Skip Bayless’ obsession with Tim Tebow wasn’t well received with the bosses at ESPN.
That is according to Stephen A. Smith, who opened up about debating Bayless on “First Take” (from 2012-16) — as well as the time when they were on a strict probational period with ESPN due in part to Bayless’ Tebow coverage.
During the latest installment of his FanDuel podcast, Smith reacted to comments Bayless made on Monday’s “Undisputed,” including that he was “not involved” in prior incidents that led to the probation.
“The part that Skip Bayless left out was the fact that the bosses at the time didn’t care,” Smith said. “They had remembered that Skip Bayless lived off of talking about Tim Tebow every day before I arrived.
“The public had accused Skip Bayless of being a caricature of himself. And even though Skip was very proud of his Tim Tebow coverage, the bosses weren’t necessarily enamored with it. Skip Bayless was incredibly proud of his coverage of Tim Tebow; the bosses felt otherwise.”
Smith added that although “First Take” had “climbed the charts” in ratings, the bosses weren’t thrilled with Bayless’ constant dialogue about Tebow.
“That’s the part he left out,” Smith said. “I wasn’t the only reason that probationary period per se. It existed because the network wanted to make sure that our show wasn’t one that just generated ratings, but one that didn’t cause them embarrassment and shame.
“Now, I didn’t want to talk about Tebow everyday … But to be fair to Skip, it did elevate the popularity of the show to some degree … In the end, the bosses weren’t too happy with it and that’s where the probational period came from too. So I thought Skip left that out so I wanted to make sure I highlighted that.”
Smith also shared a clip of himself talking about Bayless on Twitter, and wrote: “Skip left some things out when speaking on some past ‘First Take’ moments.”
During Monday’s return of FS1’s “Undisputed” — with new co-hosts Richard Sherman and Michael Irvin — Bayless brought up his infamous on-air moment with Sherman, who called him an “egotistical cretin,” among other things, when he appeared on “First Take” in 2013.
Bayless said the was unable to “fight fire with my usual fire” because “First Take” was on probation and he and Smith were fighting for an afternoon slot on ESPN.
Sherman’s takedown of Bayless, which Smith called one of the most uncomfortable on-air moments of his career, ultimately cost them the afternoon spot.
“That appearance by Richard Sherman, even though Skip didn’t go after him, for all the reasons Skip articulated accurately, we didn’t get ‘First Take’ put on in the afternoon,” Smith said. “They left us in the morning. That appearance by Richard Sherman cost us an afternoon slot for ‘First Take.’”
In the end, Bayless’ constant coverage of Tebow wasn’t the solution for sustained success.
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