FORT WORTH, Texas — Watching the ESPN telecast of the Dallas Cowboys’ game on Monday night in Philadelphia was uncomfortable, not just because of the state of either team, but viewers are literally watching a “couple” in the midst of an ugly divorce.

Former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman’s time with ESPN as its top NFL in-game analyst can be measured in weeks now that the network reportedly handed his broadcast partner of one-quarter century, Joe Buck, a new contract, and no one told Aikman about any of it.

In the world of sports broadcasting, ESPN and Buck did Aikman dirty.

“My time will come to set the record straight,” Aikman said in a text message to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “but just not the time right now.”

Even though ratings are seldom affected by who calls the games, fans love to follow the “sport” of broadcast pairings. The pairing of Aikman/Buck may be the one booth, right now, that has a positive effect on ratings; viewers are expecting some type of “reality housewives” moment.

They’re both too professional to let that scenario happen, but we are witnessing in real time the breakup of one of the best broadcasting duos in sports media. A tandem that for decades did a great job of calling games, and portraying what looked to be a solid friendship.

Given what little Aikman has said about this to various outlets, and what has been reported about this situation, Buck, his agent, and a few of “right people” at ESPN have blood on their hands.

It is slightly ironic that in the first year that ESPN will televise the Super Bowl, one of the main storylines of that game will be the relationship between the people calling the game. For a network that is so aware of what is said about it, its first Super Bowl will be shadowed by its broadcasters.

Anything this pair does for the next several months that is not together will be scrutinized, dissected, interpreted and ESPN can only blame itself.

Buck and Aikman were the ‘perfect pair’

Buck is either the best, or second-best, TV play-by-play voice in sports media. He knows it.

After Aikman retired as the quarterback of the Cowboys in 2000, he started his broadcasting career; it became apparent quickly he prepared, had the voice, the insight and the opinions to thrive in the job. He joined Buck in 2002 at Fox Sports, and the duo is one of the longest-tenured TV broadcasting pairs in NFL history.

Around 2021, ESPN was still frustrated with its Monday Night Football telecasts, as it was not happy with any color announcer who replaced analyst Jon Gruden. To improve, it pursued former Cowboys quarterback and then-CBS NFL game analyst Tony Romo, which resulted in a bidding war, and the winners were Romo, Buck and Aikman.

Romo stayed with CBS, and Buck and Aikman left Fox Sports for ESPN in 2022. The respective multi-year contracts, which were all worth more than $16 million annually, reset the standard for the top analyst teams in major network broadcasting.

ESPN had the pair it wanted; Aikman and Buck were this generation’s version Pat Summerall and John Madden, in more than one way.

How Aikman’s future will change NFL broadcasting

Sports broadcast booths can be like a marriage; most require work. Sometimes they function well on TV but not so well once the camera is turned off. There are egos. There are differences of opinion. There are personalities.

Summerall and Madden were wonderful on air, but off they were dramatically different men. Summerall was more of an extrovert, while Madden kept to a smaller circle. On air, however, they meshed and played off the other in a way that no producer, director, or writer, could create.

For decades, Buck and Aikman’s equally dry sense of humor worked, and there was never the slightest appearance of friction. If there were differences, it never made the rounds.

Since ESPN last month handed Buck a six-year, $108 million extension, it’s now apparent this friendship looked good on camera, but once the red light was off, things were different. For ESPN to give Buck a massive extension and not include Aikman on any of it is a terrible look for Buck.

Aikman has said in other interviews he is not sure what his next move will be, but the No. 1 slot at the familiar places are locked up. Fox Sports has Tom Brady; CBS just promoted J.J. Watt to replace Romo, although that one could have wiggle room.

NBC is not apt to move Cris Collinsworth, although at 67 he is nearing the end of his career. Amazon Prime could potentially move on from Kirk Herbstreit from its Thursday night NFL telecasts.

Aikman has expressed interest in working for an NFL team, and he will have opportunities to do something high profile.

To their credit, both Aikman and Buck are pros on air and the quality of the ESPN MNF broadcasts since this has become public remains the same, which includes the Cowboys at Eagles on Monday night. But the news of this breakup is a distraction, and it will be a point of interest in ESPN’s first ever Super Bowl broadcast.

Aikman has one more Cowboys’ game to call, on Dec. 7 in Seattle, and another two months before his time with the network, and next to Buck, will be over.

All broadcast pairings eventually end, but for Aikman and Buck to finish like this is both needless, and dirty.

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