Troy Aikman has rightfully earned his reputation as someone who brings honesty to a broadcast, particularly when it comes to NFL officiating. You hear it each week when Aikman and Joe Buck call games for ESPN\/ABC\u2019s \u201cMonday Night Football.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never try to make anything personal,\u201d Aikman said. \u201cI do try to be honest, and I don\u2019t think I\u2019m the Lone Ranger in that regard. I think everybody tries to be honest. But there are a lot of times where that\u2019s difficult. The biggest thing that I try to do is I try to be fair. There\u2019s that fan who\u2019s sitting at home that has a real vested interest in their team and wants to see them win.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the emphasis or the popularity currently going on with sports betting, not only do they want to see their team win, but there\u2019s money that\u2019s exchanging hands. I keep that in mind as well because some of these calls certainly impact that. So I try to draw attention to it when I can, but not in a way that I hope is is attacking officials. It\u2019s more about the call or what my opinion of it might be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coming off of one of Aikman\u2019s biggest games this season \u2014 the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles losing to the Chargers<\/a> in L.A. in the Week 14 edition of ESPN\u2019s \u201cMonday Night Football \u2014 Aikman spoke to the Sports Media Podcast<\/a>, where he hit on a broad number of topics including his not wanting to call games into his 70s. (He\u2019s 59.) Below, an edited version of that conversation.<\/p>\n You once told me you were very close to walking away from broadcasting. In the years since, it seems like you are enjoying this more than ever. What changed?<\/strong><\/p>\n It was the Super Bowl in Arizona [February 3, 2008], Eli Manning hitting Plaxico Burress for the touchdown against the Patriots. I was at the hotel after the game having dinner with my then-wife, and I just remember thinking that could be the greatest game that I will ever call. It was a tremendous Super Bowl, a great finish, a historical game. Yet after the game I felt more empty than I did at any moment in my life. I just thought, \u201cWow, if this is how I feel, maybe I\u2019m in the wrong profession?\u201d I didn\u2019t do anything to address that. I didn\u2019t go into the offseason thinking anything differently, But I did think at that moment, maybe I should be doing something else.<\/p>\n With that said, it was the last time that I felt that. I don\u2019t know why it turned, quite honestly. I went back the next year, I broadcasted, had a great time. Then every year I\u2019ve enjoyed it more and more. At some point I\u2019ll walk away. Hopefully, it\u2019s my decision whenever that time comes. But for right now, I\u2019m really enjoying my time at ESPN. I love working with Joe [Buck]. I love the people I work with. It\u2019s been a lot of fun. I don\u2019t see the end coming anytime soon. But obviously at my age and as long as I\u2019ve been doing it, there will be an end at some point.<\/p>\n Could you see yourself doing this in your 70s, health permitting?<\/strong><\/p>\n No. I\u2019m a little careful about saying that because I know there are executives that listen to your podcast, and I\u2019d hate for them to think that okay, well, he\u2019s here for x number of years. But as I kind of map out my life and what I have left of it, I do not see myself doing this at 70 years old. Not because I couldn\u2019t do it, not because I wouldn\u2019t still be enjoying it. But I have not had falls off since I was a kid. There\u2019s just things that I want to be able to go do and things I want to see before my time on earth is done. And I want to be able to do it in the fall (laughs).<\/p>\n Why do you think you and Joe have seen a more positive response to your work in recent years, which clearly seems to the be the case?<\/strong><\/p>\n Really since going to ESPN, I feel like maybe we\u2019ve been recognized more than we had been prior to that. I think that\u2019s a fair evaluation. But I was proud of the work we did in the years prior to that. The interesting thing from my perspective about broadcasting is it is all about opinion. Whatever one person likes is their opinion. If they like this broadcast team, that\u2019s great. If someone else likes this other broadcast team, that\u2019s great too. Nobody\u2019s right, nobody\u2019s wrong. Because of that, there probably is some frustration on everyone\u2019s part that\u2019s in this profession.<\/p>\n So you just keep your head down and keep doing your job as best you can. You don\u2019t pay a whole lot of attention to it. Whereas in sports, there\u2019s a scoreboard. You have an idea as to who\u2019s doing what and who\u2019s doing it well and who\u2019s doing it the way it needs to be done.<\/p>\n I\u2019m thankful for whatever accolades or whatever positivity people have about our team, but it\u2019s kind where it ends. I know when I feel like I\u2019ve been good or when I feel like man, that wasn\u2019t to the level that I expect. It\u2019s more of a personal scoreboard for me than what somebody might say.<\/p>\n How would you define culture at ESPN versus Fox Sports\u2019 culture?<\/strong><\/p>\n Fox was really more of a mom-and-pop operation. [Former Fox Sports Media Group Chairman & CEO] David Hill and [former vice chairman of Fox Sports Media Group] Ed Goren, they were boots on the ground from Day One. They were the decision-makers. Whenever talent or anyone had an issue or a question or a suggestion, you went directly to David Hill or Ed Goren. Then after they stepped down, you had [CEO of Fox Sports] Eric Shanks and [President of Production and Operations and Executive Producer of Fox Sports] Brad Zager, and they became those people.<\/p>\n So the culture at Fox remained consistent because Shanks had been there with David Hill and Ed Goren and so had Brad Zager. They understood how it had been done, and they continued with that. Even though they\u2019ve added more properties since then, it still has remained this mom-and-pop type operation. ESPN is a conglomerate, as you know. It\u2019s like the U.S. government (laughs). There are people on top of people. There\u2019s so much content, and everything that goes into that here. ESPN is far more corporate than what I experienced at Fox Sports.<\/p>\n How does someone who has been broadcasting as many years as you have get better at the job?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, the game\u2019s always changing. It\u2019s a far different game today than the one I played and far different today than the one that was played 10 years ago. So it\u2019s keeping up with the trends. Analytics has become a huge part of our game.<\/p>\n I remember the first time we called a game years ago, there was a team down 14-0. They scored a touchdown, and they were going for two. I remember on the air saying, \u201cThis makes no sense to me.\u201d I have no idea what this team is doing right now. That was my first introduction into analytics. All of a sudden everybody\u2019s saying here\u2019s why they are doing that. I realized right then that if I\u2019m the voice for the fan at home that\u2019s watching the game, I can\u2019t simply say this makes no sense. I may not agree with it, but I\u2019ve at least got to be able to explain why the coach is doing what he\u2019s doing. Then I can go into, yeah, this is why I don\u2019t agree with it.<\/p>\n In off-seasons past, I\u2019d reach out to [former NFL head coach] Ron Rivera. I\u2019d say, \u201cHey Ron, I said, I\u2019ve been away from the game for a while, even though I\u2019m still calling the game. I\u2019d love to come to your OTAs for three days, sit in on the meetings. I won\u2019t use anything publicly. It\u2019ll just be for my own consumption, but it\u2019ll give me a chance to kind of sit in the meetings, hear what\u2019s being coached, what\u2019s being taught to the players. It will help me as a broadcaster.\u201d He said, \u201cGreat, come on down.\u201d The following year I spent some time with Sean McVay and the Rams. I call coaches in the offseason and say, hey, explain this to me or what are you guys doing?<\/p>\n ESPN\u2019s first-ever Super Bowl is coming in February 2027. How much are the on-air people such as yourself thinking about it at this time or is this more of a production-focused thing right now?<\/strong><\/p>\n This is only on the production side right now. Our producer and director were at the Super Bowl a year ago and they\u2019ll be at the Super Bowl this year during the week leading up to it. Joe and I obviously were a part of the rotation every three years. It\u2019s something we grew accustomed to. Now when we call next year\u2019s Super Bowl, it will have been eight years or so. It\u2019ll be much different.<\/p>\n But I think one of the great things about the way we approached the Super Bowl at Fox, at least from within our game crew, was we treated it just like any other game. It\u2019s easy to say to that because you know that it\u2019s not. The broadcast is totally different. The buildup to the Super Bowl for those two weeks is huge. Obviously, you want it to be your best broadcast.<\/p>\n With all that said, we really did approach it that way. Our meeting the night before the game was just like it was in Week 3 of the regular season. That really has been kind of my message to our crew even though we are still a full year away. Whatever is happening beyond our game crew, great. Let ESPN, let Disney, let ABC, all the people involved, let them build it up as big as they want it to be. But for us, we gotta have trust and confidence in what we do as a crew to prepare as we have each and every week.<\/p>\n The trick is is not getting psyched out and and believing it to be something bigger than what it is, because then you just paralyze yourself.<\/p>\n On a totally different topic: How do you view Lane Kiffin moving from Ole Miss to LSU?<\/b><\/p>\n College football has become the Wild West, as everybody knows. Forget about Lane Kiffin for a minute, but starting with NIL, there just has been no guardrails. I\u2019m on the National Football Foundation Board, so I hear firsthand from a lot of the commissioners and athletic directors and the people involved in all of that. It\u2019s gotta get cleaned up, first and foremost.<\/p>\n I was a transfer. I went from Oklahoma to UCLA, and I\u2019ve always felt that if a coach is able to pick up and leave, that a player\u00a0should have the same opportunity if a coach leaves. What\u2019s happened obviously over the years since I got out of college football is that in recent years with NIL, there\u2019s been no accountability on the players. So the players pick up and now they\u2019re leaving all the time whereas before it was typically the coach. The player used to have to sit out a year. Now, the players can up and go regardless of whether or not they\u2019ve been paid. It\u2019s every man for himself.\u00a0 <\/p>\n I think it has created somewhat of a culture with that mentality to where the idea of team, whether it\u2019s from the staff or from the players, it just seems like it\u2019s a harder thing to put together.<\/p>\n Lane Kiffin\u2019s motivation? Is it his thoughts that it\u2019s a better opportunity for him at LSU? Possibly. Is it money? Possibly. Is it lifestyle? Possibly. I can\u2019t answer any of those questions. But whatever his motivation is, he feels like LSU is the right place for him. So I don\u2019t fault him for that at all. I know there\u2019s always hard feelings. Ole Miss did not want to lose Lane Kiffin. Once he made the decision to leave, now he\u2019s a pariah. Let\u2019s get this guy just as far away from us as we can. I understand that as well. Everybody gets a little bit jaded.<\/p>\n Where I\u2019m at is I think there\u2019s gotta be some leadership at the very top that kind of cleans all of this up. Starting with players that accept money, there\u2019s gotta be some accountability and responsibility on their behalf to have to stick with a program. I gave money to a kid. I won\u2019t mention who. I\u2019ve done it one time at UCLA. Never met the young man. He was there a year, he left after the year. I wrote a sizable check, and he went to another school. I didn\u2019t even get so much as a thank you note. It\u2019s one of those deals to where I\u2019m done with NIL. I mean, I wanna see UCLA be successful, but I\u2019m done with it.<\/p>\n