Troy Aikman responded to a controversial call with one of his own.
During the second quarter of Monday night’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders, Chris Jones got flagged for a roughing the passer penalty that left viewers fuming. While Aikman was far from the only person to criticize the officiating, he expressed his displeasure poorly.
“My hope is the competition committee looks at this at the next set of meetings, and we take the dresses off,” Aikman said.
Fans were disappointed by Aikman using misogynistic phrasing, which wasn’t necessary to make the point that defenders now have little recourse to tackle a quarterback legally.
One fan summed up the displeasure over Aikman’s comments well.
“Hey @NFL
@espn
help me understand what @TroyAikman
is implying? Who is wearing dresses here? Does that mean weakness? My wife is the strongest woman I know. My daughters are pretty strong too.”
Using femininity as an insult is a lazy and unhelpful way of discussing how the NFL can improve player safety while protecting the game’s sanctity.
Just like Aikman wants the NFL to reassess its rules that have hurt the product in Week 5, fans want Aikman to reconsider the impact of his words to improve moving forward.