Troy Aikman faces backlash after sexist 'take the dresses off comment' on Monday Night Football

Troy Aikman has found himself in hot water over on social media following a controversial comment he made during the national broadcast of the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs game.

ESPN’s Monday Night Football play-by-play announcer was talking about a dubious rougher the passer call in the second quarter with Joe Buck. 

Chiefs defensive linesman Chris Jones sacked Raiders quarterback Derek Carr before landing on top of him and was flagged soon after the play.

‘My hope is the competition committee looks at this in the next set of meetings and, you know, we take the dresses off,’ Aikman told his colleague, emphasizing the NFL’s handling of defenders getting penalized for tackling quarterbacks.

Regardless of the controversy behind the call – considering that it happened a day after a similar decision saw Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett be penalized for a sack on Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady – some NFL fans called out Aikman on Twitter for his ‘sexist’ euphemism.

‘Troy Aikman really needs to find a non-misogynistic way to critique the call besides ”take the dresses off,”’ one user tweeted. 

‘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,’ he added.

‘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”?,’ a radio show-host wrote online. ‘The 60’s called, they want their chauvinist back. Seriously @ESPN… do better than that c**p.’ 

‘I don’t feel like ”take the dresses off” is the euphemism ESPN wants Troy Aikman to use when criticizing a weak roughing the passer call,’ another user shared. 

‘Catching up on MNF on NF+, and Troy Aikman is driving me nuts. Not just with the infamous dress comment; but calling the protection of quarterbacks ”ridiculous” in the face of what was done to Tagovailoa (twice, in two consecutive games) is weird,’ a different individual tweeted. 

‘Gotta say, troy aikman, a guy whose career ended early due to multiple concussions saying the league needs to take off the dress or whatever re: safety, is [chef emoji] [kiss emoji]. I don’t care how bad the roughing calls have been,’ a user said, referring to the commentator’s decision to retire after playing 12 years for the Dallas Cowboys.

‘Oh boy, Troy,’ a Chicago sports columnist reacted on Twitter. ‘Aikman says on MNF what coaches say (or used to say) all the time – that is, complaining about roughness is a female ”dress” thing.’ 

‘Troy Aikman’s dress comment on MNF was transphobic and cringe worthy. Do better,’ a different Twitter user wrote. 

Aikman has not yet publicly spoken about the backlash. The questionable call against Jones — the second in two days — nearly cost Kansas City in its 30-29 comeback victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Chiefs had just scored to trim their deficit to 17-7 when Jones stripped Raiders quarterback Derek Carr from behind just before halftime. The Pro Bowl defensive tackle landed on Carr while also coming up with the ball — replays showed it was clearly loose and that Jones cleanly recovered — but referee Carl Cheffers threw a flag for roughing the passer.

‘The quarterback is in the pocket and he’s in a passing posture. He gets full protection of all the aspects of what we give the quarterback in a passing posture,’ Cheffers told a pool reporter after the game. 

‘My ruling was the defender landed on him with full body weight. The quarterback is protected from being tackled with full body weight.’