They might have to deal with each other now that they both have high-paying gigs at Fox Sports, and at least one side is willing to bury the hatchet.
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Speaking on the Seth Davis Podcast this week, Bayless said he was surprised by Aikman’s outrage and would like to talk with him in person about the feud.
“No one who read that book thought Troy Aikman was gay. No one. Trust me. Because even Troy’s supporters who read the book loved the way I wrote it,” Bayless said. “As I wrote in the book I don’t know and I don’t care, but that was a big locker room issue that year and a big issue among the Switzer supporters.”
The book Bayless is referring to is “Hell-Bent” which he wrote in 1996. Below is an excerpt from Bayless:
In Jeff Pearlman’s 2008 book “Boys Will Be Boys,” the issue regarding Bayless’ claims were addressed by members of the media who spoke about the impact of the columnist’s words. Here’s an excerpt from that:
With all of this background, it’s easy to understand why Aikman told Sports Illustrated earlier this year when Fox Sports hired Bayless, “To say I’m disappointed in the hiring of Skip Bayless would be an enormous understatement.”
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After decades of feuding, however, Bayless says he wants to end all of this.
“For the record, I tried to get in touch with Troy after he seemed to have a public issue with it,” Bayless told Seth Davis. “I wrote him a note that said, ‘I’m dumbfounded by this that you have any issue with this book. I would have thought you would have loved this book.’ He was like the last American hero to me. And to this day I haven’t seen Troy, and I would be happy to sit down with him today and talk to him.”
