Former NFL quarterback Troy Aikman sparked backlash following a comment he made during the “Monday Night Football” broadcast.
Aikman made the remark during a matchup between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders.
While commenting on a roughing the passer call, Aikman said, “My hope is the competition committee looks at this in the next set of meetings and, you know, we take the dresses off.”
Several Twitter users expressed their disappointment with Aikman’s assessment of the call.
Sportswriter for Dead Spin Chuck Modi tweeted, “Troy Aikman really needs to find a non-misogynistic way to critique the call besides ‘take the dresses off’. And I say this as someone who heard this misogyny normalized by coaches as a kid & even participated myself. Way past time to end such sports talk.”
Troy Aikman really needs to find a non-misogynistic way to critique the call besides “take the dresses off”.
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) October 11, 2022
And I say this as someone who heard this misogyny normalized by coaches as a kid & even participated myself. Way past time to end such sports talkpic.twitter.com/lHVhv6WdEv
Another tweet reads, “Troy aikman’s ‘take the dresses off’ comment tonight, the implication being that some rules are ‘too girly’. mans a whole caveman.”
troy aikman’s “take the dresses off”comment tonight, the implication being that some rules are ‘too girly’. mans a whole caveman. pic.twitter.com/TOTBxTot3m
— míchael (@MikeTaddow) October 11, 2022
One user asked, “Did Troy Aikman really just say what I think he said? Did he really just say that it’s time for the league to ‘take the dresses off’?”
The tweet continues, “The 60’s called, they want their chauvinist back. Seriously [ESPN] do better than that crap.”
Did Troy Aikman really just say what I think he said?
— Jason Page (@TheBackPage) October 11, 2022
Did he really just say that it's time for the league to"take the dresses off"? The 60's called, they want their chauvinist back.
Seriously @ESPN… do better than that crap.#MNF
Check out more reactions below:
In full agreement that the call against Chris Jones was BS, but did Troy Aikman just say that he hopes the competition committee “takes their dresses off?” As in trying to demean them by calling them women? Is he actually serious?
— Arielle Orsuto (@ArielleOrsuto) October 11, 2022
Jesus. #TroyAikman had his toughness constantly questioned and his career was ended by a concussion. You'd think he'd be more sensitive here.
— John Rocha aka The Outlaw Nation (@TheRochaSays) October 11, 2022
Women who play sports are tough as f'ing nails.
Old men defaulting to sexist stereotypes is just so dumb now. It's a willful ignorance. https://t.co/oqenFJhwXC
The competition committee “needs to take the dresses off”?? Aren’t we past using things associated with women as a pejorative? C’mon, Troy Aikman ?
— Paola Boivin (@PaolaBoivin) October 11, 2022
Troy Aikman on Monday Night Football: “I hope the competition committee looks at this at the next #NFL meeting, and we take the dresses off.”
— Rachel Bachman (@Bachscore) October 11, 2022
“Dresses:” https://t.co/Gneu9Ckd8D
A truly awful call, but let’s not overlook Troy Aikman’s sexist comment: “My hope is the competition committee looks at this in the next set of meetings, and we take the dresses off.”
— Rachel Schallom Lobdell (@rschallom) October 11, 2022
CBS Sports explained the call Aikman was referring to was the moment during the game when “Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones broke a tackle and found his way to the Raiders’ Derek Carr, sacking the quarterback and taking the ball from him all in one swift movement. Jones secured the ball as he went down, taking Carr to the ground with him.”
The outlet mentioned an explanation from referee Carl Cheffers.
“[Carr] gets passing protection until he can defend himself,” Cheffers said.
He added, “Just as if he had thrown the ball, he still gets protection. … That extends until he’s no longer in control of the ball.”
The roughing the passer call reversed the fumble and resulted in a Raiders first down.
The Chiefs ended up winning the game over the Raiders 30-29.
