Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman said something about women in the NFL that got people talking.
When the NFL was debating quarterback safety guidelines, Aikman suggested that they should “take the dresses off,” which sparked an uproar online. Aikman had to quickly respond to the controversy.
When there was a controversial referee call during the Monday Night Football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders, Aikman made the off-the-cuff statement.
“My hope is the competition committee looks at this during the set of meetings and, you know, we take the dresses off,” said Aikman.
Numerous social media critics immediately blasted the former quarterback-turned-announcer, accusing him of being sexist and misogynistic. Aikman had to respond with a statement expressing his apology after the video of the statement went viral on social media.
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 talkpic.twitter.com/lHVhv6WdEv
— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) October 11, 2022
Hey @TroyAikman
We women, who wear DRESSES give birth to children so you can fuck off with your comment about taking the “dresses off.” We’re tougher than your ass ever was. @ESPNNFL
— mma (@MRodAviles) October 11, 2022
Listen, I don’t love the body weight roughing the passer call either, but Troy Aikman saying “take the dresses off” is hella antiquated and dumb.
Football men, please stop doing this.
— Justin Brown-Woods (@jbrownwoods) October 11, 2022
According to WOKV-TV, he claimed that his remarks on 96.7 the Ticket were stupid and that he shouldn’t have made them.
“Just dumb remarks on my part,” he added.
He addressed the real controversy surrounding the play involving defensive tackle Chris Jones after giving a succinct reply. He received a penalty for knocking quarterback Derek Carr to the ground and snatching the football from his grasp.
“I do think we’re, as I said, I think we’re over-officiating it. But these are the rules,” Aikman said. “I mean, as the rule reads and if you watch that in real time, it would be hard to look at that play with Chris Jones in our game and not feel like he landed on the quarterback with his body weight, you know?”
The referee’s decision resulted in a big win for the Raiders, who were able to keep the ball from going to the Chiefs. Before the half, they added a field goal. The Raiders were defeated by the Chiefs by a score of 29 to 30 notwithstanding the call.
Many came to Aikman’s defense as well:
To anyone offended by Troy Aikman last night, you should 1) take your dress off 2) stop being misogynistic by assuming he was talking about women. Men can wear dresses as well these days I'm told. Please stop assuming others gender. It's offensive. #takethedressesoff
— WayneUGADawgs (@wayne_uga) October 11, 2022
@TroyAikman you didn't have to apologize. I'm with @PlanetTyrus on this one. 💃🏻 pic.twitter.com/xq4aL42ehN
— patrosca (@pmoli7) October 15, 2022
The outrage coming from Troy Aikman’s comment is so stupid. People are so soft, and that was his point! Women offended by this need some big girl panties. Men offended…well, I guess you need them, too. Bunch of sissies!
— 🐾BullyBelleChelle🐾 (@bullybelleTN) October 11, 2022