Stephen A. Smith wants Shannon Sharpe to join other ex-NFL pros-turned-analysts on ESPN’s First Take

Stephen A. Smith has finally voiced his thoughts on Shannon Sharpe’s imminent departure from Fox Sports 1, sharing that he would invite the three-time Super Bowl winner to appear on ESPN’s First Take, but only as a guest and not as a co-star. host .

It was announced on Wednesday that Fox Sports and Sharpe agreed on a buyout, ending the analyst’s seven-year run as co-host of “Undisputed” alongside Skip Bayless.

Smith, who previously served as a debate partner with Bayless on ESPN from 2012 to 2016, officially weighed in on the news on his Fan Duel podcast, inviting Sharpe to join the list of former NFL players turned analysts on ‘First Take’.

Smith said early on that he wouldn’t give his opinion on Bayless, who was pivotal in Smith’s hiring at ESPN 11 years ago, before speaking about Sharpe’s departure later in June.

“When the news was announced that Shannon Sharpe had been bought from FS1 and he would be leaving at the end of the NBA Finals, two things came to mind,” said Smith.

Shannon Sharpe is about to leave Fox Sports’ ‘Undisputed,’ seven years after co-hosting the show

“That’s a big loss to the show” “Undisputed” because Shannon matters, and that I don’t know what his plans are, I don’t know what he’s trying to pursue, I don’t know what he’s looking for, but if Shannon Sharpe needs, I’m happy to be there for him.

“And if that means you want to be on ‘First Take,’ the ESPN bosses know that’s something I’d support.”

Smith said he wouldn’t consider Sharpe a day-to-day on-air partner on his show, but would add the former tight end to the weekly rotation that also includes Michael Irvin, Keyshawn Johnson, Ryan. Clark, Dan Orlovsky, Marcus Spears and Damien Woody.

“I’m telling you here, if Shannon Sharpe wanted to join that roster, there’s no resistance from Stephen A. I have a love for Shannon Sharpe,” Smith said.

Smith added that he was “not surprised at all” regarding Sharpe’s departure from “Undisputed,” referring to the on-air feud between the Pro Football Hall of Famer and Bayless over Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest in January.

The 55-year-old Bronx native clarified that he’s never spoken to Sharpe or Bayless about their feud, but he remembers thinking to himself “this is over” when both TV personalities were on the air with each other five months ago. clashed.

Smith also announced that he and Sharpe agreed to appear on both ‘Club Shay Shay’ and Smith’s show of the same name for the foreseeable future.

It was revealed on Friday that Sharpe’s “power struggle” with Bayless led to a buyout with Fox Sports, according to ex-NFL star and FS1 personality, Marcellus Wiley.

Smith joined ‘First Take’ on ESPN in 2012, taking on longtime analyst Skip Bayless (R)

Sharpe has not spoken out about his reported departure, opting to remain silent on the matter during the latest edition of the show after the news broke, but he did like a tweet commenting on the breakup.

“Their relationship got progressively worse over the past 2, maybe 3 years because Skip fought for him to be on that show, but I feel like Skip couldn’t stand Shannon succeeding without it and that’s when Skip potshots in the air,” the tweet read. .

The Post cited “people close to Sharpe” as saying he wanted more of a say in the show’s topic selection.

The pair have clashed several times on-air, including after a controversial tweet from Bayless following Hamlin’s scary meltdown.

Bayless tweeted in early January on the night of Hamlin’s collapse that the NFL could not postpone the Buffalo Bills game with the Bengals due to scheduling, despite widespread fears that Hamlin would survive after going into cardiac arrest 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 critical to the outcome of the regular season… which suddenly seems so irrelevant,” Bayless wrote.

Sharpe stayed away from the next day’s episode of “Undisputed,” and when he returned the day after, he was visibly frustrated with Bayless interrupting him as he explained his position.

Bayless apologized for the tweet but did not delete it.

Sharpe liked a tweet Thursday suggesting a breakup with Undisputed co-host Bayless

Sharpe has clashed with co-host Bayless in recent months, most notably over Damar Hamlin

The above tweet from Bayless the night Hamlin went into cardiac arrest sparked outrage

“Skip tweeted something, and while I disagreed with the tweet, and hopefully Skip will delete it,” said Sharpe, explaining his absence around the Hamlin incident, before Bayless intervened.

“Time out,” Bayless said. “I’m not going to delete it because I stand by what I tweeted.”

Sharpe replied, “I can’t even get through a monologue without you interrupting me.”

They also clashed on a personal level in December when Bayless compared Sharpe who retired at 35 to Tom Brady who played to 45.

Sharpe played as a tight end – winning two Super Bowls with the Denver Broncos and another with the Baltimore Ravens – while Brady, of course, was a quarterback.

‘I did what I did!’ Sharpe responded to Bayless. “You make it look like I was a bum! I’m in the Effin’ Hall of Fame. I’ve got three Super Bowls!”

Bayless didn’t back down and say, “So what?” He’s much better than you were.’