Chris Russo credits Troy Aikman and Joe Buck for bringing Super Bowl to ESPN

Troy Aikman won three Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, but Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo also believes he and Joe Buck deserve credit for bringing one to ESPN.

During his Mad Dog Unleashed radio show on SiriusXM earlier this week, Russo was discussing Tony Romo’s future with CBS, guessing the network would love to use his recent arrest as cause to absolve themselves from the rest of the 10-year, $180 million contract he signed in 2020. And if they do get out from under Romo’s contract, Russo believes the era of networks paying analysts tens of millions of dollars might be over.

“Now listen, Aikman and Buck got a fortune,” Russo admitted. “But they also brought a Super Bowl to ESPN, because I don’t know if they would have gotten a Super Bowl unless they had those guys because that’s how important they are, Aikman and Buck…so a little different for them. But to pay the top guys $17 million to do the games, we’re gonna watch the games no matter what. Not one announcer – and that includes Madden – if you gave Madden a lousy game, you’re not gonna watch it…nobody is watching these games to see the announcers.”

The stars aligned for Romo to land a $180 million contract from CBS thanks in part to ESPN driving the price up as they vied for his services on Monday Night Football. But falling short in the Romo sweepstakes six years ago turned out to be a great thing for ESPN. Because while CBS was left with what eventually became a Romo problem, ESPN had the flexibility to eventually pluck Buck and Aikman from Fox two years later.

ESPN undoubtedly got the better option for Monday Night Football by landing Buck and Aikman instead of Romo, but the Super Bowl was coming their way regardless. ESPN and ABC got back into the Super Bowl rotation when they signed their 10-year rights agreement with the NFL in 2021. Buck and Aikman didn’t move over from Fox until 2022.

Buck recently echoed Russo’s sentiment that fans tune into an NFL broadcast for the game, not the announcers. But the addition of Buck and Aikman immediately made Monday Night Football feel big again. And even if they’re not the reason ESPN/ABC will broadcast Super Bowl LXI this season, there are NFL fans who are excited to see Buck and Aikman call their first Super Bowl since 2020.

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