“Nobody Wanted My Ass There”—Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s Backroom Politics
I know I’m late to the party—but in 2023, the man who would become ESPN’s highest-paid employee released a memoir describing his rise-to-the-top story, family trauma, and gives sports media tidbits. After reading Straight Shooter: A Memoir of Second Chances and First Takes I’ve got three big takeaways.
And lots of little nuggets… but let’s focus on the takeaways!
1. ESPN Execs Did Not Want Stephen A. to Succeed
In 2003, when Stephen A. Smith’s name was floated for a contributor role at ESPN, the room went cold. Almost every executive and producer hated the idea.
“Nobody wanted my ass there,” Stephen A. writes.
Former VP of Programming Mark Shapiro was so stunned by the unanimous pushback that he interviewed Stephen A. just to see what the hell the fuss was about. That interview led to Stephen A. landing a role as an ESPN contributor, primarily appearing on NBA Shootaround. By 2005, he had his own show: Quite Frankly.
The show flopped in ratings—partly because it was built around longform interviews instead of letting Stephen A. be Stephen A. Just when the format was about to shift toward a more opinionated, host-centric model, Shapiro left the network. The suits who didn’t want Stephen A. there in the first place took over.
Suddenly, the show was moved to a dead-zone 11PM time slot, dependent on live sporting events ending on time. Which might not be a big deal—if the lead-in was the NFL, NBA, or MLB. But it wasn’t. Quite Frankly got shark fishing…
Something like Shark Fishing isn’t pulling in a big enough audience for the start time to be inconsistent.
“That uncertain starting time was not likely to attract viewers who were getting ready for bed.” he says.
The show got canceled in 2007, and Stephen A. was fired from ESPN in 2009.
But here’s the kicker: In 2011, when ESPN brought Stephen A. back for radio, the same execs banned him from appearing on TV. Why? Probably because if he blew up again, it would expose how wrong they were in 2003—and again in 2009.
He didn’t get back on television until Skip Bayless demanded it in order to save First Take in 2012.
2. Richard Sherman Almost Got Skip Bayless Fired!
I’ve never been a big fan of Skip Bayless. Let’s be honest—his takes are either ratings-driven nonsense so bad you can’t help but hate-watch, or he’s actually the dumbest analyst in the history of televised sports. I’d take Booger McFarland or Mel Kiper Jr. over him. (Okay, maybe not Mel. Booger’s a maybe.)
Anyway, there was a moment in 2013 where Skip finally got what was coming to him—on live TV.
Seahawks legend-to-be Richard Sherman was brought on First Take just ahead of the Legion of Boom’s historic Super Bowl season. Even before that championship run, Sherman was already the best corner in the league.
Skip, of course, had argued that Sherman didn’t belong in the same conversation as Darrelle Revis or Deion Sanders.
Sherman responded at the start of the interview:
“Skip, whenever you refer to me, whenever you speak to me, whenever you address me, address me as ‘All-Pro Stanford Graduate,’ because those are some accomplishments you can aspire to, but you will never accomplish.”
Bayless: “I think I’ve accomplished more in my field than you have in yours.”
Sherman: “I’m at the top of my field. I’m an All-Pro. I’m one of the best 22 players in the NFL… I don’t think you’re the best 22 anything.”
Just like that, Sherman gave a voice to every Skip-hater watching at home—including a few at ESPN.
According to Stephen A., network higher-ups were already nervous about Skip’s constant criticism of LeBron James, T.O., and basically anyone who wasn’t Tim Tebow. But Sherman’s segment made ESPN execs question whether First Take was damaging the network’s reputation.
Per the book, ESPN seriously considered canceling the show.
Let me repeat that: Richard Sherman talked so much shit on live TV that the biggest sports network in the world considered blowing the whole thing up!
3. ESPN Made Stephen A. Read an Apology—Then Suspended Him Anyway
Remember the Ray Rice situation? The video of him knocking his fiancée (now wife) out cold in an elevator? The NFL gave him a measly two-game suspension. After the video was released, the Ravens cut him and his career was over.
Naturally, First Take covered the story.
Skip Bayless went first and said what everyone expected: “You never hit a woman. It’s disturbing. It’s inexcusable.”
Stephen A. agreed—but instead of stopping there, he tried to add something new to the conversation.
“There is never an excuse to put your hands on a woman… at the same time, we also have to make sure we learn as much as we can about elements of provocation.”
That one sentence changed everything.
It didn’t matter what point he meant to make—that line sounded like, “You shouldn’t hit a woman, but sometimes…”
ESPN got slammed. The backlash came from every direction—including from inside the building. Female staff from ESPNW were furious.
John Skipper, ESPN’s president at the time, called Stephen A. and told him he wouldn’t be suspended—he just needed to apologize. ESPN’s HR team wrote the apology, and Stephen A. read it on air.
Less than 48 hours later, Skipper called back. The apology wasn’t enough. He was suspended for a week.
He did exactly what they told him to do. They pulled the rug out anyway.
Bonus nugget: Skip Bayless refused to go on First Take during Stephen A.’s suspension.
“I’ll be back when my brother returns.”
Gotta respect that—even if I don’t like the guy.
Stephen A. would find himself in hot water again years later when he said Shohei Ohtani shouldn’t be the face of MLB because he needed an interpreter. This time? He didn’t let HR touch the apology. He wrote it himself and brought ESPN’s Joon Lee and Jeff Passan on the show to talk through the issue face to face.
Moral of the story – never trust your boss or HR department! (Think I’m missing the point?)
There’s a lot more in Straight Shooter—from his falling out with Max Kellerman to how he really felt about Skip Bayless leaving ESPN, to some unfiltered honesty about his father. Love him or hate him, Stephen A has carved out a piece of sports media history for himself. The book was definitely worth the read!