Joe Buck Q&A: On Eagles-Chiefs, 22 years with Troy Aikman, and covering Taylor Swift (2024)

Each week during the football season, we will interview a different broadcaster. The goal is for readers to gain insight into how NFL and college football broadcasters approach what they do, along with some questions tied to the game or assignment they are charged with that week. Our tenth Q&A subject is “Monday Night Football” play-by-play broadcaster Joe Buck, who will call Monday’s mega-showdown (along with Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge) in Kansas City between the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on ABC, ESPN, ESPN+ and ESPN Deportes.

Previous weeks have featured Fox’sGreg Olsen,Pam Oliver and Jay Glazer; Amazon’s Al Michaels; CBS and Westwood One Audio’s Kevin Harlan; CBS’ Gene Steratore; ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky;NBC’sMelissa Stark; and the NFL Network’s Rich Eisen.

Do you feel you and (Aikman) have gotten better as a broadcast team in your 22nd year together? Or does it just become a plateau and you attempt to maintain a certain level?

Well, I hope we’re getting better. I’m not going to lean into some slogan that’s sitting on somebody’s desk right now, but if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. I do believe that. Honestly, I think we are better. Part of that is (producer) Steve Ackels. I think Troy has grown, and I think Troy and I have grown. I think we’re looking at games differently. I don’t know how to put that into words other than we’re trying to lean into having more fun while also respecting the moment and analyzing what we’re seeing.

So, yeah, I think we are better, and that makes me happy because ESPN put a big bet forward in the middle of the table on the two of us. To be preparing for a Philadelphia-Kansas City game and to know we have a Super Bowl rematch and maybe a Super Bowl preview on ESPN and ABC, I think is exactly why ESPN and (chairman) Jimmy Pitaro and (president) Burke Magnus went out and got us. Whether people think that’s nuts or not, I think the proof is in the game we’re doing this upcoming Monday. The league didn’t have to do that. But it’s appreciated by everybody on our side of the fence.

You and Troy … are legitimate friends. Excluding family, this is one of the longest relationships of your life. It’s lasted longer than most American marriages, basically.

Yeah, longer than both of my marriages. My first (marriage) clocked in at 19 years when it was all said and done. So we have that beat, and this one (his current marriage to ESPN reporter Michelle Beisner-Buck) is coming up on 10 years. It is an extremely important part of my life. Without being corny about it, you have to lean on each other. I am only as good as he is, and vice versa. I don’t think we would be nearly as decent on air if we weren’t legitimately the friends we purport to be.

After 20 years at Fox, once Troy left, I could have easily said, “OK, good luck, love you, man, it’s been 20 great years, go knock it out of the park at ESPN. I’m going to stay here. I’m going to do the World Series for the rest of my life or as long as Fox has it.” But this superseded everything. I want to know who I’m standing next to come football season, and I wanted it to be him. He said the same about me.

So it’s corny and probably people are tired of hearing about it. But it is legitimate, and it is something very special to both of us. We’re about the same age. I had all the respect for him as a player and now here we are as people going through divorces, both being dads of two daughters. We had a lot of the same life experiences at the same time, and that stuff is more important to me than even Monday night’s game. That’s what you hold dear when you take your last breaths. I got to ride this out with somebody that I really respect.

Would you have continued to call NFL games if Troy was not your partner?

Yes. I would have taken it as a challenge. I would have loved to have worked with Greg Olsen. I would have loved to have worked with potentially Tom Brady. But those are great unknowns. I’m in my 50s now. I am leaning more into what I have, and I’m content with what I have in the way of an on-air partnership that I know works. I know by reading Troy’s body language or the inflection in his voice when he’s finished a thought. He can do the same for me. Those are small things that really make a big difference.

This is ancient history by now about Greg, and Greg’s great, and the potential of Brady is off the charts. But I’m happy, and you have to be smart enough to know when you’re in a good place and try to keep it at all costs. We were lucky that it worked out. I think ESPN got what they wanted, Troy and I got what we wanted, and I think Fox got what they wanted.

The Eagles-Chiefs feels like it will give ESPN/ABC viewers a sense of what a Super Bowl could be like on your network. What a massive game. How do you see it?

I totally agree. (Ackels) and I had that conversation this week. Troy and I have done six Super Bowls, we’ve done 20 (conference) championship games, we’ve done big games throughout. This is as big a regular-season game as he and I have ever done in 22 years. I said this with Steve: We have to act like we’ve been there before even if some people on our crew haven’t been. We have to go in ready for whatever is about to happen but not get too hyper and flustered. You just do the game.

He thought it was good we started the season with all the hype of Aaron Rodgers being a Jet and they’re playing the Bills and Damar Hamlin. We were just getting to know each other then. I didn’t know Derek Mobley, our director. I didn’t really know Steve Ackels that well, and certainly in this role. I thought we handled it really well, and we all came out of that feeling good about ourselves with a lot of work to do. Now is when I think that pays off. I think we’ll meet the challenge and do really well.

What are the challenges for you as a broadcaster calling games at Arrowhead?

It’s a great setup because, if you haven’t been there, it’s dug out. The street level is booth level and then the stadium goes down lower and obviously higher. I think that plays into how loud it gets in there. The sound just bounces around like crazy. The tailgating is as good as it gets in the NFL. It’s hard for us to get in to do the game, so you’ve got to leave five hours before the game just to make sure you get in there and you are not sitting in a long line of traffic.

Your crew becomes yet another NFL broadcasting group navigating the intersection of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. How do you see that navigation? I have seen you discuss in the past one of your daughters meeting Taylor Swift.

I have a 27-year-old daughter and a 24-year-old daughter, and my 27-year-old daughter is like, “Dad, if she’s there, do not make any jokes, don’t be sarcastic, just cover it.” She’s right, of course. In my opinion, just trying to force lines in from her songs and all that, it’s been done.

I think the beauty of this is it’s not new. When she showed up the first time and Fox was doing the game and it was a terrible game, a blowout, the (viewership) number went up because she’s there. She moves the needle, and you can’t deny that. This is a business. We’re all in the business of television and making a television show and making it interesting and showing all that we can show and getting the most people to watch. That’s how networks make their money off ad sales. We all get that. But I think because it’s not new and it’s baked in, you can show her. I don’t have to explain anything. We all know the story. Show her being excited and cover the game. It’s pretty easy, I think, from where I sit now, as opposed to a month ago when it was like, “Oh my God, Taylor Swift’s at an NFL game and she’s dating the tight end.” We’re all there already. I don’t think a lot needs to be done. I think you just show her there and her excitement and it’s part of the replay package, and that’s good. And I like that. That’s good for everybody.

Have you found differences between ESPN and Fox Sports when it comes to how they approach on-air talent like yourself?

That’s a hard question. It’s not something that I’ve ever sat around thinking about. It just becomes part of your daily life. At the network level, I think the executives all kind of stay to themselves. Then there’s a point person that I deal with, and only when s— goes crazy do you call the network executive like Jimmy Pitaro. He is my ultimate boss at ESPN. My ultimate boss at Fox was Eric Shanks. I grew up with Shanks. Everybody calls him by his last name. I call him Jimmy, not Pitaro.

Shanks is a guy that I could text and b—- about something, and then it would get changed. Only a year and a half in it at ESPN, I have that to a degree. But there was 28 years of feeling like I had ownership in the joint at Fox. I think this is a good thing (about ESPN) actually: I feel like I’m a bit more reverent and respectful. There are many more layers at ESPN than there are at Fox. I think we all know that. Ackels is wonderful. He has changed my life in a way that I never expected. It has become so much fun going to work every weekend, and it’s because of Steve, his effort level, how he wants to produce, the fun we have as two people that are in their 50s hanging out. Troy would say the same thing.

At Fox, it was like family there. It’s hard to describe, like, here we are, it’s another week. I love those people. (Buck’s MLB producer) Pete Macheska and (his NFL producer) Richie Zyontz I adore and respect. But this is something new to me, and after being somewhere for 28 years and then having to start all over again with the personal stuff, it’s been great, and it’s been infinitely more fun than I ever expected to have at this stage of my career.

Previous Q&As

•Greg Olsen: On Tom Brady and his future at Fox, Jordan Love, Justin Fields and more

•Al Michaels: On criticism, dinner with John Madden, working with Kyle Shanahan

•Kevin Harlan: On his Super Bowl streak, his Buck family bond and the speedy Dolphins

•Pam Oliver: On broadcasting longevity, what her job is like, the joy of Eagles fans and more

•Gene Steratore: On how an NFL rules analyst operates, staying current on rules and more

•Dan Orlovsky: On ESPN, watching every NFL game, and the viral video that started it all

•Melissa Stark: On the art of on-field questions, Eagles fans and Taylor Swift

•Rich Eisen: On Chiefs-Dolphins, doing play-by-play, and an alternate reality at Turner

•Jay Glazer: On his 3,912 phone contacts, how he does his job and battling anxiety

(Top photo: Matt Patterson via AP)

Richard Deitsch is a media reporter for The Athletic. He previously worked for 20 years for Sports Illustrated, where he covered seven Olympic Games, multiple NCAA championships and U.S. Open tennis. Richard also hosts a weekly sports media podcast. Follow Richard on Twitter @richarddeitsch