Joe Buck and Troy Aikman Get Emotional Honoring Late Colleague David Moulton on Monday Night Football

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman Get Emotional Honoring Late Colleague David Moulton on Monday Night Football

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Broadcasting Booth Pays Heavy Emotional Toll as Joe Buck and Troy Aikman Honor David Moulton

The high-stakes intensity of ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast at Lincoln Financial Field gave way to a somber reality when Joe Buck and Troy Aikman paused the game to honor their late colleague, David Moulton.

Buck opened the on-air tribute after the network broadcasted a clip of Moulton dressed as Sulley from Monsters Inc. inside a broadcast booth. This group lost a dear friend and coworker this week. Our buddy David Moulton passed away at the age of 60, Buck told viewers, noting that Moulton had served as his right-hand man covering golf at Fox before transitioning into an indispensable fixture of NFL coverage alongside Aikman.

An Indispensable Presence Behind the Scenes

Moulton’s role extended far beyond a standard behind-the-scenes researcher. Serving as a crucial spotter and information conduit during live broadcasts, he built a reputation for effortless efficiency under deadline pressure. Buck emphasized his irreplaceable value to the crew, stating that Moulton supplied crucial data effortless in the way he would give us information, give you information, during the game. According to usmagazine.com, Moulton had previously coordinated similar spotter duties for CBS’s SEC college football broadcasts alongside Gary Danielson, who cold-called Moulton after hearing him host a local radio show.

Danielson released a statement via reporter Jenny Dell remembering his former researcher: David Moulton was my researcher/spotter with our CBS college football crew since 2006!! We first met when I heard him doing a local radio show; became intrigued with his knowledge, decided to cold call him and offered him a job!! He was great and helped make our broadcast better.

A Visible and Unfiltered Grief in the Booth

When the conversation turned to Aikman, he struggled to maintain his composure on live television. Attempting to voice his respect for his colleague’s grit, Aikman’s voice broke as he fought back tears.

No, he will not. He was a fighter right up until the end and … sorry… Aikman said before pausing to collect himself. He left a hole in a lot of people’s hearts and just a good man.

Moulton had stepped away from his radio duties on the Miller and Moulton show with Mark Miller in August due to his deteriorating health. His wife, Julie, announced that he passed away while in hospice care at the Douglas Center for Caring, following a disease that had metastasized to his bones two years prior.

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman Get Emotional Honoring Late Colleague David Moulton on Monday Night Football
Photo: sports.yahoo.com

Tributes Across the Networks

The mourning extended well beyond the ESPN family. On Sunday, Fox broadcaster Kevin Burkhardt took time during the Lions-Packers game to recognize Moulton’s contributions to the industry, calling him just a guy that everyone around him loved and noting that he was gone far too soon.

Aikman reinforced his public tribute with an emotional statement posted to Instagram on Monday, writing, Since 2018, David Moulton has been my right-hand man in the broadcast booth. 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.

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