On March 11th Joe Buck and Troy Aikman echoed their mutual admiration for each other when Joe Buck told Aikman the news that they would be broadcast partners again only this time it would be on ESPN. Aikman shared this cool moment to The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch in a 45 minute interview. “We told each other how much we valued each other, and it was obvious to him that I wanted to continue to work with him. It was obvious to me that he wanted to continue to work with me.” The duo will be working together for at least the next 5 seasons. 

Aikman went into the offseason thinking he was going to ultimately still be with Fox or do a split schedule with new NFL broadcast partner Amazon and Fox. “There were conversations that were taking place with both Fox and Amazon trying to figure out — OK, how do we (get) this to where it works? Then ESPN got involved. Conversations were going on with Amazon during the football season. ESPN came into the picture very late, like right around the Super Bowl. I will say Amazon was amazing, great to work with. They’re going to be an awesome partner for the NFL. … But the attraction for ESPN was Monday Night Football. That’s a big deal in itself. Then there’s the opportunity to continue to do playoff games and still be in the Super Bowl rotation. The thought of no longer doing those games would have been disappointing.”

Aikman’s break-up with Fox was a little contentious due to differences in what the market rate is for Number 1 NFL analysts. ESPN felt Aikman was worth Tony Romo and CBS money. 

Aikman claims he never had a conversation with Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks about a new contract, Shanks only called Aikman to congratulate him on the deal with ESPN..

Aikman does say that there are no hard feelings with Fox Executives “I’m not upset with anybody,” Aikman said. “I’m not upset with Shanks, for that matter. I’ve kind of gotten over any grudges I’ve ever had in my life. I leave this with a lot of great feelings. I got amazing friendships and I still think of Shanks as a friend. Maybe someday he’ll have the conversation with me.

Aikman and Buck’s ESPN debut can first be heard in Week 1 on September 12th.