Troy Aikman Slams NFL’s Pushback Against Buck: ‘Joe Isn’t Saying Anything That He Hasn’t Been Told’
ESPN’s Troy Aikman defended TV partner Joe Buck from the NFL’s pushback regarding Buck’s reporting that the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals had originally been told to resume play following Bills safety Damar Hamlin’s collapse.
Hamlin went into cardiac arrest after he tackled Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins. Hamlin received CPR on the field before he was rushed to a local hospital. On ESPN’s airwaves, Buck repeatedly stated that the teams would have five minutes to warm up before play resumed. The game did not restart and was postponed and then later canceled by the NFL. The NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, denied Buck’s claim.
“Five-minute warmup never crossed my mind, personally,” Vincent said. “I was the one that was communicated with the Commissioner. We never, frankly, it never crossed our mind to talk about warming up to resume play. That’s ridiculous. That’s insensitive, and that’s not a place that we should ever be in.”
On Thursday, Aikman was a guest on the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina, and the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback stood by his partner’s reporting. Traina said he also sided with Buck and added, “Joe Buck is not making that up under any circumstances.”
“I think your assessment of it is accurate,” Aikman said. “Whether that information was initially given to John Parry [ESPN’s rules analyst] or whether that information was initially given to Joe Buck — it’s my understanding that information was given to John — then John passed that along.”
“But whether it was that information or any other information, I can assure you that Joe is not saying anything that he hasn’t been told. It just doesn’t work that way,” Aikman added.
Aikman explained that he does not read much news during the week, so he was unaware of the back-and-forth Buck had with the NFL, but he felt the war of words between the two was pointless.
“To me, none of that is relevant,” Aikman continued. “Who cares? I don’t know that anyone cares. What I do care about, and what people care about, is that Damar Hamlin’s at home right now in Buffalo, and he’s resting comfortably, and he’s doing well and what appears to be a full recovery on its way.”
“That’s what matters,” Aikman said. “And that sounds cliché, but it really is. I don’t think anyone’s walking around going, ‘I wonder where that information came from.'”
Traina informed the ESPN color commentator that the NFL fought profusely to clear their name of the five-minute warmup report.
“The league are the ones who have pushed that narrative for some reason,” Traina added.
Buck also defended himself against the NFL and said, “If what I said on national TV with the eyes of the world watching was wrong in the view of the league, I would’ve been corrected, immediately.”
“We were on the air for another 40 minutes, and no one corrected the idea the game would resume. No one,” Buck emphasized.
Watch above via Sports Illustrated Media Podcast.
