Troy Aikman gets choked up during emotional "Monday Night Football" tribute

ESPN color commentator Troy Aikman become visibly emotional during the network’s Week 7 “Monday Night Football” broadcast when discussing the recent death of David Moulton.

Moulton – a sports radio personality who worked as Aikman’s “right-hand man in the booth for all these years of NFL coverage,” as Aikman’s long-time play-by-play partner Joe Buck detailed – died after years-long battle with stage four renal cell cancer, his wife announced on Saturday, Oct. 24.

The ESPN booth paid tribute to Moulton during the third quarter of the Dallas Cowboys vs. Philadelphia Eagles game, playing a clip from a 2022 game during which Moulton dressed as Sully from Monsters Inc. while in the booth.

Buck went on to pay tribute to Moulton’s career, saying everyone “loved him” while also crediting him for being “brilliant and just effortless with the way he would give us information.”

Buck also said Moulton “will not be replaced in this booth,” which led Aikman to get choked up.

“No he will not,” Aikman responded to Buck’s statement.

“He was a fighter right up until the end, and… uh, sorry,” Aikman added, with his voice breaking. “I was just going to say, he left a hole in a lot of people’s hearts. Just a good man.”

Troy Aikman Getting Emotional In The Booth Talking About David Moulton.

He Will Be Missed 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/v3ByxDsnZ9

— SM Highlights (@SMHighlights1) October 27, 2026

Aikman also posted a tribute to Moulton on Instagram following his death. The post included a photo of the two together and a caption that read, in part:

“David was loyal, dependable and a warrior until the very end. He deserved better. My heart breaks for his family and all who loved him. I’m grateful for the years we shared and will miss him deeply.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Troy Aikman gets choked up during emotional “Monday Night Football” tribute