The new era of First Take just hit the two-week milestone, and Stephen A. Smith couldn’t be happier.
ESPN FrontRow detailed the changes with behind the scenes access to what goes on. Michael Irvin is now debating Stephen A. Smith on Mondays, while Tim Tebow goes head-to-head on the debate desk on Fridays with a rotating cast in between.
Smith’s latest comments seem to suggest he is extremely happy to have moved on from Max Kellerman.
“I haven’t been this excited to do First Take in years,” Smith said in the story. “The future is limitless.”
Smith worked with Kellerman on “First Take” for five years and he is on record as saying he pushed ESPN to try and lure Skip Bayless back to the show. It’s not hard to read between the lines of his comments above.
Kellerman is still with ESPN, but he now hosts a morning radio show with Keyshawn Johnson and Jay Williams, among other things.
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After his removel from the show, Smith eventually admitted that he no longer wanted Kellerman part of ‘First Take.’
“The rumor’s accurate in terms of me wanting him off the show. Let’s get that out the way. Yes, I did,” Smith said while speaking to Ebro Darden and Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97. “We don’t have a bad relationship. I think he’s a real good guy. I appreciate what he did for the show. We were number one for five years, we stayed number one, and I appreciate that.
Smith continued, “It wasn’t really about asking him to be off the show, it was about the fact that I knew that we, together, as far as I was concerned, was not a great partnership anymore and that was something that needed to change.”
