Skip Bayless has not made a lot of friends over the years when it comes to sports fans, and it likely got even worse after reports stated that Shannon Sharpe had reached a buyout to leave Fox Sports and end his time on Undisputed after seven years.
Many across the sports world have blamed Skip for the departure. Although he is being bashed for this change, his former co-worker is sticking by him.
On his most recent podcast, Stephen A. Smith took some time to defend his longtime friend.
“I sincerely hope, regardless of what opinion that I’m about to give, that y’all don’t make the mistake of assuming that I’m going to speak against my man, Skip Bayless. That’s not going to happen,” Smith said.
“Remember when I told you that I was the star of the No. 1 sports morning show for the last 11 ½ years? The first four years of that were with Skip Bayless. I’m never in that position if it were not for Skip Bayless.”
The pending departure of Shannon Sharpe poses a major talent problem for Fox Sports, because, according to Front Office Sports, Bayless has limitations on a new partner because he micromanages all aspects of the weekday show.
“Nothing happens on that show without Skip. They chose Skip over everything else. You can’t tweet about him, talk about him, anything – or they call you into the office,” said a source. “On ‘Undisputed,’ he makes all the calls, even when he’s off.”
Bayless signed a four-year, $32 million extension with Fox in 2021.
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For now, the show might go with rotating guests like Emmanuel Acho and Joy Taylor of “Speak” and Nick Wright of “First Things First.”
Last week, former NFL star Antonio Brown tweeted he’s ready to “take Shannon Sharpe’s spot on ‘Undisputed.’”
Skip might be crazy, but he would never bring a loose cannon like Brown onboard on such an important show.
