Oct 7, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Recording artist Taylor Swift watches play during the first half of the game between the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images

There’s something about former Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks and Taylor Swift — specifically, referring to her as Travis Kelce’s wife.

During ESPN’s Chiefs-Saints Monday Night Football coverage, Troy Aikman accidentally referred to the pop star as “the missus,” a slip that quickly gained traction online. While Tony Romo had previously done this to be funny — or so he claims — Aikman’s comment seemed more accidental.

The internet predictably jumped on Aikman’s slip-up, and soon after, he addressed the incident during a recent appearance on Barstool Sports’ Pardon My Take podcast. “Was that a big deal?” Aikman asked, clearly bemused by how much attention one sentence received during a three-hour-plus broadcast.

He noted that he woke up the following day to headlines like ‘Aikman knew he was in trouble‘ and expressed disbelief that his comment had already garnered much attention.

“Am I on a tightrope right there?” he asked. “…I’m thinking, ‘Gosh, if this is newsworthy, I mean…’ Really?”

PFT Commenter (Eric Sollenberger) inquired if Aikman was an ordained minister — he is, in fact, not. But he did that to become a bartender in a similar fashion. PFT Commenter asked Aikman if he’d ever seen That Thing You Do! with Tom Hanks. In the movie, the lead singer is mistakenly announced as engaged, leading to the band’s collapse.

So, of course, it stands to reason if Aikman cursed the 5-0 Chiefs.

“You know what, I don’t know if I cursed them or not, but someone actually reached out to me today and said they might actually be engaged, so I might’ve broke the story,” Aikman quipped.

We’ll actually see if he has the inside scoop on their alleged engagement — or not.

[Pardon My Take]

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.