Stephen A. Smith has turned First Take into a Dallas Cowboys troll session over the years, often tossing out his catchphrase “something always happens” when it comes to America’s team. But on Friday morning when Bart Scott tried to pile on and borrow the phrase while analyzing the impact of the Trevon Diggs ACL tear, Smith had to shut it down.
“This is a major, major blow for Dallas, and like Stephen A. always says, just wait, something bad always happens,” Scott said.
Both Smith and panelist Ryan Clark immediately scoffed and pushed back at Scott.
“Don’t start that,” Clark said before Smith took over and squelched out the commentary completely.
Bart Scott took Stephen A Smith's Cowboys trolling a little too far on First Take while analyzing the Trevon Diggs injury, and Stephen A had to tamp it down: pic.twitter.com/qFR3FScJYp
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 22, 2023
“I wouldn’t do that right now in all seriousness,” Smith said. “This is a season-ending knee injury so I’m certainly not going to joke about that.”
Smith was having none of it.
“This ain’t the time for me to joke about the Dallas Cowboys,” Smith said. “I’m not going to do that to them.”
Scott has long been a lightning rod, on ESPN and at WFAN before that.
He once recommended Viagra as a solution for NFL players struggling to play in the cold. He also was criticized heavily for intimating that Tee Higgins deserved some of the blame for Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest last year before Smith came to his side.
One would think that as a former player, Bart Scott would bring a more compassionate perspective to his analysis. But he often ends up caught between entertainment and analysis in a way that gets him in hot water.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.