Just like play-by-play announcer Joe Buck doesn't know why Fox Sports let him walk out of his contract to join ESPN as the new voice of 'Monday Night Football' on ESPN, analyst Troy Aikman — Buck's long-time partner — isn't sure either, reports USAToday.
Aikman was the first domino to fall after reports emerged late last month that Aikman, whose contract with Fox had recently expired, would be leaving the network to join ESPN as the lead analyst for 'Monday Night Football' broadcasts.
“I don’t know the answer to that," Aikman said in an episode of the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast that published Monday. "I don’t know that I ever will get the answer to that one. I think through it all, it’s a business. Fox is welcome to do whatever it is they feel is in their best interest as I am, as everybody is, so there’s no hard feelings about anything. I had a great 21 years at Fox. I guess what’s perplexing to me is that I had no conversation with my boss (Fox Sports president Eric Shanks) until he called me to congratulate me on my contract with ESPN.”
ESPN officially announced the hirings of Buck and Aikman Wednesday.
After the Aikman reports about the move to ESPN surfaced, Aikman said he would welcome the chance to work with Buck again at some point in the future, when Buck was still employed by Fox.
While at Fox, Buck and Aikman worked together as the lead broadcast since the 2002 season and called six Super Bowls in that span. At ESPN, Buck and Aikman are expected to call 18 of the 22 NFL games the network will have in the 2022 season.
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