Shannon Sharpe returned to FS1’s Undisputed on Wednesday morning after missing Tuesday’s show due to the way he was affected by what happened to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football — and Skip Bayless’ insensitive tweet about it.
It only took 41 seconds for all hell to break loose.
How it went down:
Skip Bayless: “Timeout. Timeout. I’m not going to take it down (the tweet), because I stand by what I tweeted.”
The following four seconds were a back-and-forth of the two trying to decide who would speak next.
And then…
Shannon Sharpe: “I cannot even get through a monologue without you interrupting me.”
That was followed by Sharpe being upset that Bayless wouldn’t let him finish explaining why he missed Tuesday’s show, which he revealed was because he felt the show should have been solely about Hamlin and not the backlash of Bayless’ tweet about Hamlin. But, as usual, Bayless cut him off by claiming that he was under the impression that Sharpe wouldn’t bring up his tweet because “nobody here (at Fox) had a problem with that tweet.”
Please watch the clip below for the full 1:27 exchange.
The “embrace debate” era:
Depending on what side of the fence you’re on when it comes to morning sports shows and the “embrace debate” era that Bayless is the face of, Wednesday morning’s show was either the stuff that keeps bringing you back or the hopeful final nail in the coffin you’ve been waiting for.
Over the last few days, we’ve seen how former football players who have transitioned to television have been affected by Hamlin’s situation. And while the opening of Wednesday’s show served as an opportunity for Sharpe to explain why the incident was so personal to him, it also meant that he would have to share the stage/debate desk with a person who has a long history of being a jerk to his coworkers.
It wasn’t long ago that Bayless had a disrespectful and uncomfortable back-and-forth with Jenny Taft on air in which he attempted to “check her.” He’s gone after Stephen A. Smith before, and Cari Champion once said, “It was obvious. It was just like, ‘you don’t matter…just be happy that you’re here,” about her time with Bayless on ESPN’s First Take. And just last month, Bayless took a personal shot at Sharpe and his Hall of Fame career in a debate about Tom Brady, as Bayless loves to use a tone with women and Black men that screams “know your place” whenever they say something he doesn’t like.
However, while it seems that Sharpe has become Bayless’ latest victim, he’s not innocent in this — as he has a history of mishaps at the very same debate desk.
In 2021, Sharpe sold Julio Jones out on live television when he called him during the show and had a private conversation about his free agency on television without telling him the circumstances. And just a few weeks ago, Sharpe caused an uproar during the conversation about Deion Sanders’ departure from Jackson State for the University of Colorado, when he — an HBCU alum — bashed the worth and importance of HBCUs solely in defense of his buddy, Sanders. “I went to an HBCU, but only because I was prop 48. It worked out gr8 for me. Had I had the grades coming out of hs. I wouldn’t haven’t chosen an HBCU,” Sharpe tweeted.
At age 54, Shannon Sharpe is a grown man. He signed on to do Undisputed and debate with Skip Bayless five days a week back in 2016. In 2019, he signed a new deal with the company that has given him the platform, popularity, and money the show has provided him over the years. He is not a victim. He is not innocent. He has played a large part in the idiocracy that has become morning sports television with the man who is the face of it. When you dance with the devil you get scorched. When you renew your deal to keep dancing with him, it means you enjoy third-degree burns.
Don’t feel bad for Shannon Sharpe — he did this to himself.