Joe Buck Says He And Troy Aikman Used To Routinely Drink Tequila In The Broadcasting Booth

Fox

As a former member of the Joe Buck Haters Club, I understand why plenty of people aren’t huge fans of his broadcasting style; after all, we’re talking about a guy who reacted to David Tyree’s legendary Helmet Catch with the feigned enthusiasm of a dad forced to look up from his newspaper after his son yelled “Watch this!” before throwing a three-yard pass to himself for the seventh time in five minutes

Of course, Joe Buck is also the guy who proved he has the ability to express emotions when he acted like Randy Moss actually mooned fans when the wide receiver treated the world to a truly “disgusting act” when he pretended to pull down his pants after scoring a touchdown.

As a result, I can’t really blame anyone who audibly sighs when they tune in to watch a game and realize Buck is in the broadcasting booth. However, over the past couple of years, I’ve changed my tune a bit after realizing the announcer seems like a genuinely chill and self-aware dude with a great deadpan sense of humor that makes it seem like he takes himself much more seriously than he actually does.

Part of the reason I’ve warmed up to Buck is the interviews that have allowed him to showcase his off-camera personality, like a chat he had with Kevin Clark last year where he hilariously described how he prepares (or, more accurately, doesn’t) for the countless promos plugging shows on Fox he’s read over the decades.

On Monday, Buck chatted with Colin Cowherd during a conversation where he highlighted one factor that could contribute to his fairly low-key on-air demeanor: the booze he’s routinely thrown back while calling games over the years.

After Cowherd said he thinks Buck and Troy Aikman sound like a couple of college buddies sipping on some bourbon when they’re covering NFL games, the broadcaster revealed he wasn’t actually too far off, saying:

“We’ve had that glass of bourbon in the booth—although it’s not bourbon; it’s tequila, a splash of Grand Marnier, and grapefruit juice.

I went through a couple of years where in the first inning of every postseason baseball game, I had the runner go get the biggest beer that the stadium sold, and I had it sitting there and I would sip it from time to time to remind myself to relax and have fun. I’m just doing a game.

I brought that over to football, but because Troy is a man of finer tastes, beer somehow became tequila, Grand Marnier, and grapefruit juice. We haven’t done it in a long time now, but it was good for a stretch, and I feel like it’s a good mental trigger to just chill and remind yourself you’re not refueling an F-16 in midflight.

You’re doing a sporting event, and if you treat it like anything other than that, you’re doing yourself a disservice.”

Even if you hate Joe Buck, I don’t know how you can’t love that philosophy.