ESPNMedia MonsterNFL

Troy Aikman Is Less Than Thrilled With Skip Bayless Over Those Old Rumors That He’s Gay

Once upon a time, in a book about the Dallas Cowboys, Skip Bayless mentioned rumors that Troy Aikman might be gay. Years later, Bayless stood by including those rumors in his book. And now a couple years after that, Aikman’s talking about those rumors. And if you can believe it, he’s less than thrilled.

During a recent radio appearance, the topic of those 15-year-old rumors came up, and it was clear Aikman hasn’t forgotten. Asked how he reacts to a rumor being spread like that, Aikman responded, “Not real well,” then added, “I’m not so sure Skip’s not gay,” just to make sure the rumor was floating in both directions, we guess. From there, it turned into Aikman saying he hasn’t actually run into Bayless since the book came out, and then started making vague threat-esque claims (“I still kinda wonder what I might do to him”).

And then: (unintentional, we’re pretty sure) double entendre time. Bayless hinted Aikman might be gay, Aikman had just finished half-heartedly suggesting Bayless might be gay, and the question from the host regarding a potential meeting between the two was:

“You don’t think it’ll get physical, do you?”

Yes, it was a reference to fighting, but…yeah. (Aikman responded that he didn’t know whether or not it would get physical.) So: guy publicizes rumor about other guy being gay, with minimal substance backing it up. Guy responds by saying he might beat the other guy up if he saw him in person, and makes a baseless claim that the guy who made the original flimsy claim might be gay. Not exactly a watershed moment for tolerance in sports.