This is expert-level trolling by Stephen A. Smith.
If you’ve been on Twitter at all this week, you’ve most likely come across people arguing over the best places to sit in a subway car, or various other public places. This tweet featuring a photo of a New York City subway car went viral on Tuesday – but ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith delivered the single best version of the meme we’ve seen on Friday, just before the start of the NFL playoffs.
Smith, the worldwide leader in trolling Dallas Cowboys fans, asked Cowboys players where the best place to sit inside a living room is for watching the playoffs on television.
Stephen A. Smith didn’t miss an opportunity to roast Cowboys fans after Dallas’ crushing loss in Week 16.
Stephen A. Smith’s greatest Christmas gift came early this year, as the Dallas Cowboys lost control of the NFC East with a crushing 17-9 loss to the depleted Eagles in Philadelphia. Smith has been reveling in the Cowboys’ misfortune all season long, and he released a video of himself dancing and laughing uncontrollably after the Eagles won to drop Dallas to 7-8.
Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!! Right on time. 3-Days before Christmas. Right when @dallascowboys FANS are about to open their gifts. Haaaaaa!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/pWj1Fv5O31
On Monday, Smith appeared on ESPN’s Get Up in his cowboy hat carrying a huge Christmas gift. Smith revealed that the gift was for Cowboys fans, and that he would unwrap it on First Take.
Later that morning, Smith finally opened up the package to reveal…. “ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.”
“What’s in here? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. No division crown. No playoff victory. No Super Bowl. Absolutely, positively nothing for Dallas Cowboys fans…. because that’s what you deserve!”
ESPN turned Stephen A. Smith into a human bobblehead.
ESPN gave new meaning to the term “talking head” in a wild YouTube video uploaded to its channel on Saturday, which features a collection of Stephen A. Smith’s greatest rants on TV, with Smith’s head super-sized.
Behold “Big Head Stephen A.”
This isn’t the first time ESPN has had some fun with the face of the network. Back in March, when the Snapchat baby filter was the briefly the biggest thing on social media, ESPN created a collection of Baby Stephen A.’s greatest hits.
What’s better than First Take star Stephen A. Smith going off on his talk show opponent with a characteristically over-the-top rant? Stephen A. Smith facing off against himself. Behold Stephen A. Smith going off on Stephen A. Smith in a fantasy First Take segment about Kevin Durant.
“I’m going to call the bosses today. You should be banned from talking basketball.”
Back in 2017, this video of Skip Bayless seamlessly arguing with himself over Aaron Rodgers’ legacy went viral.
After a crushing loss to the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, it was no different for the ESPN personality. Only this time, instead of lighting a cigar, he put on some Al Green singing Let’s Stay Together and waxed poetic in a video about how tough it must be for die-hards before breaking into a dance and a lot of laughter. First Take also played a remix of their DJ Steve Porter “Accident Waiting to Happen” song that uses footage of Smith trolling the Cowboys.
Paul Finebaum’s outlook for Nick Saban isn’t great.
For the first time since the College Football Playoff was implemented in 2014, Alabama will (most likely) not be one of the four teams competing for a national championship.
Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide, whose most recent title was in the 2017-18 season, lost Saturday to Auburn for their second defeat of the season, effectively knocking them out of the playoff picture with so many undefeated and one-loss teams still in the hunt. They also lost earlier this season to LSU, which will play Georgia in the SEC championship game Saturday.
ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum says Alabama’s issues are about more than this season, which is why he argues the Saban’s dominance in college football is coming to an end.
“We’re not saying he’s done,” Finebaum said Tuesday on Get Up about the 68-year-old coach. “We’re saying this dynasty’s window is closing very tightly.”
Alabama lost starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to a season-ending hip injury earlier this month in the team’s win against Mississippi State, and that was after he missed the Arkansas game in October while recovering from ankle surgery. Sophomore Mac Jones is finishing out the season as the starter, but as we saw against Auburn, even with so many explosive players on offense, he has some catching up to do.
Finebaum explained what he sees as the bigger picture for Saban’s and Alabama’s future.
He said to Get Up host Mike Greenberg:
“It’s been happening very slowly over the past couple years, but I think over the last couple of months, we’ve seen it. It started with the 28-point blowout to Clemson [in the 2018-19 national championship game]. Saban said, ‘We have to get the Alabama factor back.’ It didn’t happen. It has been a really disappointing season. People are saying, ‘Are you kidding? Alabama went 10-2, and they’re still ranked in the top 10.’ But that’s the difference at Alabama. Couple of reasons why, Greeny. Staff turnover has been a constant churn, especially on the defensive side. Recruiting is an issue. They’re still No. 2 or 3 in recruiting, but they’re being pressed hard by Clemson and Georgia.
“And I’ll say this: I know that everyone will be surprised to know that I covered the end of Bear Bryant’s tenure about 38 years ago as a young reporter — yes, young — and I saw some of the very same signs. He’s considered the greatest coach of all time. Saban surpassed him. It looks very similar.”
Not everyone agrees with Finebaum’s assessment, including Dan Orlovsky, who was sitting across from Finebaum and Greenberg. Orlovsky pointed out how Alabama’s most recent title was only two years ago and said the team has plenty to look forward to as its younger players gain experience.
Stephen A. Smith was also not a fan of Finebaum’s argument, calling it “Absolute Blasphemy”.
BLASPHEMY out of the mouth of @finebaum on @GetUpESPN this morning about Nick Saban. Absolute Blasphemy
Finebaum expanded on his initial reaction to Alabama’s loss while on SportsCenter on Sunday. He described the Crimson Tide as lacking discipline and the defensive prowess it’s typically known for, and put the blame squarely on Saban.
He said:
“He promised after the 28-point loss to Clemson that the Alabama factor would be re-established. Has anyone seen it? I haven’t. Penalties and galore. Thirteen penalties, five false starts. There’s no discipline, not enough discipline on this team, and when you start really breaking it down, defense is where the problem is. This team against the last three top-20 opponents has given up 44, 46 and 48 points! That’s not the Nick Saban team I’m accustomed to.”
Stephen A. Smith took a victory lap on Friday after the Cowboys’ loss to the Bills.
No one enjoyed the Cowboys’ crushing home loss on Thanksgiving more than Stephen A. Smith, who trolled Cowboys fans with an epic video on Twitter after the game. Smith, who can’t stand the “sickening, nauseating, disgusting” Cowboys fanbase, took a victory lap on Friday’s episode of First Take, and recorded a special show intro wearing a cowboy hat and holding a cigar.
Smith argued that Cowboys coach Jason Garrett has to go, and that it makes no sense for the organization to stand by him after he has struggled to meet expectations for years.
“When a quarterback is struggling, they’ll change up. If a wide receiver, a tight end, an offensive tackle [struggles], they’ll change up…. You’re sitting around appalled at the thought of somebody getting rid of Jason Garrett. You get rid of players every day! Why can’t you get rid of a coach that ain’t getting it done? I don’t understand it. Of course he should be gone right now.”
Stephen A. Smith gleefully trolls the Cowboys after loss to Bills
The Dallas Cowboys suffered a demoralizing home loss on Thanksgiving Day to the Buffalo Bills, and no one enjoyed reveled in the misery of Cowboys fans more than ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who could barely contain himself in a video he uploaded to Twitter on Thursday night. Smith sipped on a glass of wine and couldn’t stop laughing over the current state of the Cowboys, as Dallas fell to 6-6 with the loss to allow the Eagles right back into the NFC East divisional race.
“You know, I tried to tell y’all…. I’m sitting on Thanksgiving. It’s Thanksgiving evening. Stomach’s full. I’ve eaten very well. Spending beautiful time with my family. My sister Carmen hooked me up, you know what I’m saying? Very, very good evening.
And then what happens? As if I needed another reason to laugh. As if I needed another reason to smile, Josh Allen, some second-year quarterback, rolls into Jerry World looking like the second coming of Joe Montana! Oh, I’m sorry, Lamar Jackson!
You know, First Take’s going to be beautiful tomorrow. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I was tired, I was sleepy, but not anymore!
Stephen A. Smith sounds off on Colin Kaepernick’s decision to ditch the NFL-organized workout last weekend.
The Colin Kaepernick saga took another surprising twist last weekend, when Kaepernick opted not to participate in an NFL-sanctioned workout in Atlanta at the last minute, and instead staged his own workout at a high school, which was open to the media.
When the workout, which was set to be held at the Atlanta Falcons’ training facility and run by former head coach Hue Jackson, was announced last week, Kaepernick tweeted that he was looking forward to meeting with the various team officials in attendance – but Kaepernick’s camp did not agree to the NFL’s terms of the event. According to Jackson, who appeared on First Take on Friday, he was informed just 10 minutes before the workout was supposed to begin that Kaepernick would not be participating. Jackson said that he spoke to Kaepernick’s agent on Friday, who gave him every indication the previous day that the QB would be working out.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith has come under fire for his reactions to Kaepernick’s decision to shirk the NFL, from current and former NFL players, along with co-host Max Kellerman. Earlier this week, Smith said that Kaepernick’s actions proved that he “doesn’t want to play, he wants to be a martyr.” On Thursday, Terrell Owens called out Smith on First Take, saying that Kellerman – who has argued that Kapernick was right to not give the NFL control over his workout – “seemed blacker” than Smith.
On Friday’s episode, Smith clarified some of his earlier comments on the Kaepernick situation, and argued that the timing of Kaepernick’s change of plans indicated that he had been orchestrating the event all along.
“This is where I’m coming from. Somebody’s going to have to explain to me how you [Hue Jackson] just told me that you were on the phone with the representatives for Colin Kaepernick as of Friday, and yet some how, some way, this high school that you went two an hour and 20 minutes away, 51 miles away, was just impromptu.
I don’t know if you know anything about public high schools…. but let me tell you something about a public high school. You’ve got to get permission to use those facilities. You know anybody working on Saturday morning? I don’t.
…. Which means that ultimately, at the time that you were talking to the rep that was giving you every indication that you needed to be [at the Falcons’ facility] because ‘we’re coming,’ OK, that an alternative plan was being put in play.
And why? We see the Colin Kaepernick jerseys out there. So those people just showed up wearing that jersey? No organization whatsoever, huh? ‘I’m with Kaep.’ That’s just an accident? Or the others with t-shirts that said ‘I know my rights.’ That was an accident? That wasn’t planned? That wasn’t orchestrated?
Let’s understand something here. At the end of the day, Colin Kaepernick may indeed want to play football, and I understand that people took issue with my point ‘he don’t wanna play, he wants to be a martyr.’
I meant the martyr part. But I wasn’t literal about saying he doesn’t want to play. What I was trying to state was this: You have a history with the National Football League. A history that obviously is not fair. They have blackballed him. He has been mistreated. It has been unfair. This man deserves to be in the league. He did not violate any laws, he did not violate any bylaws. He should have never been blackballed from the NFL.”
Smith said that Kaepernick’s camp reached out to him when the quarterback was trying to make it back to the NFL, and expressed that Kaepernick simply wanted to play and was willing to put his history with the NFL behind him. For Smith, his actions over the weekend proved otherwise.
“What happened was, he had the [second] workout, and then after the workout, he antagonizes the very commissioner who helped put this together, told him to ‘stop running,’ showed up with a Kunta Kinte shirt on…. I’m saying as a black person, to know that you’re going to do that… There is no black person with sense that thinks that’s going to help them get a job!”
“You ain’t the only brother out there that’s in the streets.”
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith has faced plenty of criticism this past week for how he responded to Colin Kaepernick’s handling of an NFL-organized workout in Atlanta last Saturday.
Kaepernick opted to hold his own open workout at a high school after the NFL prohibited outside cameras from filming at the Falcons facility and urged him to a sign a conspicuously broad waiver. When Kaepernick’s workout came to a close, Smith joined a number of prominent media members in carrying water for the league.
That prompted co-host Max Kellerman to shut down Smith’s pro-NFL stance on First Take. But on Thursday, Hall of Fame NFL receiver Terrell Owens also went after Smith for the Kaepernick criticism. Owens told Smith that Kellerman “seemed blacker” than Smith for supporting Kaepernick, and the ESPN personality wasn’t happy with the remark.
Here's Stephen A. Smith's response to Terrell Owens "I'm from Hollis, Queens, I'm in the streets every day" pic.twitter.com/SafDldiA4z
“With all due respect, my brother, Imma check you right now. You don’t cross the line. You don’t cross the line. First of all, like I said, you, Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, any of y’all that want to debate me in front of black people and talk about what’s best for black people, name the time and place — I’ll show up.
“I don’t want to hear … What’s the definition of blackness? Is there a definitive definition of blackness? Why are you giving the impression that because I don’t march lockstep with every single thing that Colin Kaepernick wants, OK, excuse me … But you just sat up there and used an expression, ‘More blacker.’ Excuse me. I’m from Hollis, Queens, New York City. You ain’t the only brother out there that’s in the streets. I’m in the streets everyday. So, let’s be very clear, and you damn well know that’s the truth. And so my point to you is this, again, I’m not going to disrespect you. I’m not going to go that route. But based just on what you just said, this is supposedly Stephen A. and T.O. going at one another. Did you know that I invited Colin Kaepernick to give him this platform for the entire two hours? … The floor is yours. I also gave that invitation to Eric Reid. I know people at other networks that has given Colin Kaepernick that same thing. They disagreed with him to some degree. Are you questioning their blackness too?”
Owens responded that he didn’t mean the comment as disrespect, which Smith didn’t exactly buy.
Smith had clashed with Eric Reid over the weekend on social media and carried much of that same commentary into the week’s First Take telecasts.
