ESPN’s Troy Aikman is facing backlash after making a sexist comment about “taking off his clothes” after the controversial Roughing the Passer call during the Chiefs’ win over the Raiders
- The play-by-play announcer spoke the passerby call through a dubious rougher
- Chiefs’ Chris Jones fired Raiders QB Derek Carr before landing on him
- Jones was tagged after the game and nearly cost Kansas their 30-29 comeback win
- “I hope that in the next few meetings the competition committee will take care of it and we’ll take off our clothes,” Aikman said live on air
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Troy Aikman has found himself in hot water on social media after a controversial comment he made during the nationwide broadcast of the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs game.
ESPN’s play-by-play announcer Monday night spoke about a dubious rougher the passer call in the second quarter with Joe Buck.
Chiefs defensive linesman Chris Jones fired Raiders quarterback Derek Carr before landing on him and was tagged shortly after the game.
Troy Aikman: “My hope is this [NFL] The competition committee will deal with this in the next few meetings and, you know, we’re taking off our clothes.” pic.twitter.com/5DqdLJ8Ccx
— Terrible announcement (@awfulannouncing) October 11, 2022
Las Vegas Raiders’ Derek Carr is fired by Kansas City Chiefs’ Chris Jones in the second quarter
Troy Aikman, pictured here in September 2021, was blasted on Twitter following his controversial comment on ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” coverage.
“I hope that in the next few meetings the competition committee will take care of it and we’ll take off our clothes,” Aikman told his colleague, emphasizing the NFL’s handling of defenders who are penalized for attacking quarterbacks.
Regardless of the controversy behind the call — considering it came a day after a similar decision that saw Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett penalized for a sack on Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady — some NFL fans called out Aikman on Twitter because of its “sexist” euphemism.
“Troy Aikman really needs to find a non misogynist way to criticize the call other than ‘take off your clothes,'” one user tweeted.
“And I say that as someone who, as a kid, heard this misogyny being normalized by coaches, and even participated in it myself. It’s way too late to end sports talk like this,” he added.
‘Did Troy Aikman really just say what I think he said? Did he really just say it’s time for the league to “take the clothes off”?” a radio show host wrote online. “The 60s called, they want their chauvinist back. Seriously @ESPN… do it better than the c**p.’
“I don’t feel like ‘take off your clothes’ is the euphemism ESPN wants from Troy Aikman when he’s criticizing a weak, harsh passerby call,” shared another user.
NFL fans tweeted that the play-by-play announcer was “misogynistic” and “chauvinistic.”
“Catching up MNF to NF+ and Troy Aikman is driving me insane. Not just with the infamous dress comment; But to call quarterback protection “ridiculous” given what was done to Tagovailoa (twice in two straight games) is odd,” another person tweeted.
“I have to say Troy Aikman, a guy whose career ended prematurely due to multiple concussions and said the league needs to take the dress off or whatever: safety is [chef emoji] [kiss emoji]. I don’t care how bad the rough calls were,” one user said, referring to the commenter’s decision to retire after playing 12 years for the Dallas Cowboys.
“Oh boy, Troy,” responded a Chicago sports columnist on Twitter. ‘Aikman says on MNF what coaches say (or used to say) all the time – that is, complaining about roughness is a female ‘clothes’ thing.’
“Troy Aikman’s clothing commentary on MNF was transphobic and cringeworthy. Make it better,” wrote another Twitter user.
Some other fans questioned the former Cowboys QB’s comment, tying it to a similar reason why he retired in 2000, while one user called Aikman’s remark “transphobic.”
Aikman has yet to speak publicly about the backlash. The questionable call against Jones — the second in two days — nearly cost Kansas City its 30-29 comeback win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Chiefs had just scored to reduce their lead to 17-7 when Jones pulled out Raiders quarterback Derek Carr from behind just before halftime. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle landed on Carr while he also found the ball — replays showed it was clearly loose and Jones recovered clean — but umpire Carl Cheffers threw a flag for roughing up the passer.
“The quarterback is in the bag and he’s in a passing stance. He gets full protection in all aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing stance,” Cheffers told a pool reporter after the game.
“My verdict was that the defender landed on top of him with his full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled at full body weight.’