Stephen A. Smith is known to everyone in the NFL community as the jovial sports commentator. One who always knows how to keep fans hooked with punchy lines and humor-filled arguments. Practically no one remembers him for being temperamental, or for losing his cool on the show. However, according to the man himself, he did come very close to tearing down a guest back in 2019.
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Hosting the show with fellow commentator Max Kellerman, Smith had invited Hall of Famer Terell Owens to the show. This was right after the QB-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick decided to try out for the NFL once again, after a lawsuit alleging discrimination. Only to change the venue of the workout, and send the video of the workouts to the teams.
Kaepernick’s move certainly created a rift in the community. While there were those who believed Kaepernick’s reason for shifting, some did not quite understand the need for it. Stephen A. Smith was a part of the latter group. So during the debate, when Terell Owens said something “out of line”, Smith almost lost it.
Stephen A. Smith talks about almost going medieval on Terell Owens
Speaking on ‘The Draymond Green Show’, Smith describes how he held himself back after Owens practically insulted him on air. He says, “Jay Williams and I have gotten in heated discussions, but it’s never affected our relationship. Will Cain… we got in a lot of heated discussions…but it never extended off-air because I understood he was different than me politically.”
“This is the one time I almost, almost lost it. When T.O. came on the air and said that Max seemed blacker than me. Now, I addressed it on the air, but where it almost got dicey… It took everything in me not to go all in… Let’s be very, very clear. When it comes to what I do for a living, I think I’m the best on the planet.”
“When [T.O.] walked into that lion’s den, I had to remember my humanity…there are things I could have brought up, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. But that was the closest I had ever come to getting medieval. There was a different element that was about to come out of me, but I stopped myself,” he adds.
Well, now we know what gets Stephen A. Smith all riled up. Apart from Cowboys fans, of course. They seem to have set up permanent residence on his nerves. Will we ever see Smith lose it on air? Or will he keep his track record intact?
