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“I don’t agree now, I won’t agree in the future… but he’s still my brother”: Stephen A. Smith supports Skip Bayless after he tweeted questioning whether the NFL should postpone the Bills-Bengals game after it Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest
Stephen A. Smith believes Skip Bayless’s ‘heart is in the right place’ after broadcaster Fox Sports questioned how the NFL would postpone the Bengals-Bills game after Damar Hamlin’s collapse.
Monday’s game was halted and ultimately postponed after Hamlin required CPR after knocking down Tee Higgins in the first quarter, and the Bills safety was later diagnosed as having cardiac arrest.
Bayless angered hordes of fans and players when he wondered aloud on Twitter if the NFL could really make the logistics of a postponement work.
Hamlin, 24, remains in critical condition today after he tackled opposing Bengals receiver Tee Higgens. He collapsed afterwards and went into cardiac arrest before being rushed to hospital.
Bills players were surprised to see Hamlin receiving life-saving treatment on the field.
No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game, but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the outcome of the regular season… which suddenly seems so irrelevant,” he tweeted.
And Smith, while saying that he ‘disagrees[s]’ with his former First Take co-host, stood by Bayless when asked about the situation on Tuesday.
‘We live in different times. I’m not going to judge Skip Bayless or anyone else for saying the wrong thing. God knows I have. Intention matters’, he said USA TODAY SPORTS.
“I spent years disagreeing with Skip Bayless, I disagree with him now and I will disagree with him in the future.
‘But he’s still my brother, he’s still a guy who brought me here at First Take. I know who he is, I know what he does… overall his heart is in the right place and people make mistakes.’
Bayless offered a half-hearted apology on his Undisputed show Tuesday.
FOX Sports pundit Skip Bayless said Tuesday he was still “shocked” by what happened.
“Let me say up front that I apologize for what we’re going to do here today if it offends anybody because we’re going to try to do the show pretty much like we normally do,” said 71-year-old Bayless, who was joined Fox Sports in 2016 after being an ESPN pundit for 12 years.
‘But, I admit up front that I’m still reeling from what happened to Damar Hamlin last night. In fact, I’m still torn apart. In fact, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do this show today.
A chorus of athletes strongly criticized Bayless for his comments Monday night, with former Thunder and Cavs big man (and frequent Bayless critic) Kendrick Perkins calling Bayless a “sick individual.”
The television personality sought to clarify his earlier comments on Tuesday.
Bayless apologized for questioning whether the Bills-Bengals game should be called off
“Nothing is more important than the health of that young man,” he said. That was the point of my last tweet. I’m sorry if it was misunderstood, but his health is the only thing that matters. Once again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him and will continue to do so.’
The Bills tweeted at 1:23 p.m. ET Tuesday that Hamlin spent the night in the intensive care unit at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center and remains there in critical condition.
As his teammates, family and fans wait for him to bounce back, Smith believes Bayless will have a chance to grow from the mistake.
“You’re going to get caught once in a while,” he said.
“But if your heart is in the right place, and you really meant no harm, and you’re willing to apologize, this country has shown you many, many times that it will let you move on. And I am an eyewitness to that.