Troy Aikman Under Fire Over Controversial Tyler Shough Comment During ESPN’s Broadcast of Falcons-Saints
from Essentially NFL and The Pro Football Huddle
If Troy Aikman wasn’t worried about a contract extension, he might just be at the end of Week 4. It turns out that even if you have three Super Bowls, it doesn’t keep fans from calling you out and delivering reality checks. And that’s exactly what happened when Troy Aikman commented on a unique aspect of Tyler Shough’s career that had nothing to do with his ability on the field.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback was in charge of the Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints game, being part of ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast team.
“By the simple fact he’s 27 years old now,” he said during the broadcast. “I’m not sure how you get 7 years of college. I don’t understand college football these days anyway. But I’ve heard of 6 years, I’ve never heard of 7. But he played in all 7 of those years. Obviously, you’ve got some maturity left on the battlefield.”
Aikman referred to Shough’s lengthy college career that started with a puzzling decision. Coming out of Hamilton High School in Chandler, Shough was a four-star prospect with offers from Cal, Arizona State, and Alabama. Yet Shough chose to sign with Oregon, even being aware that he would be Justin Herbert’s backup for at least a couple of seasons.
By 2020, Shough had taken over as the starter, but after a COVID-shortened season, he committed to the transfer portal and became a part of the Texas Tech roster to pursue a starting role and move closer to home. It should have been the change that defined his college career.
While Shough started off strong, a collarbone injury put him out immediately. And that became a pattern. Despite good starts to the season, he would spend weeks on the sideline with an injury. However, the same injuries that derailed his season also meant he could play on for a little longer. Thanks to the medical hardship waiver, he had a few more eligibile seasons. It allowed him to transfer to Louisville for his final college season in 2024, entering the year as a seventh-year senior.
And while some may see it as a little too long to spend in college, especially combined with injuries, it still gave him extra time to develop.
“I think everybody should have a chance to at least get a medical and then a redshirt,” Shough admitted. “I know I benefited from that experience, the maturation process, having to compete multiple years. I feel strongly about that.”
More importantly, as Shough highlighted ahead of the 2025 season, it put him in a unique position to deal with most situations a modern NFL QB faces.
“I think for me and what I’ve been through: I’ve been carted off the field’ I’ve been booed; I’ve been an MVP; I’ve been a starter’ I’ve been a backup to [Justin] Herbert — I’m like, throw some s— at me, you’re not going to faze me if we start off 0-2 or I f—— suck.”
We saw how much Shough meant that when he led the team to four wins on the bounce after starting the season with a 2-10 record. And this season, that has meant a win in the first three games with 917 passing yards and 8 touchdowns.
That’s why, when fans heard Aikman criticise Shough not based on his ability on the field, but on the time he spent in college, they weren’t happy.
One fan kicked off the conversation by saying, “Troy Aikman needs to go. He’s too old and out of touch. Really has no idea about analytics either. Just embarrassing himself at this point.”
What makes this sentiment troubling for Aikman is that it comes alongside the uncertainty of his future working on MNF. Aikman is in the last year of his ESPN contract. He expected the contract extension to arrive by now, but with the network putting those decisions off until after they broadcast the Super Bowl, every bit of criticism could prove costly for him.
And the comments didn’t stop there. Another fan, “Troy aikman has to lead the NFL all time in concussions. It’s so hard to listen to him.”
The criticism around Aikman comes at a time when another former Cowboys QB finds forced out of the broadcast booth: Tony Romo. After his arrest, CBS and Romo parted ways, and while the former QB wants to focus on his health at the time, if Aikman steps away, he could take over. His history of predicting plays and commentary certainly made him an interesting pick, even with his legal troubles. That’s what this fan believes.
“Troy Aikman is insufferable. Can we get Tony Romo in his spot please. I never thought I would be advocating for Tony Romo to have a job in commentating.”
Interestingly, one fan believes there’s a different side to why Aikman is calling out the seven years of eligibility, and it has something to do with Aikman’s personal feelings. “No one cares what Troy Aikman says. Shough got an extra year of graduation. Something Troy Aikman will never have,” a comment read.
The fan could have been referring to some unfinished business in college football. We’re not just talking about him ending his career as the number two career passing leader in UCLA history (at the time).
Back in 2023, Aikman expressed some regret around not beating a particular team. “My biggest disappointment athletically is not having beaten USC while I was at UCLA those two years that I started. As fun and as good as I think my career was at UCLA, I think that — like with NFL quarterbacks the standard is winning the Super Bowl — at UCLA the standard really was leading your team to a Rose Bowl and I failed to do that.”
In any case, whether Aikman’s comments came out of his personal feelings around his years in college or just an offhand comment, the response from fans showed that the remark struck a nerve.