Joe Buck Finally Regrets Calling the Randy Moss Moon ‘a Disgusting Act’

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Jan 24, 2024
Photos: (Buck) Matthew Emmons | (Moss) Dale Guldan / USA TODAY NETWORK

Whether you’re a fan or not, Joe Buck stands as an icon in the sports broadcasting industry. Renowned for his commentary on NFL, MLB, and even some US Opens (Golf) during his tenure at FOX, where he spent most of his career (1994-2021) until he signed a mega deal before the 2022 season with ESPN as the new voice of Monday Night Football.

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Many Minnesota sports fans, however, despise Buck. Why? Because of one fateful call back during the 2004-05 NFL playoffs. The Minnesota Vikings were playing the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, a game the purple won 31-17.

Jan. 9, 2005: Joe Buck calls infamous Randy Moss moon at Lambeau

During that memorable postseason contest, Randy Moss caught a 34-yard 4th quarter touchdown pass that put the Vikings up by two touchdowns. After Moss scored, he went behind the end zone and, in a now infamous scene from a historic Vikings/Packers rivalry, pretended to pull his pants down and moon the Lambeau crowd.

A young Joe Buck called that game and he could not believe what his eyes were watching, bemoaning to the entire nation what “a disgusting act” Randy Moss was committing on live TV during his celebration. Buck, Troy Aikman, Cris Collinsworth were all in the booth.

Collinsworth: “…as [Randy Moss] shoots the moon to the fans here in Green Bay”

Buck: “That is a disgusting act by Randy Moss and it’s unfortunate that we had it on our air live. That is disgusting by Randy Moss.”

Aikman: “Well… let’s get back to the play. Randy Moss, I don’t even think that was called in the huddle…”

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Buck Now Regrets His “Disgusting Act” Call

Kevin Clark, who works for ESPN, has his own show called “This is Football”, had Joe Buck on recently and shared a clip of their conversation on X (formerly Twitter). In the clip, Clark asks Buck about one call he wishes he could have back. His response: You guessed it.

“The Randy Moss call, for sure, with the ‘that’s disgusting’.” …. “My wife, Michelle, does the pregame show. Of all the people on that pregame show, prior to even to our rival because he hasn’t been there since we got there, the nicest human being to my wife was Randy [Moss].”

“The more time goes on, the more I think, ‘man, I can’t believe that even came out of my mouth’, you know? I never live in ‘I wish I could take that back’ or ‘delete it’ or whatever. But I can’t live like that. Like, I have to be willing to accept a step on the wrong tile, if I’m also gonna accept, you know, when things went great and I made the call that I love to hear when it comes on.

“But when I hear that call, I’m like ‘ugh’… you know. Like, that was was too far, I think. And it was not calculated, You never know what you’re gonna see when you go into a stadium. I think knowing more of the back story, after the fact, about the fans and whatever you know, doing that to the team bus, I understand it more than I did in that moment. It’s not anything that keeps me up at night but I think knowing more information now, that was one that I I would probably pull back a little bit on.”

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Can We Forgive Joe Buck?

Having called an extensive number of games, Joe Buck reflects on a specific moment in which he admits not being fully aware of the entire backstory at the time, which includes Packers fans mooning the Vikings bus when they roll into Lambeau every year.

Now equipped with the complete context, and with a willingness to acknowledge his mistake, Joe Buck may be deserving of forgiveness, although a small grudge might linger. A very passive aggressive one, of course.

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