Troy Aikman gives interesting take on Joe Buck joining ESPN

NFL broadcaster and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman is making a big move, leaving Fox as the lead color commentator to work at ESPN. He will become one of the voices of Monday Night Football but his play-by-play partner is not yet known.

One of the rumored names to be joining Aikman is Fox’s Joe Buck. The two have been working together for over two decades, calling some of the biggest games the league has had to offer. Now, Aikman is hoping Buck will make a similar move he did and joining the Monday Night Football crew.

On Monday, Aikman not only discussed the possibility but also how good of friends the duo are. He said they have been through a lot both professionally and personally and knows it’s a unique situation.

“Well, we have a great friendship, we really do,” Aikman said. “We’ve been through a lot, we’ve been through a lot in our profession. We’ve also been through a lot in our personal lives. We’ve kind of paralleled a lot of things in our personal lives as well and we’ve helped each other get through a lot of that. I know that’s not the norm. I think a lot of partners get along but to be as good of friends as we are — he truly is one of my best friends. There’s probably more that could be said and I think maybe it will at the right time but there has been some disappointment on how maybe that was taken for granted by some. He’s been a fantastic partner, in my opinion he’s the best in the business, and yeah, I’d love nothing more than to continue to work with him.”

From Buck’s perspective, there is a lot more than just football at stake with a possible switch over to the World Wide Leader. He currently is the voice of the World Series as well, calling the annual Fall Classic since the mid-1990s. Rotating between football and baseball, sometimes multiple times in a week, has become normal for Buck but a move to ESPN could see him have the NFL be his sole focus.

The two broadcasters would be replacing a Monday Night Football booth that consists of Steve Leevy, Brian Griese, and Louis Riddick. Getting Aikman and Buck to call games would instantly help the NFL bring some of the big game-type feeling back to the prime time slot.