Do Troy Aikman and Jay-Z look alike? Explaining bizarre meme that links former Cowboys QB, rap icon

Joe Rivera

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Do Troy Aikman and Jay-Z look alike? Explaining bizarre meme that links former Cowboys QB, rap icon image

Allow him to reintroduce himself, his name is … Troy.

Troy Aikman is known for a lot of things: College football standout, Hall of Fame quarterback and longtime partner of Joe Buck on "Monday Night Football." While Aikman has certainly produced a blueprint for career success himself, nothing is quite as interesting as the comparison he's gotten to a hip-hop icon.

In the Week 6 "MNF" matchup between the Cowboys and Chargers, another icon was in the building: Rap mogul Jay-Z was taking in the game at SoFi Stadium, and Aikman acknowledged a bit of "inside baseball" internet knowledge that he and 'Hov look alike. 

MORE: How much is Troy Aikman making at ESPN?

"There's a meme that's going around that people think that's my doppelganger," Aikman said on Oct. 16 with a laugh. "How 'bout that?"

Well, if nothing else, we're getting closer to an answer to the age-old question: Have you ever seen Troy Aikman and Jay-Z in the same room together?

Here's what to know about the Jay-Z and Troy Aikman look alike

Do Troy Aikman and Jay-Z look alike?

Well, feast your eyes on the following, and you be the judge:

There are certainly some similarities there: The facial structure is fairly similar, including the chin and the eyes. They both have pretty pronounced foreheads. But, obviously, there's a major, glaring and obvious difference between the two: They both have very different hairstyles.

While it's unclear when and where is the genesis of the Troy Aikman and Jay-Z comparisons, the ever-credible and influential Reddit seems to peg the beginning of this in around 2017.

Recently, Meadowlark Media's Pablo Torre asked Aikman about the meme that has been floating around for some time now:

"Yes, I am aware of that," Aikman said about the comparisons. "A white Jay-Z — there was a meme, it still pops up in my feed from time to time. I don't, I don't know what … I think this was before everything kind of went AI, I don't know what's real and what's not, so I don't know if that was actually an unedited picture of me, but, pretty scary."

Of course, despite sharing some physical similarities, the two come from very different walks of life: Aikman was born in California, while Jay-Z is from Brooklyn, N.Y. Aikman made his bones as an all-time NFL quarterback, while Jay-Z's rise to fame came in the mid-'90s as an N.Y.-based rapper.

The two are similar in age: Aikman was born on Nov. 21, 1966, while Jay-Z was born on Dec. 4, 1969.

That's about where the similarities end, but one thing is certain: There's reasonable doubt to believe they are related.

Joe Rivera

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Joe Rivera is in his seventh year with The Sporting News, handling NFL, MLB and some things pro wrestling. A proud-ish Rutgers University graduate, Rivera combines a new-school flair with an old-school soul. He loves dingers, wrestling, comic books, movies, music and really bad puns. He is also a card-carrying BBWAA member and teaches Multimedia Sports Reporting at his alma mater.

You can find him and tweet him @JoeRiveraSN, if you're into that sort of thing.