Troy Aikman's voice has become synonymous with Monday Night Football. The Hall of Fame quarterback turned ESPN NFL analyst has garnered the respect of listeners at home for his candidness.
However, Aikman may have been a little too blunt for the Chicago Bears and their fan base's liking. He was quite critical of the team's performance in a 25-24 Week 6 win over the Washington Commanders, more specifically, his disapproval of Caleb Williams.
It felt like everything Williams did wrong against the Commanders was emphasized while his positive moments were overlooked, or chalked up as good fortune. Bears supporters weren't the only ones who noticed this. Chicago head coach Ben Johnson ostensibly heard the noise and subtly fired back at Aikman, though his comments were the tip of the iceberg.
Williams took it to a whole other level by taking a much less discreet jab at Aikman on Instagram:
Caleb Williams fires back at Troy Aikman for criticism in Bears' win vs. Commanders
"Nations Cap[ital] good being back!" Williams wrote to begin the caption of his montage of pictures, starting with a photo of Bears kicker Jake Moody from his Michigan days. "'It was lucky' -- TA," "'Whooptie Doo.'"
Who has the initials "TA" and just said the Bears benefitted from "luck" on running back D'Andre Swift's 55-yard receiving touchdown in Washington? Williams may as well have name-dropped Aikman; the message and the recipient couldn't be clearer.
While Williams didn't have the cleanest outing versus Washington, he got the job done and propelled the Bears to their third straight victory. His 8.7 yards per attempt, 14.8 yards per completion and 98.6 passer rating were all markedly above their league averages. Nevertheless, Aikman's judgment would lead us to believe the 2024 No. 1 overall pick tripped and fell into those marks.
For whatever reason(s), things are getting personal between Aikman and Williams. We're not exactly sure what the former's gripe is. But in fairness to the latter, he's standing up for himself after being blasted publicly for millions of people to hear on national television.
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From one retired all-time great signal-caller to another trying to build his legacy, you'd love to see more of a mentor-mentee dynamic. Moving the game forward should be the objective, not tearing each other down. With that in mind, seeing whether calmer heads prevail the next time Williams and Aikman overlap will be fascinating. The Bears don't have another scheduled Monday Night Football match this year.