Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe agree that Skip Bayless is a "different beast"
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“First Take” will have a new look starting Monday (Sept. 4) when longtime host Stephen A. Smith is joined by his new co-host Shannon Sharpe. The former NFL player will debate Smith twice a week, on Monday and Tuesday, through February, when football season ends.
As fans remember, Sharpe exited Fox Sports 1 in June after seven years of sparring with veteran sports journalist Skip Bayless on “Undisputed.” His emotional signoff became meme gold and the source of laughter on Twitter when he told Bayless, “I’ll never forget what you did for me. All I ask is when you lay your head on your pillow at night, know I gave you everything I had.”
Ahead of their big debut, Smith appeared on the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee’s podcast, “Club Shay Shay,” where he touched on what it is like to work with Bayless. Both HBCU alums credit the former ESPN host for helping launch their careers as widely recognized sports broadcasters. Smith landed at “First Take” in 2012 after being recruited by Bayless. And like Sharpe, he had his fair share of clashes with the Tom Brady superfan.
“Skip’s a different beast,” said Smith as Sharpe agreed. “I don’t know if you can just describe him in one simple way. You can’t. This dude’s definition of advice is diet Mountain Dew … He’s a different animal, you know, and there are highs and lows that come with him. He knows that,” Smith added.
But he went on to give his former co-host his flowers. “The reality is that no matter how problematic — and he can be problematic at times — no matter how problematic he can be, the reality is I wouldn’t be where I am today if he didn’t give me that opportunity on ‘First Take’ … For me to insult him in any way is disrespectful, it’s wrong, and it’s something that I would never do… He will always be a brother from another mother.”
In his final months of working alongside Bayless, fans watched as tension wedged between him and Sharpe. But similarly to Smith, the three-time Super Bowl champion moved on while allowing the good to outweigh the bad. “For me, I can not let six months ruin six and a half good years because sometimes people are willing to throw everything away for one mistake,” he said.
In his absence, Bayless enlisted three former NFL players, Keyshawn Johnson, Michael Irvin, and Richard Sherman. Lil Wayne revamped the show’s theme song, which premiered on Aug. 28. The rapper will also make reoccurring appearances as a guest commentator on Fridays.
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