Despite his long-running feud with Skip Bayless, NFL analyst Troy Aikman has signed a three-year contract extension with Fox Sports, sources tell Sporting News.
The Pro Football Hall of Famer will continue to work with play-play-announcer Joe Buck and sideline reporter Erin Andrews on Fox's No. 1 NFL announce team. The trio are slated to call Super Bowl LI from Houston's NRG Stadium on Feb. 5, 2017. It will be the 49-year old Aikman's fifth Super Bowl telecast for Fox.
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A Fox Sports representative declined to comment on Aikman, who during his 15-year sports TV career has become one of the most respected analysts in the business..
The feud between Aikman and Bayless dates to Bayless' 1996 book "Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth about the 'Win or Else' Dallas Cowboys."
In the tell-all, Bayless addressed unsubstantiated speculation Aikman was gay. Those rumors were allegedly circulated by cronies of former Cowboys coach Barry Switzer.
That led to a now-20-year cold war between Aikman, the father of three daughters, and Bayless, ex-ringmaster of ESPN2's "First Take."
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Things came to a head when new Fox Sports 1 programming czar Jamie Horowitz successfully raided ESPN to recruit Bayless to headline the new "Undisputed" morning show (9:30-noon ET).
Frustrated that his nemesis was becoming his Fox colleague, Aikman sounded off to Sports Illustrated media columnist Richard Deitsch.
“To say I’m disappointed in the hiring of Skip Bayless would be an enormous understatement,” Aikman said. “Clearly, [Fox Sports president of national networks] Jamie Horowitz and I have a difference of opinion when it comes to building a successful organization. I believe success is achieved by acquiring and developing talented, respected and credible individuals, none of which applies to Skip Bayless."
Deitsch also alluded to Aikman's contract situation in his piece:
"Aikman has a number of years left on his Fox Sports contract (and he opted to stay with Fox after Bayless was signed, which is a point Bayless loyalists would make) so it bears watching how Shanks (who is well liked by on-air talent) navigates any intersection between Aikman and Bayless, as well as those Fox Sports staffers (and Aikman has supporters all over the company) upset by what they see as a public slap in the face of one of Fox’s best talents."
("Shanks" is Eric Shanks, president, COO and executive producer of Fox Sports.)
Aikman, who led the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles, initially joined Fox for the 2001 season. He first worked with play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton and former Cowboys teammate Daryl Johnston.
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After only one season on the air, Aikman was promoted to Fox's No. 1 team with Buck and Cris Collinsworth. He took over as lead analyst for Fox's top NFL games in 2005.
Look, I wasn't crazy about Aikman early in his career. I thought he was too dry, too clinical. But he kept working. Nobody is better now at spoting a play before it happens than Aikman.
Most would say Aikman and Collinsworth, now with NBC's "Sunday Night Football," are the two best NFL game analysts, ahead of Phil Simms of CBS Sports and Jon Gruden of ESPN. Simms seems to be the analyst people like to hate on Twitter.
During an SN poll of media heavyweights in January, Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman, Newsday's Neil Best and Awful Announcing's Ken Fang thought Aikman was No. 1.
Deitsch had Aikman tied with Collinsworth.
“I really think Aikman has become one of the best because he's become one of the most honest. He doesn't hold back. He tells the truth," said Freeman. "That's all you want. I'd say very similar to Collinsworth."
