Shannon Sharpe finally gave an explanation as to what made him leave Skip Bayless and FS1’s Undisputed, and the way Sharpe tells it, things almost got violent.
Sharpe made an appearance on his new co-host’s podcast, “The Stephen A. Smith Show,” and the two talked about what soured the relationship between Sharpe and Bayless. Smith brought up a clip from the Dec. 12, 2022, episode of “Undisputed” which led to the falling out.
For context, Sharpe and Bayless were talking about how poorly Tom Brady played in his 35-7 loss against the San Francisco 49ers. The conversation started off hot as Sharpe tried to get Bayless to see how bad Brady was in the game, but Bayless tried to shift the blame to other players.
Sharpe argued that Bayless was blinded by his love of the quarterback, but Bayless called Sharpe a hater and then said that he was jealous of Brady. Sharpe yelled back (at 26:05), “Skip I did what I did, you make it seem like I was a bum. I’m in the effin Hall of Fame, I got three Super Bowls,” while Bayless retorted, “So what? So What? He’s way better than you were!”
The former tight end tossed his glasses on the table and asked the man he considered a friend, “You would take a personal shot at me to say this man is better than me because I say he’s playing bad this year?” Skip replied later adding, “I will support him over anybody because he’s the greatest player ever played your game, and it’s by far.”
After rewatching the clip, Smith said that at the time he knew, “that relationship is in a world of trouble.”
Sharpe said that the relationship getting to that point was his fault because he let Bayless slide on too many occasions. “Once one partner has no respect for the other, the other partner then in turn loses respect for said partner. … He had no respect for me,” Sharpe said to Smith.
Sharpe said that he stood up for Bayless in situations when other people attacked him personally and that it hurt him when Bayless went out of his way to downplay his Hall of Fame career.
“It took everything,” Shannon shared. “I had to make a split-second decision. In that moment Stephen A. I had to make a split-second decision, and the decision I made was to have a further long-term career.”
Smith being as messy as he could be asked Sharpe “What are you talking about you didn’t do? What do you mean by that?” Sharpe replied, “It took a lot for me not to put my hands on him, it actually did.”
Sharpe’s fans are showing love to him after leaving the toxic work environment, and his ability to keep a cool head.
“He has the patience we all don’t have.”
“This is the drama we’ve been waiting for since he left.”
“This has been said about Skip for years. Happy to see Shannon in a better place. The numbers show the people are for Shannon.”
This has been said about Skip for years. Happy to see Shannon in a better place. The numbers show the people are for Shannon
— Ⓜ️ Blair | MProtocol (@Blairosophy) September 23, 2023
The numbers do show that Sharpe made the right move. According to “Front Office Sports,” “First Take” had 726k viewers this past Monday, while “Undisputed” had less than a fourth of that viewership, with only 162k people tuning in. Sharpe and Smith know they are the top dogs, and they don’t plan on giving the spot up anytime soon.
Sharpe sent shots at his old ally and his new competition on FS1, stating, “Skip, and Richard, and Keyshawn, and Michael Irvin, y’all not gon’ be better than me and Stephen A. That’s not gone happen. I promise you that is not going to happen. Ever. EVER.”
