The entire NFL community celebrated the possible return of Aaron Donald for the Los Angeles Rams’ Week 2 game against the New York Giants. But no one seemed more excited than Troy Aikman, who seemed to spot No. 99 even in places where he wasn’t there!

During ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast, Aikman was breaking down a Rams defensive play when he said, “Now here’s a look at Aaron Donald and his quickness; he’s able to give pressure…”

There was just one problem, though: the player Aikman was talking about was not Donald at all!

The blunder happened when the Giants’ quarterback Jaxson Dart passed the ball to Malachi Fields in the first quarter of the game. While Aikman noted Tyler Davis maneuvering through the offensive line to attack the quarterback, he mistook Davis for Aaron Donald. And this wasn’t even the most alarming part.

Donald wasn’t even on the field then!

When Aikman said Donald’s name, the fans were left in utter confusion. The clip generated mixed reactions on social media, with some fans questioning Aikman’s focus.

“Yeah that threw me off ha!” one fan wrote in the comments section after BrickCenter shared the clip on X.

“I was also confused when I heard that,” another fan commented.

Of course, in late August 2026, Donald signed a one-year, $20 million deal with the Rams and came out of retirement. With 12 solo tackles, four sacks, and one fumble recovery in seven games against the Giants, he would have been a pretty good asset for the Rams.

Meanwhile, another fan was confused about the Rams defender’s jersey number.

“Thought the same thing 🤦 like when did he change his number to 90?!” the fan wrote.

Davis was the one who pushed through the offensive line, wearing the number 90. It wouldn’t have been much of a concern had the defender worn a number 99 jersey (Donald’s jersey no.). 

Another group of fans slammed Aikman for his repeated mistakes on live TV. In 2025, Aikman mistakenly referred to Minnesota Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy as US Congressman Kevin McCarthy.

“Yeah, he’s an idiot. That’s why I stopped watching telecasts of games years ago,” a fan wrote. 

A few others decided to attack the former Cowboys quarterback for his massive contract with ESPN.

“Same guy demanding eleventy billion dollars to call these games,” one fan commented.  

This certainly might pinch Aikman, given that he is already dealing with a lot of uncertainty surrounding his future at ESPN. 

Aikman contract situation remains uncertain

Aikman signed a five-year, $90 million deal with ESPN in 2022, keeping him under contract through the end of the 2026 season. He is now in the final year of that agreement and has yet to sign an extension. This is not what he expected, and he made sure to voice his opinion while speaking to sports media reporter Richard Deitsch.

“I thought something would be done prior to the start of this season. I’ve never gone into the last year of a contract ever since I signed with the Dallas Cowboys. And so I thought that it would be done. It’s not. When it might get done, if it gets done, is anyone’s guess. And it’s really not something that I’m putting a lot of energy into.”

What makes the entire thing, more awkward is the fact that his partner Joe Buck, who he been together with for 25 years, got his deal done and he didn’t.

ESPN reportedly agreed to a six-year, $108 million extension with Buck, but sources cited by Front Office Sports have warned that Aikman may not be next in line, with no deal considered imminent.

Money could be one reason. Aikman currently makes $18 million annually, while Tom Brady’s massive Fox deal helped push the market for NFL analysts higher. With other prominent broadcasters potentially available after the season, ESPN has options.

Still, Aikman has made it clear that he wants to remain alongside Buck, saying he has “loved working with Joe” and would want to continue their partnership “100 percent.”

As he navigates the uncertain final stretch of his ESPN deal, inventing ghost appearances by Aaron Donald on Monday Night Football is the absolute last thing his negotiation portfolio needs. Nevertheless, he’ll have to clean up his calls before the noise from the fanbase becomes impossible for the network to ignore.