The comments made by Troy Aikman , Hall of Fame quarterback and FOX News analyst about not being on the call to the game between the San Francisco 49ers & the Dallas Cowboys created quite a stir during Wild Card weekend.
Aikman was also broadcasting the NFC matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Boston) and the Philadelphia Eagles (FOX play-by–play man Joe Buck), which quickly became a frenzy. Buck asked his broadcast partner, Joe Buck, what he was looking to see in the matchup between 49ers and Cowboys later that day.
“It’s going to be a great game,” Aikman said at the time. “I think there’s a lot of people who that’d like to be calling that game.”
Aikman’s comments quickly went viral on social media. Many reacted to his comments and joked about it, while others criticized him for making such pointed remarks.
Aikman, however, didn’t get the point of the Wild Card weekend debate. After a long divisional round, Aikman finally had the opportunity to correct the record.
“There were some that said I’d rather be doing that game than the game I was doing,” Aikman said Monday on the Ryen Russillo Podcast. “That wasn’t my point at all. I’m thrilled to be doing any game. Joe said that would be an amazing game. Yeah, I would have loved to have called that game. It’s a huge ball game.
“But that didn’t mean I would love to be calling it over the game I was calling, or I was upset about it. I was confused, quite honestly. When it first came out, I thought there was a chance we would be calling that game, and that if we weren’t that meant it would be on ESPN or NBC. We have that happen a lot … But I was confused when an NFC matchup went to a network that covers the AFC with CBS. I didn’t understand that; I still don’t really understand that.”
Troy Aikman wasn’t upset over not calling the 49ers-Cowboys playing game, but confused that it was assigned to CBS: pic.twitter.com/iItTYXhtfb
— The Podcass (@thepodcass) January 25, 2022
Aikman is correct that FOX has always had broadcast rights to NFC games. After paying $70 million for an additional Wild Card contest, CBS was able to acquire the 49ers-Cowboys match.
Aikman will broadcast the Niners playoff game, even though he missed the call two weeks prior. The NFC Championship Game will be played on Sunday between the San Francisco Rams and the Los Angeles Rams.
Kickoff is at 6:40 p.m. ET on FOX