Troy Aikman was on the call for last night’s big Monday Night Football clash between the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons in the Superdome. But during the broadcast he had an interesting remark that had a lot of people talking.
While talking about Tyler Shough, the starting quarterbacks for the Saints, Joe Buck noted that Shough spent a whopping seven years in college, with three years at Oregon, another three at Texas Tech and his final year at Louisville. His rival, Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix Jr., played six years in college – four at Indiana and another two at Washington – before joining the Falcons.
Aikman couldn’t help but ask what a college player even does with seven years in college.
“I don’t understand how you get 7 years in college,” he said bluntly.
The Fans Answer
Aikman may not know, but the fans had plenty of clever responses to why someone might spend more than the traditional four years in college. Some pointed out that the extra years might have been due to the pandemic years that restricted what he could do, while others pointed out that getting more advanced degrees often requires several extra years in college to achieve:
“Easy: redshirt, Covid year, and multiple medical redshirts. He only played in 41 games,” one user pointed out on X.
“Lots of people go to college for 8 years. They’re called doctors,” wrote another.
“Maybe if you do a 4 year combined bachelor’s masters, then 3 yrs for Phd,” a third wrote.
“Clearly never watched Van Wilder…” another joked.
“Me thinks Troy Aikman didn’t see Tommy Boy. Then again, he was a tad busy in the 1990s.”
Sam Hodde/UFL/Getty Images
At the end of the day Shough and Penix have proven to be pretty solid QBs in their young careers despite entering the NFL ranks several years older than most others tend to.
Penix is 2-0 as a starter this season and has a 2-1 TD-INT ratio over his three years in the NFL.
Shough is currently emerging as one of the top young gunslingers in the NFL, leading the league in completions and attempts and has over 1,200 passing yards and nine touchdowns.
Perhaps the key to early NFL success is spending more time in school…
