Troy Aikman on what makes a great NFL analyst

For a job that gets evaluated almost solely on what someone says, Troy Aikman thinks the actual skill that separates good NFL analysts from bad ones is knowing when to stop talking.

“Rule number one for an analyst is you can’t talk over the snap,” Aikman said on a recent appearance of Your Dark Companion with Mike Rhyner. “Depending on how long the play-by-play guy talks, you have a small window of time to try to say whatever it is you were going to say and be done before the snap of the next play. That’s never been hard for me, but I think for some it is, and that’s what stood out to Ed Goren, where he thought, hey, this guy might have a chance, that he can say something that’s somewhat impactful and do it in a short amount of time.”

If brevity helped convince Goren that Aikman belonged in the booth, it’s also become the standard Aikman uses to judge the craft itself.

“You’ve got to be concise,” Aikman said of the broader skill Goren noticed. “I think you’ve got to be able to say things and get it out and have it make sense.”

Timing alone doesn’t make an analyst good, according to Aikman. What he does with that small window matters just as much, since his job — at least in his view — is to stay out of the way of the thing people actually turned in to Monday Night Football to watch.

“I think the viewer wants to watch the game,” Aikman said. “They have their team, they’re watching it, and if the guys in the booth can honor the people that are playing the game and not make it about themselves, then I think it becomes a good experience for the viewer. And at the end of the day, that’s what I think my job is, and I think that’s what every analyst’s job is.”

That restraint has never meant imitation, though, as Aikman cited his own style as proof there’s no singular correct approach to the job.

“My approach, obviously, because of my personality, is far different than how John Madden would call a game, or how others would call a game, and that’s fine,” Aikman said. “I just think you’ve got to be authentic, and people can see through it if you’re not.”

There is no universal formula for what makes a good NFL analyst. Madden’s delivery bore little resemblance to Aikman’s, and today’s booths span an equally wide range of temperaments and approaches. But if Aikman holds one genuinely non-negotiable principle, it’s that the best analysts understand their place in the hierarchy. The audience tuned in for the football, not to hear the booth compete with it for attention.