Troy Aikman urges NFL to get calls right amid gambling partnerships: ‘We owe it to the fans’

Troy Aikman believes the NFL’s gambling partnerships makes it more important than ever to get calls right on the field.

Aikman became somewhat of a folk hero for criticizing the officiating while calling the Kansas City Chiefs-Houston Texans matchup alongside Joe Buck during the divisional round of the NFL playoffs for ESPN. After watching Mahomes benefit from two iffy calls, Aikman seemed infuriated and insisted the NFL had to “address it in the offseason.”

It’s worth noting, the NFL has since backed up both calls that were criticized by Aikman and many others. Aikman joined the latest episode of Jimmy Traina’s Sports Illustrated Media Podcast and said he doesn’t think he rips the officials, despite fans tagging him with that reputation.

“I know the officials have a tough job,” Aikman said. “I mean, the scrutiny that they’re under. As we’ve gotten more advanced with instant replay, those guys, it seems, have become more and more scrutinized. And the game has not become less controversial, the game has become more controversial. I just think that we’re at a point that this has tipped a little bit because the league is partners with a number of these gambling services.

“Here you are promoting gambling, people are gambling more than they ever have before and those types of calls – there’s a lot at stake regardless – but especially when you’re considering there’s a lot of money that’s changing hands with these calls as well, I think that we owe it to the fans that we get it right and I think we’re at a point in time where we can. We can get it more right. So that was really my position in just trying to lean on the NFL and say, ‘Hey, we gotta fix this. We gotta address it in the offseason.’”

Aikman noted that he believes it’s his job to acknowledge when he disagrees with a call, but doesn’t think he’s ever reckless with his commentary.

The NFL certainly has an officiating problem. That problem is the fact that they’re not batting a thousand on every call. Whether more replay is the answer can be debated. But Aikman is correct in noting the NFL’s betting interests puts the league and officials under more scrutiny, making it more important than ever to keep conspiracies at bay by getting calls right.