receive an extension offer.
Aikman did not deny the disagreement with Buck when directly asked about the rumors during a radio interview on Thursday, October 15.
“There’s probably a time and a place for all that,” Aikman said on Dallas’ 96.7 The Ticket. “I don’t know if now is the time. I don’t know if it’s hard to figure out kind of what happened. I’ll broadcast through this season and I’ll be a free agent at the end of the year and kind of see what happens.”
Buck and Aikman are expected to be in the booth in February, when ABC and ESPN simulcast Super Bowl LXI.
“I’m looking forward to whatever the rest of this season does hold and the Super Bowl and all that and where my next landing spot may be,” Aikman added.
Last month, Buck acknowledged that his relationship with Aikman isn’t always perfect.
“We’ve lived 25 years of our lives as partners in the broadcast booth,” he told former ESPN anchor Bob Ley at the Seton Hall Center for Sports Media. “There’s no way that you can treat that in any way other than a marriage. You have to put work in.”
If Aikman ultimately exits ESPN, he would leave a major vacancy in the Monday Night Football booth. Given his growing presence at the network, some have speculated that Pat McAfee might be tapped for the job.
McAfee shot down those rumors via X on Tuesday, October 13, saying there has been “zero conversation about this.”
