Troy Aikman Got Choked Up Over Heartbreaking Loss of His Friend During ESPN ‘MNF’ Broadcast

ESPN analyst Troy Aikman has been in the news lately for his public spat—and perhaps soon-to-be divorce—with the network. But during a brief segment on Monday Night Football between the Cowboys and Eagles, the news wasn’t about him.

In a touching tribute on the broadcast, Aikman got visibly emotional discussing the death of his “right-hand man” and longtime friend, David Moulton. Moulton, who died at age 59, worked as a spotter for Aikman and Joe Buck dating back to the pair’s NFL on FOX coverage on Thursdays and Sundays (a spotter is a crew member who sits next to the announcers and identifies which players are involved in any given play). Moulton’s wife, Julie, announced his death on Saturday following a six-year fight against stage four renal cell cancer.

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On Monday night, ESPN aired a 2022 clip of Aikman, Buck and Moulton bantering in the booth and afterward, Aikman appeared to fight back tears talking about his late friend.

“He just was so brilliant and just effortless with the way he would give us information, give you information during the game, and he will not be replaced in this booth,” Buck said.

“No he will not,” Aikman said. “He was a fighter right up until the end.”

Aikman then apologized for his voice breaking a bit.

“As you say, he left a hole in a lot of people’s hearts. And just a good man. Yup.”

Prior to the MNF game, Aikman shared a heartfelt post on his Instagram in remembrance of Moulton:

“Since 2018, David Moulton has been my right-hand man in the broadcast booth,” Aikman wrote in the caption. “What started as a professional relationship became a friendship I have cherished. David was loyal, dependable and a warrior until the very end. He deserved better. My heart breaks for his family and all who loved him. I’m grateful for the years we shared and will miss him deeply. Rest in peace big guy.”

A relationship between an announcer and his spotter is especially precious and important, and Aikman and Moulton’s was one that the veteran announcer won’t soon forget.

A 2020 profile by The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis on Moulton’s behind-the-scenes impact in sports broadcasting revealed how Moulton and Aikman originally became acquainted. Back in 2015, Fox hired Moulton to help out Buck during golf events. It was “love” at first sight, per Buck, and he reportedly recommended the spotter to Aikman for Fox’s NFL booth. A few years later, Moulton began working with the duo on football Sundays, and their rapport was apparently so good that he was added to Fox’s Thursday Night Football booth, too.

Curtis shared one anecdote that gave insight into just how valuable Moulton was to Aikman and the rest of the Fox crew:

On the night before this year’s Super Bowl, Aikman asked Moulton what stuck out about the game. Moulton said he was curious who Richard Sherman, the 49ers cornerback, was going to cover on third downs. Aikman liked the idea. So in the first quarter, when Moulton noticed Sherman lining up over Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, he told Aikman, “Sherman on Kelce, Sherman on Kelce.”

“They’re doing 96 to 98 percent of the work. I’m just a helper is all I am,” Moulton said of his relationship to play-by-play announcers.

The practical and emotional impact Moulton had on broadcasting crews throughout his prolific career can’t be overstated, whether he was reminding announcers how many timeouts teams had at the two-minute warning or providing unique angles for in-game analysis. RIP to a truly unsung hero in the business whose memory will live on in the hearts of Aikman, Buck and all his former colleagues and friends.