Is Troy Aikman gay?
For years that has been the most-asked question we’ve heard at Outsports. The question about the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, and current NFL commentator for ESPN, stems from a Skip Bayless book in which he surmised that Aikman might be gay.
In 2015, Sports Illustrated‘s Richard Deitsch asked Aikman about the story that’s followed him for over 25 years.
Aikman went on offense:
“I’m upset about it because it was made up and there was nothing accurate about anything that was insinuated. And he did it, as he does everything, just for attention,” Aikman said of his arch enemy, Bayless, and the questions.
“I am probably more upset because I probably should have responded to it at the time it was going on. The advice to me was, ‘Hey, just don’t address it. It’s not worth it. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s ridiculous. All it’s going to do is have people continue to talk about his book.’ So I didn’t.
“But I probably could have responded differently and maybe that would have changed things. Maybe it wouldn’t have. But it is ridiculous, and, yeah, it bothers me. If that is a lifestyle people choose, so be it. It doesn’t affect me one way or another. But it is not my lifestyle.”
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“A lifestyle people choose.”
This is the mantra that so many anti-gay people have used for generations now, that we’re all the same and that some people simply choose to have gay relationships.
But the flip side that they don’t think about is that means…other people — some of them gay people — simply choose not to have a same-sex relationship.
Other people “choose” that lifestyle, Aikman said, but it’s not the “lifestyle” he’s chosen for himself.
We saw that “choice” play out on TLC’s show “My Husband’s Not Gay,” also in early 2015. The show featured four men who are attracted to men – one of them said he’s more attracted to a man than a woman nine times out of 10. Yet these four men all date women – and three of them are married! Whether you call it “homosexual” or “same-sex attraction” or whatever – these guys are gay and in straight relationships.
Aikman says that is simply a lifestyle choice, like what neighborhood to live in or what car to drive or where to take your vacation.
Aikman said, however, he would choose to have Taylor Swift in the Monday Night Football both. So apparently he’s a Swiftie.
I don’t know who or what Aikman is attracted to, but since he’s told us that the gender of the people you date is simply a choice, we have to take him at his word: He’s made a conscious decision to not date men. He might be inclined to, but instead, he’s chosen to date women.
If gay men simply make a “choice” to date men, then gay men — like TLC’s stars, maybe like Aikman — also simply make a “choice” to date women.
Either way, I actually feel bad for the guy. He’s either had to live with this assumption by people that he’s something he’s not, or he’s felt he has to bury his true self to become a big TV star.
By the way, for anyone who might feel sorry for Aikman, know that he’s also generated speculation about Bayless’ orientation. He should remember this: What goes one way goes the other too.
Is Troy Aikman gay? I don’t know. Neither does anyone else but Aikman himself. He could be, by his own words. The fact that he’s chosen to date and marry women means that’s just his choice – We still have no idea what his true orientation is.
Either way, he’ll be calling Monday Night Football games with Joe Buck again this season for ESPN.
A previous version of this article originally appeared on Outsports in January 2015. It has been updated since then.
