Joe Buck understands the internet news cycle

If anyone understands how the internet news cycle works, it’s Joe Buck.

The ESPN announcer has been the focus of so many news items, viral moments, and aggregations over the years, he’s become astutely aware of how it works, how long it lasts, and what the lasting impact usually is.

He displayed that knowledge Monday night during the MNF game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.

Late in the second quarter with the Vikings trailing the Bears 3-0, Minnesota quarterback Joshua Dobbs threw a near-interception that Chicago defender Jaylon Johnson dropped. Had he held onto it, it’s likely that he could have returned it for a touchdown. This echoed a similar outcome last week when Johnson dropped a would-be pick-six only for the Detroit Lions to use that as an opportunity to win the game on the next play.

ESPN announcer Troy Aikman mentioned the prior backbreaking drop while discussing the latest one, but said that he felt bad even bringing it up, knowing that Johnson might be upset to hear it discussed further.

That’s when Buck jumped in to remind his longtime broadcasting partner that not only is Johnson not watching, but even if he does hear about it later, the impact will be fleeting.

Troy Aikman felt bad about bringing up Jaylon Johnson's dropped INTs.

Joe Buck: "He can't hear you now…he will just hear about it after and be mad and probably throw something online and then you'll hear about it for the rest of the week and then we'll all forget about it." pic.twitter.com/EEO7sdIxFr

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 28, 2023

“He can’t hear you now anyway,” said Buck.

“No, but he’s got family,” responded Aikman.

“He will just hear about it after and be mad and probably throw something online and then you’ll hear about it for the rest of the week and then we’ll all forget about it,” said Buck.

Spoken like someone who has been part of that cycle many, many, many times.

[AA on X, ESPN]