Joe Buck had quite the shiner while broadcasting the Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers game, but viewers might not have even noticed.
The legendary broadcaster, 56, revealed in a lighthearted post via X after the Seahawks-49ers matchup on Saturday, January 3, that he called the game with a black eye — giving a shoutout to his makeup artist for hiding the injury.
“Not all heroes wear capes, but some bring them to work,” Buck posted after the game, along with a photo of his black eye. “Our makeup artiste, the great Kathleen Vybihal hid this from high def cameras tonight. Nothing like a knee to the eye while breaking up a fight between 7 year old twins 48 hours before a big game!!! He got me!!”
Buck posted two other photos on social media, one of him getting his makeup done before the broadcast, and another of a closeup of his face with the black eye hidden.
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He revealed in the post that he suffered the injury a few days before the broadcast, at the hands of his 7-year-old twin sons, Wyatt and Blake. Buck said he took a knee to the face when he was trying to break up a fight between the two youngsters.
Saturday’s broadcast went off as normal, with nobody — including Buck’s partner Troy Aikman — commenting on his black eye during the matchup.
The massive game lived up to expectations, with the Seahawks coming out on top, 13-3, to claim the NFC West division title.
The Hawks finish the regular season with a 14-3 record, which is good enough to clinch the NFC’s top seed in the postseason and the coveted first-round bye after missing the playoffs in each of the last two seasons.
It’s the first time Seattle will be the NFC’s No. 1 seed since 2014.
“Just incredibly proud of our team,” said Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald after the game. “All the things we’ve been working at since we walked in the door, especially this year, is coming to life. Just incredibly proud of them. They played incredibly hard, played together. They played complementary football, each phase picked each other up. It was a great game.”
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He continued: “That’s definitely a point of pride that we can have at least one home playoff game in front of the 12s,” Macdonald said postgame. “They’ve been dynamite this year. They’ve been absolutely just incredible. We’re really excited to stay home.”
The 49ers hold a 12-5 record after Saturday’s loss and will hold a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, with their opponent yet to be determined, based on results from Sunday’s NFL slate.
If the Los Angeles Rams beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, the 49ers will be the NFC’s No. 6 seed and face either the Chicago Bears or Philadelphia Eagles.
If the Rams lose, San Francisco will be the No. 5 seed and visit the NFC South champion, which will be either the Carolina Panthers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
