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Skip Bayless is paid a lot of money by Fox Sports to say a lot of asinine things on TV – many of which he probably doesn’t even believe. But what he said on Thursday’s episode of the highly unwatchable show “Undisputed” should have him out of a job, and it’s a move that should have happened hours ago.
Here’s guessing the folks at FS1, who brought this boorish windbag over to their network to spew stupid things on a show nobody watches, probably won’t have the guts to do it, which is sad, because Bayless deserves to be booted out of the TV studio and into obscurity for the good of all of us.
(Full disclosure: I used to work at Fox Sports, though I didn’t work directly with Bayless.)
In fact, Fox Sports put out a statement Thursday night that basically said: “We don’t stand by what Skip had to say but this statement will hopefully be enough to show that we don’t really care and aren’t going to do anything about it. Thank you for reading this meaningless statement.”
In case you missed it, Bayless ripped Cowboys QB Dak Prescott for opening up about the depression he suffered from during the beginning of the COVID-19 quarantine. In April, Prescott’s brother, Jace, died by suicide at the age of 31. Prescott spoke about how he was overcome be emotions and needed to get help, which happens when very awful things happen in your life.
Bayless, however, wasn’t a fan of Prescott talking about his depression because Prescott is the quarterback of “America’s Team” and a star football player who is the leader of his team and is apparently not supposed to have emotions and feelings or be OK with sharing those emotions and feelings.
Bayless said:
“I’m going to ask our audience to go ahead and condemn me, if you choose, as cold-blooded and insensitive on this issue. I have deep compassion for clinical depression. But when it comes to the quarterback of an NFL team, you know this better than I do, it’s the ultimate leadership position in sports. You are commanding an entire franchise. … But you’re commanding a lot of young men and some older men. And they’re all looking to you to be their CEO, to be in charge of the football team. Because of all that, I don’t have sympathy for him going public with ‘I got depressed. I suffered depression early in COVID to the point where I couldn’t even go workout.’ Look, he’s the quarterback of America’s Team.”
Come. The. Blank. On.
Here’s the thing, Skip. You can’t have a “deep compassion for clinical depression” and then say you’re not a fan of a young man sharing his struggles with depression.
It just doesn’t work that way.
Also, Skip, the sign of a true leader is one who is strong enough to share their emotions and feelings and to let people in to help them when they need it. Being vulnerable is 100 percent OK. It’s also 100 percent encouraged and only brings you closer to those around you in your life.
Getting help for depression can be a very hard thing for many people to do. Hearing a NFL star talk openly and refreshingly about getting help for depression can only help so many people who look up to him and might be feeling the same way. Finding out you’re not alone with your struggles is such a powerful moment. To deny that from happening just because someone plays for a professional football team is truly awful.
My fear with this ugly, idiotic take by Bayless is that it will make it even harder for some people to seek the help they need, though I hope I’m wrong.
Here are some important words that Prescott shared with reporters on Thursday:
“I got the help I needed, and I was very open about it. … Emotions can overcome you if you don’t do something about it. Mental health is a huge issue and it’s a real thing in our world right now, especially the world we live in where everything is as viral and everyone is part of the media, I guess you can say, and can get on social media and be overcome with emotions or be overcome with the thoughts of other people and allow that to fill into their heads when those things aren’t necessarily true, whether it’s getting likes on Instagram or something being viewed or being bulied or whatever it may be. All of those things can put thoughts into your head about yourself or about your situation in life that aren’t true. I think that it’s huge. I think it’s huge to talk, I think it’s huge to get help and it saves lives.”
To not want Prescott to say anything about his struggles is not just utterly stupid, it’s completely dangerous and FS1 should be ashamed of itself for giving this man a platform to spread such a horrific message.
Thursday’s biggest losers: Chiefs fans who booed the moment of unity.
The Chiefs allowed around 17,000 fans into Arrowhead for Thursday night’s season opener and then a lot of those fans booed during a moment of unity in which the players from both teams locked arms in the middle of the field before kickoff. What a disgusting showing by those fans.
Quick hits: NFL Week 1 picks… No Collinsworth slide… Don’t bet on Brady… And more.
– Steven Ruiz and Charles Curtis are back with their weekly NFL picks against the spread.
– NFL fans were bummed out about Cris Collinsworth not being able to do the Collinsworth Slide before Thursday night’s game.
– Nick Schwartz explains why you shouldn’t bet on Tom Brady in Week 1.
– Here’s one reason why each team won’t win the Super Bowl.
– Steph Curry went to Drake’s mansion for a shoot-around session.