Stephen A. Smith may or may not be the face of ESPN but that face won’t be gracing your television on Sundays this NFL season.
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According to an ESPN spokesperson, Smith will still occasionally appear on “NFL Insiders” and “Sunday NFL Countdown,” but nothing like last year when he was a regular. The spokesperson also said it was Smith’s choice.
Smith certainly won’t be taking it easy. Not only does he still have weekday “First Take” duties but he also hosts a weekday SiriusXM Radio show and appears frequently on “SportsCenter.”
The move is a godsend for NFL fans who aren’t interested is hearing from Smith for at least a few hours while they instead get insight from people more engrained with the world of the NFL. ESPN completely revamped its NFL pregame shows and they don’t need appearances from Smith with the panel of knowledgeable experts already on hand.
Also, Smith likely wants to put his focus into maintaining the “First Take” empire, of which he is now the unquestioned emperor. He’s getting new cohost Max Kellerman up to speed while also attempting to stave off the first legitimate challenger the show has ever seen: the one co-hosted by his former buddy Skip Bayless. The FS1 “First Take” clone “Undisputed” is sure to attract eyeballs and compete for the same audience and how the ratings battle shakes out could be seen as a referendum on both Bayless and Smith.
So, the good news for SAS haters is that you get at least one day’s reprieve from His Hot Take Majesty. The bad news is that you can expect “First Take” and Smith’s other appearances to get even spicier, if that’s possible, as he attempts to prove once and for all that he was the draw all along.
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