As the entire sports-watching world sat in paralysis on Monday night and wished for Damar Hamlin’s speedy recovery, Fox Sports 1 host Skip Bayless went a different way.
Hamlin, a cornerback for the Buffalo Bills, suffered cardiac arrest during Monday night’s showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals. He received 10 minutes of CPR on the field before being rushed to a local hospital.
Monday’s game was briefly suspended before ultimately being delayed, and during that stoppage of play Bayless sent out this controversial tweet:
No doubt the NFL is considering postponing the rest of this game – but how? This late in the season, a game of this magnitude is crucial to the regular-season outcome … which suddenly seems so irrelevant.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
Bayless then attempted to correct course after seeing the backlash he received:
Nothing is more important than that young man’s health. That was the point of my last tweet. I’m sorry if that was misunderstood but his health is all that matters. Again, everything else is irrelevant. I prayed for him & will continue to.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 3, 2023
Conversely his co-host on Fox Sports 1’s Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe, sent out this message:
Please keep Demar Hamlin and his family in your thoughts and prayers. NFL doesn’t have a manual on how to proceed after an incident like this. 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾#MondayNightFootball #BillsVsBengals
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) January 3, 2023
On Tuesday, Bayless appeared on Undisputed and attempted to further clarify what he had been saying the prior night:
Skip Bayless is without Shannon Sharpe for Undisputed today.
He attempted to apologize for the discussion surrounding Damar Hamlin last night and on today’s show. pic.twitter.com/MTg7w0gafx
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) January 3, 2023
That said, Sharpe was notably absent from the show. Fans took note of this and responded accordingly:
Shannon Sharpe said: 😂 pic.twitter.com/X4saxnYEvY
— Snack Turner (@roywoodjr) January 3, 2023
NAH SHANNON SHARPE SEEN THE SMOKE AND SAID 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/7OAhpVbHU1
— 👑 King Artie 👑 (@Artie_Thinks) January 3, 2023
Skip Bayless: So, how should we address my Demar Hamlin tweet on the show?
Shannon Sharpe: pic.twitter.com/C4mpGHS96P— Dennis Nguyen (@pastorpapi23) January 3, 2023
The fact that today his coworker in Shannon Sharpe didn’t show and he had to issue an apology live on TV today shows exactly why. He knows he messed up and he’s facing the consequences. The sentence was structured as is. What the hell do you not comprehend?
— Zach Daniels (@Twil1ghtGaming) January 3, 2023
Time will tell if this is the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. Sharpe had been growing visibly more frustrated with Bayless in recent months, and Bayless’ callousness as it pertains to Hamlin may have been the end of the line for him.
Bayless is no stranger to landing in the headlines. His wild photos from this weekend are evidence enough of that. This is a guy who greets rapper Lil Wayne by kissing his neck, after all.
An Ohio State staffer made an interesting Ryan Day confession before the Georgia game. https://t.co/fljCuKONVf
— Game 7 (@game7__) December 31, 2022
But something about what happened on Monday night felt different.
Is this the end of Bayless and Sharpe serving as partners on Undisputed? A final answer to that question should emerge some time later this week.
Related: LSU Football Accused Of Partaking In Wild Party Amid Purdue Win
A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
