Troy Aikman's telestrator malfunctioned Monday, highlighting the back judge 30 yards off the line of scrimmage instead of a blitzing safety. Photo Credit: ABC Photo Credit: ABC
By Arthur Weinstein on

As someone probably once said, an NFL analyst is only as good as his telestrator. And Troy Aikman’s telestrator really let him down on Monday Night Football.

Midway through the second quarter of the Minnesota Vikings-Chicago Bears game, the ESPN analyst talked about the Vikings pass rush on the previous play. He tried to use his telestrator to highlight Vikings safety Josh Metellus, who blitzed on the play.

Only the telestrator had different ideas. It inexplicably highlighted the back judge standing almost 30 yards behind the line of scrimmage.

“Well, they’re going to bring Metellus, in the middle,” Aikman said. Noticing the errant telestrator, he continued without skipping a beat, “Wherever he is, right?”

Aikman played quarterback for 12 seasons in the NFL and peered across the line of scrimmage at countless safeties ready to blitz him. He can surely tell a safety from the back judge. So we’re not sure what happened there. A malfunction? Did Aikman’s telestrator grip falter?

Fans did not miss the whiff.


Aikman wasn’t the only analyst in Week 15 to misidentify someone. Prime Video’s Kirk Herbstreit misidentified San Francisco 49ers star Trent Williams on the sideline in the Thursday Night Football game.

Also, this minor snafu pales in comparison to Aikman’s most famous telestrator incident, which involved broadcasting legend John Madden in a Dallas Cowboys game many years ago.


[ESPN]

About Arthur Weinstein

Arthur spends his free time traveling around the U.S. to sporting events, state and national parks, and in search of great restaurants off the beaten path.

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