Troy Aikman Comes Out Guns Blazin' After Getting Dragged into the Sean McVay/Jared Goff Divorce

I've always believed that a sort of professional guild exists among quarterbacks. One that prevents retired QBs from ever expressing a negative thought about a contemporary one, no matter how far below average they are or how objectively awful they're playing. I say this as someone with a clear recall of the where I was and what I was doing the night I heard Ron Jaworski unironically say, "I'm excited to see Tyler Palko!" And who lost count of how many euphemisms ex-QB analysts had for Brett Favre throwing playoff games away with boneheaded decisions. So I'll just go with, "He's just trying to make something happen!" It's like the way former Presidents would never criticize a sitting President. Which is to say, didn't used to. But those days are gone for good.

Well if there's a current quarterback who hasn't gotten that professional courtesy from one of his retired union brothers, it's Jared Goff. And the guy who was never shy about giving him mountains of salt has been Troy Aikman:

And writing about Goff's departure from the Rams, NFL.com's Michael Silver says he thinks he knows where Aikman was getting all that bad gas:

Routinely trashed this season on FOX telecasts, specifically those with Troy Aikman as the lead analyst, Goff could reasonably assume that McVay's words about his quarterback's play in network production meetings were far from glowing.

And it didn't take long for Aikman to fire back with more rounds than he ever shot at Goff. Responding to Silver on Extra Mustard today he said:

“Unlike Michael Silver, I strive to be fair and balanced and do not have an agenda when doing my job,” said Aikman. “The record will show that I have been a strong supporter of Jared Goff’s over the years. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Rams and Jared Goff, he did not perform at his best in the games that I broadcasted this season and I’m confident Jared would be the first to agree.”

I appreciate Aikman going straight for the ad hominem jugular on this one. Any time to media figures feud publicly and it gets personal, that's a war we all win. But still, it has to be pointed out that this is not a denial. If McVay never trashed his QB in the production meetings, Aikman would say that, wouldn't he? The fact he just shot the messenger tells me Silver is not wrong. But Aikman is also a pro. So he respect the sanctity of this honorable American institution. A coach takes time out of his busy week to sit down with the league's beloved broadcast partners so the on air crew can sound like they know what they're talking about. So that Cris Collinsworth can start 10 sentences a game with "I gotta tell ya, we spoke to Andy Reid …" and Tony Romo knows when to do his "Jiiiiimmmmmm …" thing. That inside info is a sacred trust. What happens in the meeting stays in the meeting. 

At least it does with the best in the business. But sometimes that trust is broken for the sake of headlines.

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Those Monday Night Football meetings with Belichick next season are going to be absolute ragers, I can promise you.

But Aikman won't play that game. So I think we can safely assume that Sean McVay had no use for Goff all through the season. He'd reached the limit of his patience and talked shit about him to the Fox crews every chance he got. Their comments were a reflection of his. No matter how much Troy didn't want to get dragged into this messy divorce, he became a part of it the minute he became a shoulder for one of the spouses to cry on. And like anyone who does, he's now a part of the proceedings. It's unavoidable. 

And all the rest of us can do is hope that Silver fires back and this becomes a full on sports media flame war. Your move, NFL.com.