‘Peak Football Guy Energy’ ‘Feels Very (Pat) McAfee’ — NFL Fans React to ESPN Star Joe Buck’s Unexpected Appearance on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Saino Zachariah Wed, October 14, 2026 at 9:37 AM UTC

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‘Peak Football Guy Energy’ ‘Feels Very (Pat) McAfee’ -- NFL Fans React to ESPN Star Joe Buck's Unexpected Appearance on 'Dancing With the Stars'Joe Buck spent Monday night in the ESPN broadcast booth with Troy Aikman calling the Buffalo Bills’ 37-34 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams. On Tuesday, the ESPN play-by-play voice took a guest judge’s seat on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.

Joe Buck spent Monday night in the ESPN broadcast booth with Troy Aikman calling the Buffalo Bills’ 37-34 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams. On Tuesday, the ESPN play-by-play voice took a guest judge’s seat on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”

Buck joined Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli for the show’s first Super Bowl Night, leaving several fans and media figures amused.

Joe Buck Draws Praise for His Guest Judge Role in ‘Dancing With the Stars’

“DWTS” hosted its first-ever “Super Bowl Night,” during which the 11 remaining couples performed routines of iconic songs from past Super Bowl halftime shows. The Super Bowl theme comes ahead of Super Bowl 61, which will air on ABC and ESPN on Valentine’s Day next year at the SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.

NFL on ESPN shared a clip from the show, highlighting the broadcaster’s presence alongside his wife, Michelle Beisner-Buck.

Several fans were surprised by Buck’s presence on the ballroom floor but were nevertheless impressed watching him away from Aikman and football commentary.

“Always a class act! He’s him,” one fan reacted.

Another fan said, “Joe Buck judging dance moves with Michelle on the headset. Peak football guy energy.”

Buck wasn’t ashamed to share his lack of ballroom expertise while judging Jenna Dewan’s paso doble with Val Chmerkovskiy. He admitted he had no idea what a paso doble was but said Dewan was amazing. The pair earned 36 out of 40, tying Ezra Frech and Daniella Karagach for the night’s highest score.

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Buck spread his compliments around the ballroom. He also had a joke ready for Guillermo Rodriguez, the sidekick on Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show. “Andy Richter walked so Guillermo could run!” Buck quipped.

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Daniel Fox, a contributing writer for Just Baseball, wrote, “This can’t be the same guy who was calling those Red Sox/Yankees ALCS back in the day” and asked, “What did they do to him?!”

Buck is in his 29th season calling NFL games and has also called 24 World Series and more than 20 MLB All-Star Games during his broadcasting career. He was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2022.

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Buck also drew comparison from one fan to popular ESPN personality Pat McAfee. “Feels very McAfee,” one Browns fan wrote.

Talking about McAfee, the clip also caught the attention of Evan Fox, who works on video for “The Pat McAfee Show.”

“Buck has been outstanding on #DWTS tonight,” he wrote.

Buck’s appearance also gave Disney and ESPN another opportunity to promote Super Bowl 61. Buck is set to call the Feb. 14 game, which will mark ESPN’s first Super Bowl production and the first Super Bowl streamed on Disney+.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”