Nick Tre. Smith/Icon Sportswire via Getty ImagesWhen Shannon Sharpe left FS1 as the co-host of Undisputed alongside Skip Bayless, it wasn't immediately clear why as the former NFL tight end remained tight-lipped on the situation.
However, what was clear was that there was a rift between Sharpe and Bayless after the two got into a heated exchange during a Tom Brady debate that turned personal when Bayless took a shot at Sharpe's NFL career.
"[Brady]'s still playing at a high level at 45 when you had to stop at 35, that's the point," Bayless exclaimed during an Undisputed segment in December 2022.
Sharpe shot back at Bayless, essentially calling him out for the disrespect, and Bayless proceeded to continue his argument by saying, "[Brady]'s way better than you were. Way better."
Brady and Sharpe played two different positions—One a quarterback and the other a tight end. To compare their careers feels moot unless you want to talk about how two of the most successful players in NFL history were seventh-round draft picks.
Sharpe has since joined Stephen A. Smith as a co-host of ESPN's First Take, and he recently opened up to Smith about why he exited Undisputed, referencing that infamous segment, saying that Bayless "had no respect" for him.
Sharpe said on The Stephen A. Smith Show:
"A lot of that is my fault. Because there were times that led up to that that I felt shots were taken and I let it go. And I should've said something then, but I didn't. And I would bring it to people's attention, and they brushed it up under the rug. So that was my fault that it got to that point and he felt that he could go over the top in that situation. I think in any relationship where there's host, co-host... once one partner has no respect for the other, the other partner then in turn loses respect for said partner. Then, I think it's only a matter of time. Because in that moment I had felt he had lost all respect for me. He had no respect for me."... I knew in that moment in time, it was only a matter of time. They were going to have to separate that. I knew that. I knew that. I was willing to play out the contract, but I knew it was going to end because he had started coming with greater, greater regularity, the disrespect."You can say I'm loud, you can say I'm obnoxious, you can say I'm arrogant. But to try to poo-poo my career, a seventh-rounder that started out on special teams and played so well that I got into the Hall of Fame. To try to minimize that was disheartening for me. ...I considered Skip a friend. For you to take that kind of personal shot at me, it really hurt me, Stephen A. It really did."Sharpe added that he wished the situation could've been handled differently and that he was "grateful for the opportunity." He also stated that he is grateful for Bayless fighting for him to be a co-host of Undisputed after FS1 wanted to put a journalist alongside him.
However, Sharpe said he pushed back and got upset when people said that "Skip Bayless made Shannon Sharpe":
"Skip Bayless did not make Shannon Sharpe relatable. Skip Bayless did not make Shannon Sharpe the storyteller he is. Skip Bayless did not make Shannon Sharpe the football player that can break down plays and say, 'This is what happened. That's what happened. And this is why the play worked or didn't work.' "Yes, I'm going to miss aspects of it. Yes, I'm going to miss debating him. But it had gotten to the point the last six or seven months... and I won't allow it to ruin the six great years that we had. But it had gotten to the point that we needed to go our separate ways."Sharpe and Bayless typically debated about the day's top sports topics during Undisputed and it was respectable more often than not. However, it was very clear that a line was drawn last year when the two clashed, and Sharpe only confirmed that while speaking with Smith.
Sharpe and Smith's First Take has been crushing Undisputed in viewership over the last two weeks.
First Take averaged 626,000 viewers on the first Monday after NFL season and 717,000 viewers on Tuesday, per Awful Announcing. Undisputed drew 185,000 and 118,000 viewers, respectively, on those same days.
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