A decade after an infamous on-air spat between them, Skip Bayless and former NFL player Richard Sherman have finally cleared the air.
On Monday, FS1 unveiled the next iteration of its flagship debate show Undisputed. After the departure of Shannon Sharpe led to a two-month hiatus, the show returned with Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson, and Michael Irvin joining Bayless.
When it was first announced that Bayless and Sherman would be sharing a set, longtime viewers of sports debate shows recalled the 2013 episode of First Take in which Sherman trashed Bayless on a personal level.
Skip and Richard Sherman? 🤣 https://t.co/u9fEy4s8Xu pic.twitter.com/pAGMCzhiA6
— NBA Shane (@Shane00) August 28, 2023
Though the two said they’ve previously buried the hatchet, they used the debut of the new show to tell their sides of the story on air.
According to Bayless, producers of the show told him to “vamp” – or stall for time – while Sherman was still getting his microphone attached before joining the show via video call. In that moment, Bayless brought up the fact that Sherman compared himself to hall-of-fame cornerback Darrelle Revis. When Bayless expressed that Sherman wasn’t on Revis’ level, Sherman took exception to the comments and let it be known immediately.
“I got the numbers to always back up my case,” Sherman said. “If I ain’t got the numbers, I’m probably not making the case. So all I could hear is the disrespect in my ears, Skip … Not even like, ‘He’s in the same ballpark’ or, ‘He’s coming on.’ (Skip’s) like, ‘He’s not even in the same stratosphere.’
“I said, ‘OK, this is disrespect, Skip. I’m gonna have to respond to this as soon as possible.’ So when I get on the show, it was like the first chance I get it – I don’t care the question – I’m dropping.”
Bayless admitted that he was completely blindsided by the attack from Sherman. At the time, he said, First Take was in a probationary period due to too many controversial incidents. The show was attempting to take an afternoon slot and were about to do multiple half-hour “auditions” to earn it.
For those auditions, Bayless and Stephen A. Smith had to be on their best behavior. In fact, Bayless was even commended for his handling of the situation because he simply sat there and took it as opposed to fueling the fire.
“Yet the irony of all this was for me — in my lengthy career at ESPN — I my the highest marks for the way I handled myself that I ever got from the people upstairs. ‘Oh, you didn’t stoop to mud-sling or fight fire with fire as you usually do. You stayed cool under fire.’ Well, I was trying to so we didn’t have another incident.”
Watch above via Fox Sports 1.
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