Skip Bayless’ controversial tweet about Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin caused a major stir.
Things got so bad, in fact, that Bayless’ co-host on Fox Sports’ ‘Undisputed’ no-showed the following day.
When Sharpe did finally turn up, he took Bayless to the woodchipper.
This past week Bayless’ old sparring partner and current host of ESPN’s ‘First Take’ weighed in on Sharpe’s decision to boycott Bayless after the Hamlin tweet.
“I can only imagine the kind of position that he found himself in in light of Hamlin’s injury,” Smith said.
That said, as far as Smith is concerned, there is never any excuse for hiding from the spotlight when you have the sort of microphone that Sharpe possesses.
“That’s your chair. You don’t give it up for nobody,” Smith continued.
“That’s yours. I don’t give a damn if you were in the chair and had nothing to say and you just wanted Skip to talk. You don’t miss sitting in that chair. Because there’s an audience out there that expected to see you.
“But I understood him, like every single NFL player present and former that I’ve spoken to, heart was in the right place, going through a lot.”
Smith understands the dynamics involved here intimately well. On the same day Bayless drew the ire of a nation, an ESPN personality also made some pretty controversial comments about Hamlin during a conversation with him.
That analyst immediately faced calls for his firing.
So Smith gets better than most that this was a sticky situation.
That said, as Smith himself acknowledged, he would never give up his chair. He would never hide from the attention or ignore the voice that he has. It’s a big reason why he is paid as much as he is.
Bryce’s most recent IG story 👀👀https://t.co/u4cQsZiFrD
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 11, 2023
Smith’s point of view is a deeply interesting one.
How will Sharpe ultimately respond to it?
Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
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