Joe Buck is leaving FOX and is expected to join longtime broadcasting partner Troy Aikman in the new ESPN Monday Night Football booth.
ESPN went for broke, as the undefeated was able to pry the No. 1 NFL team on FOX this offseason, first with getting Troy Aikman to Monday Night Football, and now Joe Buck.
Andrew Marchand of The New York Post reports Buck is expected to leave FOX for ESPN to become the voice of Monday Night Football. Buck had been with FOX Sports since the very beginning. Not only has he called NFL games for over a quarter of a century there, he was the voice of the World Series for a generation. Buck has also called six Super Bowls while at FOX.
While Buck and Aikman have long been an elite broadcasting tandem, this is a massive shakeup in the world of calling games. Does this mean the No. 2 booth at FOX in Kevin Burkhardt and up-and-comer Greg Olsen take a quantum leap? What about letting Gus Johnson let it rip? Does FOX envision Joe Davis as a new generation’s version of Buck to call NFL games and the World Series?
All the while, Twitter had a field day over Buck siding with Mickey Mouse over The Simpsons.
Joe Buck leaves FOX for ESPN: Best memes and tweets from football fans
Though Buck leaving FOX is not a disgusting act, the broadcasting network is CAUGHT! in a bit of a conundrum.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on ESPN will be a interesting experiment curious to see if they have a good chemistry
— PFT Commenter (@PFTCommenter) March 11, 2022
Joe Buck is THE voice of the World Series in my lifetime.
— Jon Alba (@JonAlba) March 11, 2022
Holy shit.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman going to MNF is HUGE! how Fox Sports let them leave is wiiiiiillllllddddddd
— Ashley Nicole Moss (@AshNicoleMoss) March 11, 2022
https://twitter.com/PointsBetUSA/status/1502391404395388932
While FOX will be just fine without Buck and Aikman calling games on fall Sundays, the precious World Series package will be different.
https://twitter.com/BetMGM/status/1502389695124234246
Joe Buck is trending guys pic.twitter.com/DAjDXLh2yn
— That’s Badass Wood Art (@thatsbadassmn) March 11, 2022
Think I know a Fox announcer that can take over Super Bowl announcing duties from Joe Buck pic.twitter.com/Z1uhTID590
— Matt Smith (@MattSmith2297) March 11, 2022
If Davis gets promoted, he will be helped out by the seasoned John Smoltz in the FOX booth.
Joe Buck and Troy Aikman right now pic.twitter.com/AR1lKh5wGT
— MattHasTweets (@MattHasTweets_) March 11, 2022
"Swing and a Miss" -- Fox, trying to retain Joe Buck pic.twitter.com/T6FdGCTlKx
— Cass Anderson (@casspa) March 11, 2022
I assume having him dress up like this was the last straw for Joe Buck at Fox...#MaskedSinger #Fox #ESPN pic.twitter.com/97JoWTPwir
— Matt (@ColbyCheese84) March 11, 2022
I’m still gonna watch MNF on the Manningcast even with Joe Buck and Aikman
— Ken Glizzy Jr. (@JamesDGrambo) March 11, 2022
Ultimately, it was a bold move for Buck to leave FOX after all this time. He is in his early 50s and was calling NFL games in the infancy of FOX Sports in his 20s. There are few people as synonymous with FOX Sports quite like Buck was. It will take some getting used to him calling a meaningless game on a Monday night with no playoff implications instead of a great one on FOX.
This is all about making Monday Night Football matter again, so good for ESPN for going big here.