It was reported yesterday by The New York Post that my former ESPN colleague, my friend Skip Bayless, will be leaving f s once Undisputed at the end of the summer. Skip has been with FS one since twenty sixteen after spending twelve years at ESPN. He arrived at FS one the co host Skip and Shannon's Undisputed, a debate show with Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharp, who left the show last summer to join First Take. Various co hosts include Rachel Nichols, Paul Pears, Richard Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson, and Michael Irvin. They've sat alongside Skip Bayles since Shannon left, but as the reports have said, they've had some rating struggles. I'm not about to get into that. I'm not going to play that game. Skip Bayless and I have not spoken in a long time. He's on that side of the defense. I'm on this side of defense. But as I've stated on many occasions, as I've stated months ago to Dan Lebertard, in response to Dan Lebertard and something that he had said in terms of me wanting to destroy Skip Bayles's who. He ultimately retracted that statement in fairness to him. I don't root against my colleagues and contemporaries, and certainly not my friends. I just root for me to be more successful. Being on first take and wanting to be number one doesn't mean I wanted Skip Bayless to fail, doesn't mean that I want to see him out of the business and out of the profession. And with the news coming down that he's departing from FS one, I have not called them. I'm not going to because I know what this moment must be like for him. They can put out in all the stories that they want to Skip Baylor's has a bowload of energy, and Skip Baylor's doesn't want to walk away from anything. He lives, eats, and breathes sports. I don't know anything. I haven't called and asked anybody anything. What I know is that there is no way on earth that I can imagine him walking away. And I was watching some folks talk the other day and including Marcellus Wilely, I form a colleague at ESPN, and he had mixed emotions because obviously he likes Skip but doesn't like skin trolling tendencies throughout the years, but Ski was always nice to him. He's fond of Skip et cetera, et cetera, So he had mixed emotions. There were others who expressed the same thing. For me, it's sad, sadness because I can't imagine that this is a happy time for him. There's a lot of positive things going on in my career and the place that I'm in, Skip Bayless has a lot to do with that. Who knows where I'd be had he not put me on first take. Yes, we catapulted and we elevated and we became number one together, and that's true, but it doesn't happen if he doesn't push to make it happen. I'm not gonna speak for Shannon Sharp. He can do that on his own, but I will quote him and what he has said to me on numerous occasions. No matter what happened with him and Skip Baylor's, he's not gonna let six years be ruined by six months. Well, he's not gonna let six months ruin what transpired between them over six years. It's real, real easy for folks to pounce on whatever their perception is of what happened, would Skip n FS one, But what I would ask you to consider is the industry itself outside of sports, Think about what has transpired in this world. Think about how every team, to every company, whatever it is that you want to pick and choose or whatever, the spin doctors, the PR departments and everything else. No matter what you say, there's always plausible deniability. We've diminished ourselves as a society to a point where you can have the facts right in front of you, and all that matters is to spin attached to those facts, depending on which side of the hole you fall on on any particular subject. So what has ultimately born from all of that is debate. It's different perspectives and different opinions coming out, and a lot of times what I think people miss when they're talking about this industry, they're talking about a Skip Bayless or me or somebody else and trolling and using words like that. Well, number one, you're forgetting history. You're forgetting that Skip Bayless was as in LA and Dallas and Chicago in various other places that he had a journalism career spanning decades. You're forgetting that although he would take the positions that he take, and yes he was a bit excessive with you know, Tim Tebow, and clearly accessive with Lebron James and clearly excessive with various other things. You're forgetting what that bred. You're forgetting the fact that it opened the floodgates for others to debate him, for others to get their equal opportunity to provide their perspectives on certain matters, so they could speak their piece and ultimately elevate their profile. You're forgetting the fact that ultimately it was able to breed a new line of work in business, creating business opportunities for all of us. Think about your podcast, think about television, think about sports talk radio, Think about Mike and a mad Dog, think about Jim Rohme, think about all of these folks. I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm not saying it's always right. Hell I'm not even saying and denying that this. Sometimes I left myself scratching my head. Skip Bayless knew how I felt, whether it was t Bow or Troy Aikman or Lebron James or whatever the case may be. But so what, at the end of the day, that's how you felt, Here's how I felt, Here's how you felt, Here's how you felt. That's how you look at it. I'm listening to people talk and it's like, oh my god, he's falling on his face. He's this, he's that because of ratings or whatever. And I'm like, I think he's seventy three. Hein's some thirty year old that flopped after one year. He's been doing it for over forty and he's transitioned and transcended throughout the years. Is he perfect? No? None of us are. Is he always right? Hell no? Are there things that most of us would have done differently than him? Fine? But what I'm not gonna do ever is talk about him like he's failed. There comes a point in time when at a specific place, it ain't your time anymore. It doesn't even mean that it's over. It doesn't mean that he won't have a podcast, It doesn't mean that he won't get another show somewhere else. It doesn't mean that we've heard the end of SKIP but leaving FS one, if it is the end, it's not a failure. And if he moves on to something else, God bless him. I know a lot of people were expect them to hear something from me, you know, celebrating it. I'm not celebrating it. I'm on first take. My goal is always to win. All of our time is up. I'm a black man, make no mistake about it. I know it's gonna come to an end for me. Someday. Nothing lasts forever. I'm under no illusions. I hope in the end, when all is said and done, my career will be as long as Skip Bayless's career has been. You know, when you love somebody, you don't always have to agree with them. Hell, you don't even always have to like them or like some of the shit they do. But what you don't do to celebrate when, at least in the crevices of your own mind, you're imagining that they're in pain. I hope that's not the case for Skip Bayless. I hope that this is what he wants. I hope that he's got additional plans, and when it's time for us to talk, he'll call and let me know. He's a different cat. You don't bother him, You let him reach out to you when he feels good and ready is I know him, I've known him for decades, but I can't imagine that these times are real easy for him. I just wanted to speak on it a to let everybody know I'm not happy if he's not happy as it pertains to his situation. And number two, I won't speak against him again. He wasn't always right. We didn't always agree. Matter of fact, most of the time ninety nine percent of the time we disagreed. But where I am, where I've been, and especially where the hell I'm going with the stuff I got planned coming down the pike in a matter of months, none of its possible. If Skip Bayless doesn't extend that help in hand and brings me on first take. I'll never forget that. I never have I never will. You want to hold onto something that I have to say about Skip Baylor's hold on to that

It was reported yesterday by The New York Post that my former ESPN colleague, my friend Skip Bayless, will be leaving f s once Undisputed at the end of the summer. Skip has been with FS one since twenty sixteen after spending twelve years at ESPN. He arrived at FS one the co host Skip and Shannon's Undisputed, a debate show with Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharp, who left the show last summer to join First Take. Various co hosts include Rachel Nichols, Paul Pears, Richard Sherman, Keyshawn Johnson, and Michael Irvin. They've sat alongside Skip Bayles since Shannon left, but as the reports have said, they've had some rating struggles. I'm not about to get into that. I'm not going to play that game. Skip Bayless and I have not spoken in a long time. He's on that side of the defense. I'm on this side of defense. But as I've stated on many occasions, as I've stated months ago to Dan Lebertard, in response to Dan Lebertard and something that he had said in terms of me wanting to destroy Skip Bayles's who. He ultimately retracted that statement in fairness to him. I don't root against my colleagues and contemporaries, and certainly not my friends. I just root for me to be more successful. Being on first take and wanting to be number one doesn't mean I wanted Skip Bayless to fail, doesn't mean that I want to see him out of the business and out of the profession. And with the news coming down that he's departing from FS one, I have not called them. I'm not going to because I know what this moment must be like for him. They can put out in all the stories that they want to Skip Baylor's has a bowload of energy, and Skip Baylor's doesn't want to walk away from anything. He lives, eats, and breathes sports. I don't know anything. I haven't called and asked anybody anything. What I know is that there is no way on earth that I can imagine him walking away. And I was watching some folks talk the other day and including Marcellus Wilely, I form a colleague at ESPN, and he had mixed emotions because obviously he likes Skip but doesn't like skin trolling tendencies throughout the years, but Ski was always nice to him. He's fond of Skip et cetera, et cetera, So he had mixed emotions. There were others who expressed the same thing. For me, it's sad, sadness because I can't imagine that this is a happy time for him. There's a lot of positive things going on in my career and the place that I'm in, Skip Bayless has a lot to do with that. Who knows where I'd be had he not put me on first take. Yes, we catapulted and we elevated and we became number one together, and that's true, but it doesn't happen if he doesn't push to make it happen. I'm not gonna speak for Shannon Sharp. He can do that on his own, but I will quote him and what he has said to me on numerous occasions. No matter what happened with him and Skip Baylor's, he's not gonna let six years be ruined by six months. Well, he's not gonna let six months ruin what transpired between them over six years. It's real, real easy for folks to pounce on whatever their perception is of what happened, would Skip n FS one, But what I would ask you to consider is the industry itself outside of sports, Think about what has transpired in this world. Think about how every team, to every company, whatever it is that you want to pick and choose or whatever, the spin doctors, the PR departments and everything else. No matter what you say, there's always plausible deniability. We've diminished ourselves as a society to a point where you can have the facts right in front of you, and all that matters is to spin attached to those facts, depending on which side of the hole you fall on on any particular subject. So what has ultimately born from all of that is debate. It's different perspectives and different opinions coming out, and a lot of times what I think people miss when they're talking about this industry, they're talking about a Skip Bayless or me or somebody else and trolling and using words like that. Well, number one, you're forgetting history. You're forgetting that Skip Bayless was as in LA and Dallas and Chicago in various other places that he had a journalism career spanning decades. You're forgetting that although he would take the positions that he take, and yes he was a bit excessive with you know, Tim Tebow, and clearly accessive with Lebron James and clearly excessive with various other things. You're forgetting what that bred. You're forgetting the fact that it opened the floodgates for others to debate him, for others to get their equal opportunity to provide their perspectives on certain matters, so they could speak their piece and ultimately elevate their profile. You're forgetting the fact that ultimately it was able to breed a new line of work in business, creating business opportunities for all of us. Think about your podcast, think about television, think about sports talk radio, Think about Mike and a mad Dog, think about Jim Rohme, think about all of these folks. I'm not saying it's perfect. I'm not saying it's always right. Hell I'm not even saying and denying that this. Sometimes I left myself scratching my head. Skip Bayless knew how I felt, whether it was t Bow or Troy Aikman or Lebron James or whatever the case may be. But so what, at the end of the day, that's how you felt, Here's how I felt, Here's how you felt, Here's how you felt. That's how you look at it. I'm listening to people talk and it's like, oh my god, he's falling on his face. He's this, he's that because of ratings or whatever. And I'm like, I think he's seventy three. Hein's some thirty year old that flopped after one year. He's been doing it for over forty and he's transitioned and transcended throughout the years. Is he perfect? No? None of us are. Is he always right? Hell no? Are there things that most of us would have done differently than him? Fine? But what I'm not gonna do ever is talk about him like he's failed. There comes a point in time when at a specific place, it ain't your time anymore. It doesn't even mean that it's over. It doesn't mean that he won't have a podcast, It doesn't mean that he won't get another show somewhere else. It doesn't mean that we've heard the end of SKIP but leaving FS one, if it is the end, it's not a failure. And if he moves on to something else, God bless him. I know a lot of people were expect them to hear something from me, you know, celebrating it. I'm not celebrating it. I'm on first take. My goal is always to win. All of our time is up. I'm a black man, make no mistake about it. I know it's gonna come to an end for me. Someday. Nothing lasts forever. I'm under no illusions. I hope in the end, when all is said and done, my career will be as long as Skip Bayless's career has been. You know, when you love somebody, you don't always have to agree with them. Hell, you don't even always have to like them or like some of the shit they do. But what you don't do to celebrate when, at least in the crevices of your own mind, you're imagining that they're in pain. I hope that's not the case for Skip Bayless. I hope that this is what he wants. I hope that he's got additional plans, and when it's time for us to talk, he'll call and let me know. He's a different cat. You don't bother him, You let him reach out to you when he feels good and ready is I know him, I've known him for decades, but I can't imagine that these times are real easy for him. I just wanted to speak on it a to let everybody know I'm not happy if he's not happy as it pertains to his situation. And number two, I won't speak against him again. He wasn't always right. We didn't always agree. Matter of fact, most of the time ninety nine percent of the time we disagreed. But where I am, where I've been, and especially where the hell I'm going with the stuff I got planned coming down the pike in a matter of months, none of its possible. If Skip Bayless doesn't extend that help in hand and brings me on first take. I'll never forget that. I never have I never will. You want to hold onto something that I have to say about Skip Baylor's hold on to that