ESPN’s Troy Aikman leaned on the same construction so many times during Monday Night Football’s broadcast of the Denver Broncos game that a rival media figure started keeping score in public.
Sports talk radio host Dan Le Batard listened to Aikman’s color commentary Monday night and noticed the broadcaster repeatedly reaching for a nearly identical phrase to praise players and coaches: some version of “as good as anyone in football” or “as deep as any in football.” Le Batard began writing the lines down after the first half and posting them to social media.
From the first quarter alone, Le Batard quoted Aikman saying: “The Denver roster is as deep as any in football.” “[Andy] Reid understands as much as anyone in football that they’ve gotta run the football.” “Pat Bryant had as good a camp as anyone in football.” “Denver has as deep a wide receiver room as anyone in football.” “Denver has as good a secondary as there is in all of football.” “Trent McDuffie is as good as anyone in all of football.”
“That was the first quarter,” Le Batard told his followers, before moving on to the second.
He then logged Aikman’s second-quarter lines: “Denver is as good as any defense in football.” “Denver plays as much man as anyone in football.” “Kenneth Walker is as patient as anyone in football.” “Riley Moss gets targeted as much as anyone in football.” “Denver is as good an offensive line as there is in football.” “Vance Joseph is as good a defensive coordinator as there is in all of football.” “Sean Payton is as good a play-caller as there is in all of football.” “Courtland Sutton is as good as anyone in football winning one-on-one.”
Le Batard said he double-checked himself when followers pushed back on his running tally. “I went back and wrote it. I didn’t believe it. I’m like, that can’t be how I’m hearing this. I’m listening passively… like, am I hearing this right?” he said.
Aikman is widely regarded as one of the best in the business, but the broadcast made clear that even veteran commentators can fall into repetitive phrasing over the course of a long game. Le Batard’s public tally turned that habit into a moment of national attention during a Broncos broadcast that otherwise centered on Denver’s roster, its defense under coordinator Vance Joseph, and play-calling by head coach Sean Payton.
